I had gotten a lot of requests for my arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner, so I thought, “This morning, I’ll notate it and put it up. Won’t that be nice?” Of course, since it involved FAILnale Finale software, I…
Parents have to tread a pretty fine line when it comes to encouraging/harassing/bribing/browbeating their kids to practice an instrument. My angle is that, after the age of 10 or so, it is up to the student whether or not to…
10) It’s too hot. You don’t say! We live in the desert, in case you hadn’t noticed. 9) I’m, er…sick. (on the phone, with festive sounds in the background) You will be after the 7 vodka tonics you’re in the…
While we’re waiting for some more upgrades, I wanted to share two things: 1) This video. I am pretty sure it’s a joke, but it is not dissimilar to people I have witnessed at the college level! You gotta laugh.…
I’m going to try this with a slightly more cogent approach this time. AAAAAAAA!! Another teaching tour! I’m thinking March: South Carolina to DC/Baltimore to PA to Manhattan. The plan is to have two teaching days in each city: one…
One of my students sent this to me, and I burst out laughing! All I can hear is a demonic rendition of twin-kle twin-kle lit-tle….star…
Ask yourself this: is my warmup a truly physical warmup? There is a difference between warming up your technical chops and just plain getting your body used to the crazy things we ask it to do while playing. This is…
Dear Friends, I lead a very good life. I would generally say that I am upbeat, resilient, and able to cope with the painful and stressful stimuli that present themselves to me from time to time. That is, until yesterday.…
We’ve all been there: stuck sitting next to some kid at dinner, doing your best to appear kind and attentive, maybe even striking up a little conversation to pass the time. Inevitably, the kid will do something naughty like say…