arrange • compose • conduct
When the at-home orders started in March, choral leaders everywhere reinvented the wheel, over the weekend or a few short days. It was amazing to see. Part of the reason it worked is because the singers we led were primed by four, five, six months of in-person rehearsals. We had […]
I was proud to produce eight virtual choir performances that premiered between May 18 and July 3. Here they are, all in one place. Happy 2020, y’all. Shades of Blue – “Fly Me To The Moon” (May 18) The Rockford Aces – “Hallelujah for the Day” (May 31) The Rockford […]
“How many years will we try to cram into one?” Thankfully, Ben Folds has asked it. Ben Folds is surely one of the finest songsmiths, singers, and pianists alive. I think his new song 2020 is a perfect example – the lilting waltz is a perfect setting for his lyrics […]
I am a choral music educator. I don’t know about you, but the last five months have made it easy to be reactive to day-to-day concerns, and forget the underlying truth. In preparation for the year to come, with all its many unknowns, maybe you, too, would benefit from making […]
Vacations take vigilance. I’m writing this on May 28, patiently waiting for Final Cut X to render a video for the Aces Concert on May 30. That, of course, is long in the past. To really take a break from your chosen work is harder and harder. Double it if […]
It’s best to buy an umbrella on a sunny day. You don’t need an umbrella when it’s sunny. It’s not urgent. So you can comparison shop, think carefully about your needs, select the best choice rather than the immediately available one. You aren’t running the risk of umbrellas being sold […]
One of my favorite reharmonization tools in the arranging toolbox, when used sparingly, is the pivot reharm. A pivot reharm is when you keep the original melodic note, but use it as a different part of an unrelated chord. For example, a B-flat can be the 5th of an E-flat […]
Don’t write it down until it’s the same three times. I learned this rule from others, especially Alice Parker, who has written with her usual clarity about her process in her books. As I’m writing, I’m constantly singing (shakily) and playing (barely passably) whatever I’m working on. And until it […]
I’ve been solving some logic games this summer, and I’ve noticed there are two opposing strategies I employ. I think it’s good to use them both when facing many different kinds of decisions. Strategy 1 is “Stay In It.” In the course of the minutes I’ve spent on this logic […]
“Whenever I hear [A], I know [B]” I’m allergic to musical opinions made in the above form. For example, recently I heard someone say something along the lines of, “Whenever I hear a half-step modulation in an arrangement, I know that the arranger has run out of ideas.” Maybe we […]