arrange • compose • conduct
A snow day exists outside the usual routine. Commitments vanish, duties get postponed. Students sleep. What do you do? Perhaps you catch up on some grading or lay out some lesson plans. Maybe you just curl up with a good book and a mug of tea. I challenge you to […]
Is “Follow Your Passion” terrible advice? I’ve heard a lot of recent backlash against the popular mantra. OK, maybe it’s bad advice. But the reason it’s bad isn’t that you shouldn’t do it. It’s bad because it’s incomplete. Jed’s Laws of Success 1. Follow Your Passion. 2. Work Harder Than Everybody […]
If you want to make it as a performer, loving to perform is a plus. But it’s far more important to love rehearsal. For every hour you spend on stage, you will spend ten times that or more practicing – on your own, in lessons, with ensembles. This is obviously […]
Jim Rome isn’t the problem. By now you’ve read about his tweet: And his apology: The problem is that Rome’s tweet isn’t an original thought: he is reflecting the collective opinion of a vast number of athletes and sports fans. American culture is one that says suffering for your sports […]
When you finish a job, are you energized or drained? Could you keep going? It’s a good indicator of which direction to move in your life. It doesn’t matter how “talented” you are at something: if you are wasted at the end of the day, then it will cost you […]
For high schools across the country, January brings the end of Christmas music and the beginning of Festival Season. Time to take a closer look at the adjudication rubric, reincorporate daily sight reading, and polish a couple of pieces to an absolute shine. Right? Or… Continue to make music the […]
What would it take for you to commission a new piece of music? It’s not the money: you are a choir teacher: you know how to fundraise. It’s not the contacts: you know a composer or know someone who does. Even if you didn’t, you know how to find them […]
The last 48 hours before school starts are the hardest. You know what’s going to happen, you are ready for it, and you can do it. But 48 hours out, you start to feel apprehensive. Like most people, I was always nervous for the first day of school in elementary […]
A recent startup company named Jukedeck caused a stir in the composer and arranger community. Basically, with a few sliders encompassing genre, tempo, emotion, etc. this online tool can “compose” unlimited new pieces of music with no further input from a human. I can understand the fear – this software […]
Don’t make any New Year’s Resolutions today. Instead, resolve to keep going. Improve what you’re doing. Get 5% better at the things you already do well, and 20% at the things you’ve just started. You’ve watched too many resolutions come and go with no real permanent change. You know that […]