arrange • compose • conduct
Strong emotions are valuable messages, if we take the time to listen. I’m just home from our choirs’ farewell concert, complete with all the tears that traditionally accompany its end. Those sorts of strong emotions help to tell us what we value. Even when we can’t necessarily verbalize our values, […]
It’s easy to think that lack of motivation connotes lack of interest: if I’m not motivated to work on something, it must mean I’m not interested in it. The truth is more complicated. I might lack motivation because I’m tired. I might lack motivation because the goal is so distant […]
The trick to successfully avoiding last-minute scrambling is to anticipate the problem sooner. If you see a challenge a week out instead of the day of, you’re going to have so much more time to prepare for, adjust to, and solve a problem. The day it arrives, you’ll be in […]
The more discrete and actionable you can make the steps of an educational goal, the better. After graduate school, I had to decide to call myself a musician. It took getting used to, and I think the reason is that I was used to calling myself a music major or […]
As we enter the last few weeks of the school year, this question always emerges: taper, coast, or accelerate? There are situations for each one. We can brake on learning new music after the last concert, focusing on other music endeavors to wrap up the year. I brake on new […]
To climb a higher mountain, you might have to look somewhere else. When you’re thinking about next school year, maybe you think, “A lot like this year, but I’ll make improvements and aim even higher.” That’s an admirable motivation. But it might be futile. In mathematics, the idea of local […]
The only way to develop durable skills is repetition over time. I beat my son at tennis today. That’s rare – he’s better than me. But neither of us had played tennis since the fall, and I had one (temporary) advantage. Skill durability. My skills, meager though they are, are […]
Follow your passion? Yes. Passion is essential but not sufficient. In addition to passion, these are essential for success: Helpful but not essential traits include: What’s missing from your essential arsenal? That’s where to focus your efforts.
Choirs should travel. This week, I’m making a list of the reasons why. The growth. Many academic choirs prepare a piece for a single performance, then put it away to move onto other music. There is educational value in it, but it overlooks one of my favorite opportunities for growth: […]
Part of experience is knowing what’s coming more often. The stress of novelty – even good novelty – can be overwhelming. For example, today I am taking 43 high school students to Spain. Some of them have never left our state before, let alone the country. I have little doubt […]