jedscott

My composition student said today, “I’m about a minute in and I feel like I’m running out of ideas.” We went on to discuss how the best pieces aren’t special because the composer never ran out of ideas – they are special because the composer knew how to shape the […]

In times of upheaval, I lean on touchstones–works of art that have shaped me and the continue to be sources of inspiration, influence, and solace. It might be rereading a favorite novel, a cherished poem, a movie, or (especially often) a favorite album with a good pair of headphones. For […]

“The best camera is the one that’s with you” Chase Jarvis Chase Jarvis, the photographer and entrepreneur behind CreativeLive, has often repeated the above quote. His message is simple – when the opportunity presents itself, the camera on the iPhone in your pocket is vastly superior to the DSLR camera […]

The Michigan Choral Commission Consortium is a labor of love, and its mission is integrally wedded to creating choral experiences for Michigan singers and choirs. So about a week ago I decided to create a Virtual Choir to offer something to singers over during this unprecedented statewide shutdown. I’m hopeful […]

Social Distancing for me will include some extra time to arrange music, and I’m incredibly excited to get started on some new vocal arrangements thanks to the new class of public domain songs in 2020. If you’re an arranger, I encourage you to do the same – check out this […]

So, we’re going to give this a try. Thanks to my friend Kris DeYoung helping with some of the video technical challenges, I am excited to give a try at a virtual choir, featuring my short piece Towards a Brighter Future. We’re actually going to make two of these – […]

Welcome to the first jedscott.com Flash Mob Friday. Gigging musicians and artists have been and will continue to be disproportionately hit by the COVID-19 closings, so each Friday I’m going to point you towards a musician, artist, or organization I think is worth your support. It’s my hope that together […]

I’ve been working on a couple of different potential Virtual Choir projects, and while each one has different parameters and processes, I wanted to share the basic procedure I’ve been working through. Here is my to-do list before and after recording. Lots of people are considering trying a virtual choir […]

The best ideas haven’t been proposed yet. The best solutions are yet to be discovered. I’m speaking specifically of the best solutions to what K-12 choral educators should be doing for their students right now, but the idea works in lots of contexts. I and my colleagues did what we […]