Work on this for a year and it will make a big difference in your music.
Of course it is highly illogical to wait until the beginning of a year to start making improvements to the way you live your life. So if you are one of those who thinks New Year’s resolutions are silly, I hear you. But one thing I have learned about life is that what is logically […]
A dozen years ago, I worked for Delta Airlines as a software programmer. I was a poor programmer by that point not because I could not do the work but speaking very frankly, I had lost all my drive for doing the work. I knew that I little hope of recovering my drive so on my two year anniversary (as soon as my contract would permit), I resigned and came home to work on a tiny internet business that was generating a very meager amount of money.
Last week, we finished the first semester of Music School. I prepared and taught a total of 176 sessions of about 45 minutes each over 16 weeks and I readily admit I am a bit tired. Going forward, things will be much easier because I am cutting the number of classes I teach in half and already have the curriculum built out for them.
Today was the final day of the first semester of Music School. We start again in January. One student named Beth sent in something this week that I really liked and I did a video about it.
There are certain musical elements that are so versatile and useful that basically every real life pianist needs to know them. I say “real life pianists” because I am referring to those of us who don’t sit in ivory (pun intended) towers playing Bach all day but rather play in the every day situations of […]
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article discussing how a performer handled a cell phone interruption. I told you I was going to make a series out of that example and am just now getting back to it.
I want to tread carefully in this post because not everyone agrees with what I am about to discuss. I have good friends who will disagree with it in fact. That is all good. It is not a personal thing; it is just about music and I have no one in mind as I am writing.
I am really enjoying working with students around the world in my music school. For those wondering why I have taken down that part of the web site, it is because I am retooling for next semester. We are making a number of changes and are about ready to announce them. I will have everything up by Thanksgiving for sure.
Last week, I wrote about the use of the stride style in church. On Facebook, it turned out to be a very controversial subject because some people chose to focus on a few historical elements I mentioned rather than my main points. I could get pulled off on that rabbit trail defending my assertions but […]
I teach a class called Advanced Functional Harmony. The purpose of the class is to teach students not how to do chord substitutions but rather how to ignore the basic harmony almost completely and replace it with something better.