Lobbyists for any cause will invoke its importance, its relevance, its benefit to children. Music gets decimated because although the benefits to students are overwhelming, the people charged with defending its validity appeal to things like motor skills and math…
Whether it’s getting a book published, striving for personal growth and perspective, or just trying to take a more disciplined bow stroke, each day offers us an opportunity to either persist or buckle under the strain of it all. I…
Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who reads and comments and emails here and through my site. It is nice to feel appreciated, and even when I’m critiqued, I learn how to be a better teacher,…
So, the last day of Cellomas: 2009 Failtacular is a little short (I’m writing with 1.5 hands after the surgery) but such is life. The ninth day was a warning to choose your source of self-estimation carefully. Look out for…
For those of you who aren’t doing the whole Twitter thing, a quick hello from ulnar recovery 2009! Right after the surgery, I could feel more of my pinky and ring fingers than I had in years. Still swollen and…
My teacher told to me: Stay the course. Too often, aspiring musicians of all ages and echelons are swayed by things other people tell them. Various powerful people convince us that we’re worthless, or unpopular, out of sync, or nearly…
My teacher told to me: This one’s for the college bound youngsters, from my own experience and witnessing others. You never know who’s watching. Oh, musicians. We have our personality knobs turned up to 11, don’t we? Everywhere I turn,…
My teacher told to me: Never EVER leave your instrument in your car. For any reason. Aside from superheating /freezing our delicate wooden boxes to the point of strings popping, bridges falling, seams opening and general archaic misbehavior, theft is…
My teacher told to me: Don’t ignore any pain, especially pain that playing seems to make worse. My left arm started acting up when I was about 11, and I have a feeling that the doctors and my parents thought…