arrange • compose • conduct
When we teach dynamics, students learn that forte means loud. In Italian, forte more precisely means strong. But I think even that doesn’t do enough. Dynamics are relative – a forte passage in a vocal jazz piece might feel very different from a forte passage in a Gospel piece, for […]
What will the harmonic language of your next piece be? Hopefully, your musical studies and experiences have given you fluency in multiple harmonic languages. Pentatonic; modal; tonal; functional jazz; modal jazz; atonal….the list goes on.As I begin to write a piece, I am thinking about the harmonic language, and how […]
I like to ask myself this question sometimes, as a self-reminder. In my mind, sheet music was invented to help us recall more and more difficult music. The sheet music isn’t the music, it’s a short hand for us to be able to sing or play the music well. Certainly, […]
A student mentioned that he’d been having trouble memorizing music recently. In particular, he’d been struggling with memorizing the words. He’s a fine young musician; learning melodies or even tricky harmony lines comes quickly for him. But he was puzzled over why the words weren’t staying in his memory more […]
For singers brought up in a “classical” mindset, the first chance to interpret in a jazz idiom can be disconcerting. Do I need to sing the exact rhythms on the lead sheet? Why are there chords in parentheses at the end? (Either it’s part of the piece or it isn’t, […]
I’m in the background watching my son discuss a merit badge he’s working on with a counselor, and thinkng about the motivation that comes from discrete, earnable achievements. Of course, concerts are the ultimate discrete achievements – specific pieces are brought from unfamiliarity to performance in a limited amount of […]
Jazz singing is an oral tradition. You need to listen to multiple recordings as you begin to prepare a song, for one big reason. It’s this: the interpretation of the song has evolved away from the original sheet music and into something living. Only by listening to multiple recordings can […]
A math educator friend posted a fun 3-minute math puzzle on Facebook yesterday – it was fun for me to play, though I only got close to the right answer. (If only I was still calculus-adept…). Of the responses, several were by musicians/music educators, and in his replies, my friend […]
I talked with my students about a specific type of vertical awareness today. I think it’s really essential to train ourselves as choir singers to be able to see beyond our own staff – it’s one of the gifts of being in a choir rather than a band or orchestra, […]
I spend part of most days writing music. And a small but significant portion of that time, every single session, is focused on musical clarity. Why focus on clarity? Alice Parker says that only 5% of the music you can imagine can be notated, so why worry so much about […]