arrange • compose • conduct
Posts discussing creativity, both in and outside of music
“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” Joan Didion I learn what I think by writing it down, and it’s exactly the same when I’m writing music. With every bar […]
One secret to good writing is this key command: Ctrl-A, del. (Cmd-A, del on a Mac.) Being willing to blow up your work and start over opens up possibilities. It can be painful – especially if you’ve put effort into it. But I have never – never – not been […]
How you have to finish the hatHow you watch the rest of the worldFrom a window while you finish the hat […] That, however you live There’s a part of you always standing byMapping out the sky, finishing a hatStarting on a hat, finishing a hatLook, I made a hatWhere […]
I have said many times that living at the same time as Stephen Sondheim is a blessing akin to living at the same time as Mozart or Da Vinci. Starting today, we can no longer say that: Stephen Sondheim died today at 91. It’s a profound loss, but look at […]
I have come to believe that more than anything else, creativity is a habit. Whether it’s Beethoven, Emily Dickinson, or Lin-Manuel Miranda, we hear stories of them prioritizing their daily creative time above all else. They knew that doing the act, day after day, is the best way to get […]
Ben Folds: You don’t end up with a 140,000 word book that you end up cutting down, you actually get there. Nick Hornby: Right. I always underwrite, for a start. And it’s when I’m reading it back and doing a second draft, it gets longer, not shorter, because I can […]
“I apologize for such a long letter – I didn’t have time to write a short one.” Mark Twain Clarity of thinking – knowing what you want to say, how you want to say it, and why it’s important – comes over time. You can’t expect it to come easily. […]
“The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” – Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, describing Flow in Wired Magazine I think most children naturally experience flow state when […]
I got to do a mini-clinic today on a piece I had arranged. It’s almost always joyful to be a guest clinician in that way. The nature of the work means you can move fast, fix things, shake up singers, and generally have a lot of fun. Singers listen to […]
“I finished most of an arrangement today.” “Oh, did it turn out well?” “No idea! I only wrote it!” I truly believe this is the best attitude to have when creating new artistic works. Even as I try to use my best discernment as I create, I simultaneously try to […]