arrange • compose • conduct
I’m working on a little behind-the-scenes housekeeping of my website in spare moments, in anticipation of a big milestone coming up. As I’ve looked back at some of my writing from across the years, the message I’m taking away is this: No one has read it all. That might sound […]
It was the buzz of my corner of the social media world today – an official, meticulously edited songbook comprised of the entire set of songs from the first Take 6 album. The album is on many vocal harmony aficionados’ Top 10 lists, myself included. And now, we all get […]
Want more music? Want harder music? Want more interesting music? No problem… Master what you’ve got. The music you’ve got, you’ve got for a reason. It’s chosen to teach important lessons, to build important skills, to develop your ensemble. And once you’ve done those things, we’ll move on – to […]
I love cognitive dissonance: the concept, but also when I come upon an intact example in my own thinking. Cognitive dissonance is the idea that we can hold two seemingly opposing thoughts at once. It’s not just possible, it’s beautiful – to be able to live in a world where […]
It seems like in music education we’re often talking about the two ways of learning music – by reading and by rote. We tend to denigrate rote learning in favor of gaining the musical skills to be able to read; this piece isn’t meant to disagree with that. But it […]
Sometimes I have ideas ready when I sit down to write this daily post. Sometimes I have to start at the computer screen for awhile before any words come out. And I’ve noticed an ebb and flow: it will be relatively easy for a few months, and then I’ll have […]
When you’re a freelancer, working out of your home, it’s awfully hard to not “take your work home with you.” It’s very easy to work, talk shop, and generally stay engaged in your work every day, all day. Even when you’re engaged in other things, it’s not far from your […]
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Sarah Frances Brown, NOT Mark Twain You […]
I’ve been sewing a bunch of patches onto my son’s Scouting BSA shirt the last couple of days – new rank patches, new leadership role, new patrol name, etc. It got me to thinking about the unseen stitching in the shirt. I think I did a pretty nice job of […]
I’ve been making a massive playlist of vocal harmony groups on Spotify – it makes for nice shuffling when I’m working in the kitchen. There’s lots of great music on the playlist, but whats’ most interesting is what’s missing. What’s outside the database. There are albums around the corner on […]