arrange • compose • conduct
I am watching a Zoom rehearsal led by one of my mentors and remembering the moment I first wanted to arrange music. April had written an arrangement of “Route 66” for my high school vocal jazz group on a flight home from Europe. It was mostly an extended solo feature […]
You don’t decide on your personal voice. Your personal voice is the outcome of a million decisions. Or a handful of decisions, made over and over again, until patterns emerge. The patterns reflect your preferences, your outlook, your insights. And when the patterns become well-established, you discover you have a […]
I was reminded today of a yearly event that the Rockford Aces used to participate in. The local Education Foundation (nonprofit) would conduct an annual phone-a-thon fundraiser, with calls going out for six nights over two weeks. Volunteer supporters would be given a script, a stack of contact cards, and […]
I wrote for an hour today and then threw it all away. Was it a waste of an hour? It’s easy to say yes, because I finished the hour precisely NO closer to completing the project. And I’d be lying if I didn’t walk away from that precious hour a […]
Pop music tends to focus almost exclusively on romantic love as its main subject. Of course there are plenty of exceptions, but the vast majority of popular songs in the last 75 years or more have had a romantic core. (Or an obsessive core, or a core regretting a lost […]
Some people look for assuredness. In a leader, in a collaborator, in a parent. They look for people who say, “I know the answer.” I say, anyone who is 100% sure they know the answer is someone that I can’t 100% trust. I know that might make me seem weak […]
We are all starting over. We are out of practice… teaching in person. learning in person. conducting gracefully. singing beautifully. interacting with a group. leading. following. trusting. And we have never practiced… conducting with a mask. singing with a mask. recognizing students with masks. safe distancing in the classroom. enforcing […]
I’m left-handed. The only one in either my immediate family for at least three generations. My daughter asked me tonight at dinner why I was left-handed. What peculiar outcome of nature or nurture caused it? I think the answer is complicated, and I can’t speak to the genetics. What I […]
When I’m adapting to a new schedule, the third week is when I figure it out. The first week is about reacting, moment to moment, to the demands of the schedule. The second week is about noticing the waves, taking care of the most important tasks, and starting to go […]
Adam Neely is a bassist and YouTuber who makes outstanding explanatory videos about music, especially understanding contemporary music (jazz, rock, pop, etc.). His most recent video is a must-watch. Please watch it to understand more about the cis-white-male-centric world of traditional music theory. I’m teaching a Jazz Theory course at […]