arrange • compose • conduct
In a society that constantly enables people to deaden or ignore their emotions, one of the most important lessons a choir can offer is emotional honesty. The other day I saw a choir member leave rehearsal in tears in the middle of singing a charged piece. Singing the powerful text and stirring melody required her […]
Note: this is the fifth of a series of posts investigating the leadership style of John Wooden and its applicability to choral music education. John Wooden’s final block in the base of his Pyramid of Success is COOPERATION. Wooden says, “Much can be accomplished when no one cares about who gets the credit.” And: “Make sure the people […]
App designers understand how fundamental is our desire to maintain streaks. One of the fundamental Snapchat features keeps track of streaks of consecutive snaps between friends. Duolingo tries to gamify language learning in part by rewarding streaks. Besides having a social component, one of the most important features to build into […]
This election season must be particularly stressful for high school students. They will be profoundly affected by outcome on November 8, but they are mostly be unable to make their voice heard. It’s an opportunity for choral educators to provide them with a place to make their voice heard. No political voice, no partisan […]
We want to prioritize everything, but that’s really the same as prioritizing nothing. I love writing–it’s how I stay grounded and connected. It’s how I express my creative soul. But I love my family more. When it comes down to it, I have learned to fit my creative work around my […]
This video uses some clever animation to describe the challenges of a cappella just intonation. I particularly like the way they use a honeycomb to visualize rows of just-tuned fifths, with each row being a syntonic comma higher or lower. I frequently give a brief demonstration of tuning using a piano fifth […]
In Greek Mythology, Pandora was the first human. Her fatal flaw was curiosity. When she unsealed “Pandora’s Box” she released all pain and disease into the world. You ever have one of those days? Years? But the best was last. Having released anguish into the world, one thing remained at the bottom of her vessel […]
If you can learn how to practice, you can learn anything. The not-so-secret real skill-building goal in all of my private lessons is: learn how to practice. Every lesson should contain a discussion of practice. My first lesson with a new student is about 50% getting-to-know-you and 50% How To Practice And Why. […]
Note: this is the fourth of a series of posts investigating the leadership style of John Wooden and its applicability to choral music education. John Wooden’s fourth block in the base of his Pyramid of Success is LOYALTY. Wooden says, “Let those you lead know you have sincere care, concern, and consideration for their welfare and you […]
The one thing I find most lacking in vocal arrangements and compositions in 2016 is timbral variation. Because we live in an choral age that glorifies harmony, it’s easy to slog through page after page of four- or six-part chords. But there are many more options than homophonic harmony. The most consistent genre offenders to me […]