Tag : students

Competitions and Contests: Lessons from the Trenches

Competitions and Contests Another Solo and Ensemble Contest season has come and gone. All of my middle school and high school flute students participated this year. I feel that competitions

The Journey: Discovery

It’s not the destination that’s important. We are travelers on a long journey of discovery. I am constantly reminded of how much I don’t know. Because music is a process

Vacation Practice Tips

Seasons greetings! This final week for lessons in 2017. My students will have two weeks of no lessons during winter vacation. Nonetheless, my students and I will still be practicing

Resilience and Recitals

Nothing ever goes as planned. He takes a deep breath, blows, and only air comes out. She practiced hundreds of hours and spent weeks preparing only to have her performance

Flute Harmonics: What, why, and how

Harmonics for Flutists What are harmonics? Why do flutists have to understand them? Are there exercises that use harmonics? Note that the terms “harmonics,” “partials,” and “overtones” refer to the

Marching Lyre for Flutists (Humor)

In a previous post, I talked about the miserable options for flutists using a marching lyre. In marching band, musicians often have to learn music quickly, and bringing sheet music

Auditions and Life Lessons

Auditions offer life lessons Auditions are like job interviews for musicians. We prepare for hours but have one shot in front of the judges. It’s frightening, thrilling, and weird. My

3 Listening Lessons for the Choir… And for Life!

3 Listening Lessons for the Choir As part of an ongoing series about spiritual practice and music, this blog post will focus on the art of listening. Music practice is

The End of Average – book review

The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness Are you average? Author Todd Rose argues that nobody is average. We all have unique, jagged strengths and weaknesses.

Saving for Later

Stick a pin in it – Saving these websites for later. I keep a running list of articles, websites, leads that I want to investigate further. Here are some of the