arrange • compose • conduct
A few weeks in from the start of school, and a few weeks out from the first concert. Congratulations, you’re in the weeds! You’re past learning notes for your music. Your sections are starting to know and trust each other. But you’re not exactly making music yet. The weeds is the part […]
We all get caught in ruts. Ruts of programming, ruts of yearly events, ruts in the games we play or the meals we cook. There are multiple benefits to trying something different. Of course, there’s the obvious chance to have a new experience. Humans crave variety, it is said. But more important is the flexibility […]
How do you get better if you can’t tell what mistakes you’re making? If they’re pitch mistakes, you’d better be practicing with a piano, and have enough skills to at least check pitches. If not, get help – a recording you can practice with. If they’re rhythmic mistakes, you might not […]
Parents get this question a lot: What sports does Little Johnny play? I wonder what would happen if the response was: What arts does Little Timmy do? In 2017 America, organized sports are a rite of passage for children. We have convinced ourselves that a childhood isn’t complete without the team sport experience. […]
One of the perks to being involved in a school-sponsored group activity (a sport, a club, a ensemble) is the sense of connection and bonding that comes with close proximity to your peers. But not all activities are created equal – and the different ways that bonding happens makes a difference in outcome. […]
Student tiredness is cyclical, and doesn’t line up personally across your entire student population. However, we all deal occasionally with rehearsals where, because of other activities, because of personal issues, school calendar, illness, or other challenges, the group as a whole appears to be more tired than usual. What can you do in […]
“Universal health care would do more to help artists in this country than any arts organization could ever do. Every arts organization in this country, in my opinion, should stop whatever they’re doing and throw all their efforts into health care reform.” –Austin Kleon My daily posts here are dedicated to […]
Good teammates know that some of the time, they’ll have to shoulder extra weight. The other teammate will be sick, or tired, or distracted, or in some other need. Good teammates don’t complain when they have to carry their colleagues load. They don’t accuse, they don’t badmouth. Good teammates know that there […]
Brené Brown puts language about the gap between reality and our inner monologue when she advises to bolster conversations with this statement: “The story I’m telling is…” We respond to story, and our stories help us make sense of our lives. But our stories don’t always conform to reality, and we’d do […]
Recently I was working on a challenging transition with my TTBB group. They had to go from a unison G to a 2nd-inversion Eb ma7 chord. The crunchy half-step between B1 and T2 was tricky. The solution? Rehearse with just one part at a time. Without the B1s, the chord rang as a […]