arrange • compose • conduct
Posts discussing education, both in and outside of music
Spacing project completion is a hallmark of successful work. When I’m managing my work schedule well, projects overlap only as much as necessary. They have a staggered finish date, so that I’m not frantically completing too many projects at once. Sure, there are busier and quieter moments, but if I’m […]
Choose remarkable, not predictable. Every bowl of Cheerios I’ve ever eaten has tasted exactly the same. That’s a feature of grocery store food – predictable is better than remarkable. And we’ve come to expect that predictability in a larger and larger part of our lives. Actually, though, in other human […]
Businesses are struggling with inventory; why are we trying to follow the same model in schools? Over the last couple of decades, businesses have embraced what’s called “Just-In-Time Inventory.” The ideas is to not keep extra inventory on hand, because that can be expensive and requires storage space. Instead, the […]
We work in interlocking skills in performing ensembles. What about discrete skills? Performing a piece requires to simultaneously focus on vowel, tone, pitch, balance, diction, phrasing, drama, and about a dozen other things. All of them. At once. These are interlocking skills if we want to be successful. But skills […]
A lot of my jobs involve me saying some version of this sentence. “End sustained notes with shadow vowels.” Yes, that’s usually true…but not in this moment/piece/style. “Keep your feet firmly planted.” Yes, that’s usually true…but not in jazz. “Look to the conductor for the sense of the beat.” Yes, […]
The studio has taught me that a tiny drift over enough time can lead to big problems. It’s important to revisit your recorded mixes the next day after a mixing session. The reason is that in long mix sessions, you can tend to drift away from your sonic ideal – […]
What are you teaching for? It’s a question worth asking. Maybe you’re teaching for curriculum. If you’re employed by an organization that requires certain measurable curriculum-related outcomes, that can be an appropriate thing to teach for. Maybe you’re teaching for curiosity. Your goal is to create scenarios where the typical […]
The way I see it, for the last two years we’ve been at sea with our ensembles. We were out on our voyage when we were becalmed by the pandemic. When the winds picked back up, the students I was leading needed to be led to a harbor. Any harbor. […]
We have to stop asking schools to be responsible for 100% of the things we want our kids to learn. I often see memes going around that suggest replacing or revising high school curricula. Suggestions might be along the lines of “Instead of trigonometry, teach personal finance.” Setting aside the […]
It’s time to send yourself an email to arrive in July. This is the time of year when you are able to see what worked and what didn’t, while you’re still in the middle of it. In the summer, this will all seem like a foggy memory – the struggles […]