After the post last week about recovering from bad performances, several folks have asked for more information and specifics in regards to the approaches I mentioned. This post will be part of a series on methods we can use to treat each practice session and/or rehearsal as a performance—hopefully making each performance less tense and … Read more

Poor performances can send shock waves through our system. Any of us who have played music for a long time can probably share multiple horror stories in regards to performances. The culprits range from things outside of our control to things we are directly responsible for. Either way, it usually feels horrible. Between my own … Read more

The first time I hosted a masterclass for my students where they worked with a guest artist, I remember feeling a little confused and disappointed. There were several times during the event when the guest would point out the most obvious things a student needed to do to improve their performance. Because these areas discussed … Read more

The final post in this memorization series is about learning large chunks of music or big pieces/programs quickly and efficiently—without needing the printed music. If you have been following the last few posts on the topic and trying them out, this post should feel like a logical extension. Large pieces of music or big programs … Read more

Repetition has long been a staple of music pedagogy. As students, we were always asked to play the same section a certain number of times in a row to obtain “mastery” (whatever that is). When most of us became teachers, we just continued the tradition. When I broke from that tradition, I noticed that my … Read more

While a student at the University of Miami, I wrote an original jazz tune for one of our ensembles that I was very excited about. I felt the tune captured the vibe of the famous Miles Davis quintet from the ‘60s… That was the theme of the ensemble. The tune had unpredictable harmonic rhythm, harmony … Read more