I’ve been evolving my “Dear People” format – the weekly letter I am to write to my students. As of now, here is how it’s laid out.
Date of Letter
Single Word! (this is an idea that I hope will animate what we’re working on and what I’ll be writing about.)
Think
This section, a couple paragraphs in length, is a meditation on some aspect of music-making or philosophical concept. This week, for example, I wrote about the advantage we get when we perform repertoire multiple times with practice in between.
Practice
Each active piece in our repertoire will get a sentence or two about where we are and where we’re headed, with a focus on what the ensemble can do to practice between now and our next meeting.
Quote
An inspiring or motivating quotation.
Listen
We build a musical vocabulary by having shared recordings we can reference. So I share a piece, generally on YouTube, for the ensemble to listen to.
Calendar
What’s coming up on our calendar?
Question
I like knowing you’ve made it to the end of the note. A question here serves two functions: to make sure I know you’ve read it and to share something in the comments that builds our team’s connection. Sometimes it’s light (“What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish?”) and sometimes it’s a little heaver (“What’s a sentence you intend to be able to say about yourself year from today.”)