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“Painting should make you happy, if nothing else.” – Bob Ross There are those who seek to make Art with a capital A. And they are likely to disdain those painters like Bob Ross, who made joy the point of his art. Well, count me with Bob Ross. Choral music […]

Here are four vocal warmups I’ve been experimenting with, along with rationale for their use. Mississippi – the state everyone loves to spell as fast as possible. It introduces two concepts simultaneously – odd meter/metric division and clear diction. And the spelling is familiar enough for American singers that it […]

In the wake of the truly historic school-canceling winter we’ve had, I have heard this question a few times: why can’t we have online school on Snow Days? I suppose we could have “Digital Snow Days”…if we solved the following problems. Contracts need to be renegotiated to provide for teachers […]

Whenever I feel stress about succeeding in an upcoming project, I lean heavily on this self-reminder: “I’ve never not.” I’ve never not overcome a temporary block to finish writing. I’ve never not made it to the end of the concert. I’ve never not gotten caught up on sleep…eventually. I’ve never […]

My family adopted a dog this past autumn, and we soon discovered that she’s a walker. Big time. She needs a minimum four miles a day to be settled at the end of the day. Her upper limit for daily mileage? We haven’t found it yet. The magic of this […]

There are times when your students are learning, and you want to give all the knowledge to them. Here’s bitonal chords! Jacob Collier! Don’t forget The Mills Brothers! Ella Fitzgerald! Audra McDonald! John Cage! Einstein on the Beach! Alice Parker! Gene Puerling! Stravinsky! Rhapsody In Blue! Sondheim! Diminished Scales! Schenkerian […]

“Saying the quiet part out loud” is a description used for when a politician accidentally speaks their inner monologue, rather than the “official” line. In other words, they are revealing the deep inner motivations for their actions. You might buy that interpretation of a politician’s actions, and you might not. […]

It’s impossible to see beyond the horizon, and actually pretty scary to aim for something you can’t see because of the curve of the earth. The good news is that aging doesn’t just take place on a path through our lives – we age upwards, seeing ever more as we […]

I caught a little slack the other day for posting a couple pictures captioned “Checkmate” featuring my 9-year-old son in post-chess distress. In the end, I checkmated him four games in a row, though in the last week we’re roughly 50/50 and he has systematically eliminated the need for a […]

It’s long been my belief that you you shouldn’t wait for February 14 to express your love. It’s much better to celebrate Valentine’s a little bit every day. You don’t need to wait for a particular day to be romantic, and showing affection for the people you love should happen […]