arrange • compose • conduct
Posts discussing education, both in and outside of music
Sometimes the important work you do today isn’t what looks like the work. For example, today’s studio session was great – we tracked three songs for the Aces in three hours, plus a little bonus track really quickly at the end! They worked hard, grew, and put down some great […]
That’s how I view great singing. Or is it miraculously ordinary? Whenever I hear an amazing singer for the first time, or hear a singer I know do something incredible, I think, “Isn’t it miraculous? That a human can master all the skills necessary to do what they just did.” […]
Your only job on the first day of break is to stop. Stop. STOP! For all educators, and especially music educators, the sprint between Thanksgiving and Winter Break has been unrelenting. Concerts, dress rehearsals, deadlines, spirit days, and increasingly stir-crazy students are just a few of the many challenges you […]
How do you help students be both self-critical and proud of their performance? I want you to be constructively critical of your work leading up to a concert. That’s how you get better. I also want you to be proud of what you’ve done in the concert, regardless of what […]
The three things I am communicating with my students as they begin a concert without me: I am PROUD of you. I TRUST you. I EXPECT excellence from you. These are all positive, constructive emotions that help to bring out the best in students without demeaning them. No matter what, […]
More and more, I think this is my most important job. More important than my musical insights or expertise. More important than my rehearsal plan or preparation before and after rehearsal. More important than the part recordings, piano skills, or vocal technique lessons. It comes down to this: my students […]
There are three reasons you think a subject matter is boring. You’re not in the right headspace to absorb it. Tired, stressed, distracted. It isn’t in a realm of knowledge/insight that is attractive to you. We all have subjects that interest us more, especially as time goes on and we […]
Teachers come with a lot of wishes for their students. They can wish for students to realize the dreams they themselves haven’t. They can wish for students to achieve success and so reflect back on them as teachers. They can wish for students to matriculate to particular schools, particular majors, […]
Gotta do the listening. I’ve written more than once about jazz being an oral tradition – to speak the language, you’ve got to fill your ears with the great recordings. That’s how you learn the language. The thing is, it’s not just jazz. Every style of music demands a massive […]
Be aware of just how much context you’re bringing when you begin a piece with your students. I’m watching a “Technical Challenge” in the Great British Bake-Off, in which the contestant bakers are asked to bake a recipe sight-unseen. Sometimes, as in the one I’m watching now, it’s a type […]