arrange • compose • conduct
Our game closet is overflowing and only gets more so every December. What is it about a new game that attracts and drives us? I love familiar games like old friends – you fall into familiar rhythms and strategies, and appreciate the nuances of strategy and how they affect success and failure. […]
Are you ever concerned about approaching odd-meter pieces with your ensembles? As long as they’re treated well, there’s no impediment to us learning them – 4/4 is no more innate to us than any other metric feel. Consider this pattern: A tune of four measures of 4/4. On the second verse, […]
If you believe the true spirit of Christmas is in generous giving, then I’ve got the story for you. When McNally-Smith College of Music abruptly closed ten days ago, my friends Jen and Shon learned about it in an email that said they wouldn’t be receiving that week’s paycheck – […]
I’m not sure any album says Christmas to me more than The Manhattan Transfer’s A Christmas Album. I got it in 1992 when it was brand new and I was brand new to vocal jazz. I listened to it obsessively every December, long before I was exposed to many of my […]
As you breathe a sigh of relief over the end of the holiday musical rush, take a moment for gratitude. You get to… …make music every day. …inspire young people. …provide a desperately needed respite from the challenges of modern academic life. …create a safe space for your students to be themselves […]
Singing in the background can be disconcerting when you’re used to being the sole focus of attention – as most choirs are. However, there are several lessons you can learn from being “background music” in performance. This is how many musicians work all the time. Performing their best, while knowing they are […]
A student and I were discussing his studies of Greek plays in AP Literature class – he’d read Oedipus Rex and Medea. He remarked that because the myths being told were universally known, the artistry of Sophocles is in how he tells the story – what he highlights, what choices he makes, what details he adds and subtracts. […]
Too many performances could be one description of December in a typical choir’s year. But there’s a big benefit that we might not get the rest of the year – particularly when we consider that some pieces get just one performance before they’re put away again. Too many performances means repetition. We […]
You’re tired. It’s been a long day of classes, homework, and bus rides. Now it’s evening and you have a two-hour rehearsal in front of you. The temptation is strong to phone it in. You can relax (sing, of course), but not concentrate too hard. Not work too hard. Let […]
You develop habits because they help you. (Even bad habits help you, in ways you don’t want to acknowledge…) But rethinking habits (even good ones) every so often can be a good thing. You might find that you’ve maintained a habit long after it’s stopped working for you in your current state. A morning writing regimen needed […]