jedscott

Success in life requires reaction in the moment. Faced with new information, we often need to make decisions immediately, or at the very least alter our behavior in response. Of all the classes we can take in school, none prepares us for this moment-by-moment reaction better than singing in choir. […]

As we start another school year, a reminder to teachers that we are building moments. How many moments will your students remember from your class this year? How many do you remember from any one class? Instill values. Teach concepts and build factual knowledge. But most of all, create moments. […]

Welcome to Week 4 of The Definitive Version, a new weekly feature of my website. You can read more about the project here. Song: ‘Round Midnight Composer: Thelonious Monk/Cootie Williams Lyricist: Bernie Hanighen Form: AABA, 32-bar Standard Key: E-Flat ‘Round Midnight is said to be the most-recorded jazz standard composed by a jazz musician. […]

Sometimes we overdo it to the point of utter exhaustion. And sometimes in that exhausted state, we make a bad choice or lose perspective on a situation.* If we’re not careful, there can be long-term repercussions, professionally or personally. What we need to learn is to recognize the point before […]

We choral conductors, as a group, are guilty of a fatal bit of virtue signaling. Too often we use “difficult” as a synonym for “good” when describing music. Consider how many times you’ve described the repertoire of an ensemble as “really hard” as a measure of praise, or how often […]

For me, a well-designed game contains multiple elements that interact in interesting and subtle ways – giving you choices to make that influence the outcome. Nerdgames like Catan or Dominion or Ticket to Ride give you lots of different approaches that are viable. The same is true with classic card games from […]

Smart leaders build in unscheduled time to their schedules. They know that things will come up that require them to react, and they know that if they overbook themselves they will have to scramble to cover all of their responsibilities. (They probably learned this by dropping a few too many […]

We choral directors, as a group, are doers. One of the ways we most effectively understand the world is through interacting with it. So while the summer hiatus is great for recovery, inspiration, learning, growth, and balance…it’s not so great for doing. By the beginning of August, there’s an itch […]

If I had to start every sentence reacting to student singing in rehearsal with one phrase, it would be: “Good, now try it again with ______.” Three important messages in six words: Positive reinforcement. Adding one additional piece of the musical tapestry. Frequent repetition.

Welcome to Week 3 of The Definitive Version, a new weekly feature of my website. You can read more about the project here. Song: How High The Moon Composer: Morgan Lewis Lyricist: Nancy Hamilton Form: ABAB’, 32-bar Standard Key: G Major The song was composed for a Broadway variety show in 1940, but quickly adopted […]