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Advice for recent music school graduates
Congratulations on your graduation from music school! Whatever diploma or degree you received, I’m so proud of all of your hard work, dedication, and commitment to music. I know you’re probably experiencing a whirlwind of emotions right now – excitement, apprehension, fatigue (yay for final recitals, juries, exams, and projects!), uncertainty, and whatever else you’re feeling. All of these are completely normal, and they will help guide you along your future musical path. So, what next? After you’ve celebrated your graduation, you need to figure out what the next step is for your musical career. In addition to navigating my own post-diploma journey, I’ve also helped dozens of students prepare…
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Self-care tips for music educators teaching online
This post also appeared on the Music Under Quarantine blog. Each person around the world is facing their own unique challenges in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the challenges many educators are facing is maintaining motivation and positivity, which is essential to help students stay engaged as we finish the school year. One of the unofficial job descriptions for music educators is to embrace your role as a cheerleader and motivator. A good teacher must be knowledgeable and skilled at their craft, but they must also inspire creativity and enthusiasm from their students. But it can be challenging to motivate others when you’re feeling anxious or uninspired…
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The T3 Warm-up Routine
One of the questions I’m asked most frequently is how to create a proper warm-up routine. Your warm-up routine sets the tone (both literally and figuratively) for the rest of your practice session, so it’s essential to create a regimen to help you succeed. While each musician’s warm-up routine should be personalized to fit their musical goals and upcoming performance obligations, there are three components which should be included in all warm-ups – I call these T3: The T3 stands for tone, technique, and tonguing – the trinity of any well-balanced warm-up routine. Here’s a brief description of each component with a few ideas to help you incorporate them into…
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Questions for Musical Introspection
This blog post originally appeared as a digital clarinet studio lecture for the Iowa State University clarinetists. The last few months have been a whirlwind of emotions for everybody. I’ve been feeling a bit introspective lately (and I’m sure I’m not alone), so I thought I’d share some of the questions I’ve been asking myself and my students. While the world feels like it’s temporarily on pause, now is a great time to take a step back and consider your role as a musician and how you can use your music and your experiences going forward. Here are a few questions I’ve been musing over the last several weeks. Feel free…
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Musical Inspiration from Leonard Bernstein
This blog post originally appeared as a digital clarinet studio lecture for the Iowa State University clarinetists. For this week’s studio class, I would like to share one of my greatest musical inspirations with you all. Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was a true Renaissance man – conductor, composer, pedagogue, author, and cultural icon. He made classical music accessible to the general public and used it to promote peace and break down barriers around the world. Here are a few of my favorite videos of him discussing teaching, classical music, and many other subjects which are still relevant today. Teachers & Teaching Young People’s Concerts – What Does Music Mean (Part 1…
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The Complete Guide to Clarinet Articulation
There are more than a few…controversial…clarinet topics. Once you learn the basics, you learn that nothing is really as basic as it first appears. One of these hot topics? Articulation and tonguing. This is why I’ve waited so long to publish this complete guide. I’ve done guides on tuning, resonance fingerings, long tones, crossing the break, and other clarinet fundamentals, but discussing articulation to an audience of predominantly clarinetists seemed a bit ambitious, to say the least. Please note: Before we dive into this complete guide, I want to make it very clear that there are many different articulation beliefs, philosophies, fundamentals, and concepts in the clarinet world. Ask a…
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Keeping Time: A Short History of the Metronome
I am a self-proclaimed metronome maniac. You’ll always find a metronome clicking methodically away throughout my practicing routine, used both as a speedometer and as the rhythm police. It helps me keep time and gain speed as I learn new pieces, and I feel strange when I practice without it. Long story short, I love metronomes. Even though I love music history, I’ve never given much thought to the origins of my trusty practice companion. Imagine my surprise when one of my students told me that the “inventor” of the metronome actually stole the design from someone else! Obviously, I had to investigate this sordid history… If we’re being quite…
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The great singers (and how singing can help your clarinet playing)
This blog post originally appeared as a digital clarinet studio lecture for the Iowa State University clarinetists. Singing is one of the most natural forms of music-making (and also one of the oldest). When you sing, you have no instrument, reeds, mouthpieces, ligatures, or any unnecessary equipment to bog you down. Granted, it takes a well-trained set of lungs and other specific vocal skills which can take many years to perfect, so singing is not quite as easy as many people seem to believe. I believe that listening to great singers and incorporating singing into your personal practice is an important part of any instrumental pedagogy. Singing can help you…
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Virtual clarinet scavenger hunt
This blog post originally appeared as a digital clarinet studio lecture for the Iowa State University clarinetists. Now that you’ve explored some diverse repertoire in our last virtual scavenger hunt, it’s time for another challenge. We’re going to broaden our focus to help you discover many things this week in the wonderful, wide world of clarinet. I would like for you to browse the internet to find the following people, places, and things (all new-to-you): clarinetist historical clarinetist chamber ensemble with clarinet clarinet brand and/or model reed brand and/or cut terrible stock photo of a clarinetist clarinet website, blog, forum, or newsletter book about the clarinet clarinet method, étude, scale,…
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Virtual clarinet composition scavenger hunt
This blog post originally appeared as a digital clarinet studio lecture for the Iowa State University clarinetists. Instead of our usual studio class this week, I thought I would present you with a challenge. There are thousands upon thousands of clarinet compositions in our repertory, yet we inevitably gravitate towards many of the same pieces. This week, I challenge you to dig deep in the depths of the internet to find 10 new-to-you pieces which represent a diverse collection. I’ll leave the definition of diverse to you – perhaps they span different eras (Classical, Romantic, Modern), composer nationality, style, clarinet techniques used in the piece, genre (punk rock clarinet?), or…