arrange • compose • conduct
Posts discussing education, both in and outside of music
One of the hallmarks of an ongoing musical education is that you keep building. What you learned last year helps this year’s music come more easily, and more quickly – enabling you to learn more and do even more next year. It’s a virtuous cycle. And one of the ongoing […]
Christine Guter made a point to call the members of the All-State Jazz Choir “professionals” or “young professionals” this past weekend, and to hold them to a standard of professionalism that was likely well beyond what they were accustomed to. It’s a reminder to me that we become professional when […]
“Is it okay to make mistakes?” she asked. “No!” (she answered her own question.) “But seriously, in performance, is it okay to make mistakes?” The students started nodding. “NO!” “All right, don’t make mistakes, but if you have to it’s okay, right?” “NO!!!” She went on, “It’s okay to make […]
I consider my understanding of jazz theory hard won: I worked and worked to become fluid, because it didn’t come naturally to me. Comprehension of this incredibly complex music comes easily to some, but for me it took time and effort. As hard won as this knowledge is, I find […]
It’s time for students to begin thinking about registering for classes for the next school year. Inevitably, there is going to be a push to take more AP and early college classes, more GPA-lifting Honors classes, more career-prep STEM classes…more, more, more. What falls off the schedule when students take […]
My middle child was just sounding his way through the Mozart clarinet concerto in his bedroom. My eldest has been making progress on learning chords on the guitar he got for Christmas. My youngest has every word of Encanto memorized. “Gee, I wonder how you have such musical children,” I […]
I like to start each new semester with a handful of personal resolutions – things I want to do better this semester, things I want to try, things I want to achieve. Things like: No repertoire I’ve conducted before Keep my talking to under 30 seconds during active rehearsal segments. […]
Hard pieces take time, and every minute student singers spend not knowing the piece is a minute they spend forming judgement on the piece. This can be perilous. We all form judgements before we really understand pieces, and if a strong negative opinion is formed simply because the piece is […]
I think the best learning happens when you have enough time to have fun. Sometimes, in the crunch of the moment, I have to move with peak efficiency. In the recording studio or in the rehearsal process, I am leaving no moment unused. It’s effective but it isn’t very fun. […]
Leadership in an ensemble can take many forms, ranging by degrees from a detail oriented clockmaker, who finely tunes and controls every moment of performance, and an ensemble member who does a count off to start the performance and then fades back into the ensemble. The range does not include […]