I just came back from our KMTA conference where one of the college faculty on a panel answered the question, “How do you prepare a student who wants to study music?” with a “Well, I honestly don’t know if I […]
The Paradoxical Musical Life Read More »
I’m on a bit of a break from teaching and posting on the ComposeCreate blog, but I wanted to give thanks to some very important people on this very important day. I’d like to thank those who have sacrificed their
I struggle with distractions like everyone else, but as an entreprenuer and self-employed individual, distractions can mean a loss of money or the slowing of a project. I thought Seth Godin had a great explanation for my specific situation: One
Distractions: From the same device for work and play Read More »
Since this is spring break for most students and teachers, I thought I’d take a break from our usual routine and throw out a few random, but useful thoughts and links. PianoAntics.com – Anne Crosby, the composer who has created
Interesting Odds and Ends Read More »
This excerpt from “Life after graduate school: The importance of a Mentor” is written by Kristin Yost (soon to be featured in a series of ComposeCreate posts on finances). Kristin is the founder and executive director of Centre for Musical
Life after Graduate School: The Importance of a Mentor Read More »
I’m skeptical about studies like this, but I had a bit of fun this weekend mentioning this WSJ post to my vocal music loving husband. It seems that researchers found that higher IQ did predict a preference for instrumental over
Your IQ: Preferring Instrumental over Vocal Music Read More »
What Music Means to Me Project is a celebration of the value of music in education and quality of life. This project was started by Richard Rejino, a musician and photographer, in a most interesting way. You can read more
What Music Means to Me [Author Interview] Read More »
I am preparing to give a few workshops about motivating students to play more musically. My thesis has been that learning to listen and love a wide range of musical and non-musical sounds is one of the secrets to producing
Listening: The secret of great music performance Read More »
I was so encouraged when I read the article “Lapse” from New Music Box. It seems that composer Kevin Puts was performing as the soloist for his own premier of his Piano Concerto when he lost his place! Kevin writes,
Memory Slips of the Pros Read More »
Last week, I gave away the first of my erasable highlighters to 3 students who showed me that they were consistently “practicing smartly.” You can read more about how I structured this mini-incentive program here. I’m really excited about this
Making Music Come to Life: The Bear Read More »
How to Revolutionize Rhythm in Your Studio
Learn how this rhythm curriculum gets rhythm IN students' bodies so it comes OUT in ALL their music! See why "It’s the best resource out there for teaching rhythms" and get your students "exponentially improving!"
