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Does your understanding of music extend beyond music? Do you appreciate, and encourage your students to appreciate, musical behavior in nonmusical situations? I love farce, particularly well-performed farce. The dialogue becomes music. The same is true of Aaron Sorkin’s beautiful dialogue. Today, I’ve been enjoying this epically brilliant duet – two very different instruments […]

This is the last day of first trimester finals at my school. Quick math…that means that the 2016-17 school year is 1/3 over. Yes, that’s right – the first third of your year is behind you. (Of course, December is still December, and choir teachers are permitted to count it twice, it’s so […]

When we ask someone, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, we’re not asking for a range of ideas. We want to know as specifically as possible. We want to know the bullseye they’re aiming for. I see in the eyes and hearts of many students the results of this bullseye […]

Note: this is the seventh of a series of posts investigating the leadership style of John Wooden and its applicability to choral music education. John Wooden’s second block in the second tier of his Pyramid of Success is ALERTNESS. Wooden says, “Perfection doesn’t exist. Thus, actively be alert and looking for imperfections in your team and your competition. […]

Last rehearsal we discussed long phrases in an Arcadelt piece we’re working on. In particular, I pointed out that one phrase seems to defy the barlines that the editor has provided us. I asserted that because Arcadelt didn’t think in strict 4/4, it’s important that we take the long view with […]

I snapped a 39-day Duolingo streak last week. I was so preoccupied, I didn’t even know it had snapped until the app told me the next day. (And offered to restore it for $2.99, but that’s another story.) When a streak breaks, it’s easy to question your ability to execute the skill at all. […]

Sight reading can seem mysterious, a skill you either have or you don’t. And certainly, when you’ve mastered a number of pieces, sight reading becomes fluent. But in the meantime, one strategy I encourage is to look for the patterns. As I sat with my son sight reading a piano piece the […]

As an educator, my life is spent building the skills of amateurs – helping them to grow in knowledge, technique, and insight. One weekend a year, though, I get to work with pros to support my students…and I’m reminded what it’s all for. Professionals see the big picture immediately. They interpret not at the note-by-note […]

I just went for a run and came back with a heart more open to the world. Whatever your personal opinions, I truly believe that you, like me, want to heal the fractured relationships in our world. You want to understand the people you disagree with, you want to walk through the day […]

People who make music together cannot be enemies, at least while the music lasts. – Paul Hindemith Your assignment: make music together today with someone you disagree with.   (This is the Grand Rapids Symphony Youth Choruses – and if you squint, you can find my son Owen, in a light blue […]