At the bottom of this post, I am going to tell you how you can win a free signed copy of Brian Buda’s new advanced arrangement book with Lorenz (Hands to Heaven). Brian was the winner of my arrangement contest a few years ago and that arrangement is in this book. What I am about […]
When I exercise, I listen to podcasts and often the podcast I choose is Dave Ramsey. There was a time where I really did not care for him that much; and I still have some reservations –but I have grown to appreciate him a lot more. The thing about Ramsey is that he understands something […]
Over time, my taste changes somewhat and I find myself gravitating toward new ideas. I can point out a few in the recent arrangement of “Honey in the Rock,” but I want to talk about one in particular. Check out these examples and then we will talk about them. If I asked you to name […]
A decade ago, I joined a CEO group called TEC (now Vistage). Each month, a different CEO hosted the group and we talked shop. My first meeting was in the fancy offices of a really nice CEO. As I recall, he was prominent in local politics, on the board of the county library system, and a […]
I have been reading Lost and Founder by Rand Fishkin which is his story about his startup company (Moz). A lot of what he writes hits me in the gut for several reasons. To start, we are about the same age and have had a lot of similar experiences with a similar path of learning. […]
I started arranging when I was in high school. My arrangements were horrific stuff, far below the bar that many of my young readers set today. (By the way, those that bemoan the sad state of today’s music education are clearly not seeing what I see. Today’s young generation is far ahead of where my […]
Our daughter is 16 and does not date yet, but that does not stop boys from asking. Last week, she came to us to tell about this guy that had asked her on a date. I asked her what he wanted to do with his life and she said: “Music.” I was taken aback for […]
I am a Protestant, but I admire the beauty of the other two major divisions in Christianity (Orthodoxy and Catholicism). If I lived in a big city near a major Orthodox or Catholic cathedral that really did things well, I would visit services just to soak in the beauty of the buildings, the atmosphere, the […]
I just published a new arrangement of “When We All Get To Heaven” on my sheet music page. If you are a monthly hymn arrangement club subscriber, don’t purchase it. It will be coming to you shortly. This is not an easy arrangement, especially for those that don’t have swing in their bones. This is […]
I was recently at one of those tex-mex chain restaurants (On the Border) with the family. The service was average at best and the food was far from great. However, I chatted with the waitress a bit and when I paid later, I left her a tip that was roughly equivalent to the bill. In […]
Doing nothing often leads to the very best kind of something. – Winnie the Pooh My family wanted to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie yesterday in the late afternoon. When they told me, I decided to go with them. I am a sucker for the wisdom you find in Winnie the Pooh–I have […]