The vast majority of our musical training is spent in pursuit of an impossible perfection. Deluged by the demands of technique, we forget the entire purpose of our art is to connect. To move people. To change people.
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If, one year from now, you were to give yourself an 'A' grade for how you showed up in life as a person, partner, conductor, teacher - who would you have become to earn it?
How one conducting lesson helped me see and unravel what had been holding me back, not only as a conductor, but as a person.
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What happens when you decide to ask a life-long hero for a conducting lesson on Zoom during a pandemic? Here's the story of how I met Benjamin Zander...
3 student activities and 5 teacher PD questions from my interview with Steven Bryant
Including 5 activities for conductors and students on being in the moment, being more expressive using acting and reflecting on competition.
Even though we're not playing together, we can still practice listening for who has the melody in our ensemble music. Plus, how to turn this into a 5-minute score study activity.
Students #stuckathome without instruments? There are still plenty of ways they can practice and improve their skills! PLUS you can use these in rehearsal when everyone's ears need a break.
Every single day we guide musicians in how to respond to the unexpected. From a wrong note, to a glitch on the podium, to a global pandemic.
If we thought of our ensembles as plants, we might find it a lot easier to tend to their needs and understand our responsibilities.
Spinning your wheels because you're still in holiday mode? Frantic because you have an important performance soon? Learn three strategies to replace short term thinking with long range development that will make your ensemble better.
Do you have a bad conducting habit that's been annoying you for a long time? That thing that you remember once for 3 seconds when you're on the podium, then then next time you think of it is an hour later? Here's how to solve that problem, for good.
What does every conductor wants under their tree this year? Whether someone's buying for you, or you're buying for yourself, here are my top picks for last minute conductor gifts to suit every budget.
It's that time of year. We're racing to the finish line, polishing off our holiday concerts, pressing submit on reports, maybe jumping on a plane to Midwest. And let's face it, we're exhausted. We need to recharge our batteries, both musically and personally. Here are four ways you can reconnect to yourself and to great music during the holidays, to get inspired and excited for the year ahead.
It can be hard to know what to say when it doesn't sound good, and you don't want to crush the musicians. The worst thing we can do is say it's good when it isn't.
Sometimes things just don't go according to plan. We can write the best lesson objectives, have the highest hopes and the most open heart and it can still fall to pieces. Those days when nothing is working. Suddenly it's like the last five rehearsals didn't happen and you're back to square one. The musicians are restless and all the attention is anywhere but on the task at hand. How do we respond to this and come out better, rather than broken?
So much of our job is telling players what to do and how to do it. It's so easy for us to get stuck on the podium, dictating to students every element of what and how to play. It feels good - we say something and the sound improves! Yay! But this method is actually really inefficient. What if the students could be making their own judgements about the music, adjusting in the moment and, essentially, rehearsing themselves? Sound impossible and idyllic? It's not.
I received this question from a colleague at the end of her tether, wondering what she should tell parents who were hounding her, and students who wanted to play endless concerts of Harry Potter, Star Wars, Pharell Williams and Beyonce. "We like that music, why can’t we play it in band?"
You’re at festival with your band and as you walk onstage you wonder: why Ethan in the 3rd clarinets is shuffling his music around? why are the trombones always the last to stand for the conductor? why did the percussionist just drop something? why does Emily always wear white socks with black pants and shoes?
