#251. Confirmation Bias

#251. Confirmation Bias

One of my greatest worries when rehearsing an ensemble is whether I am hearing reality, or hearing what I want to hear. It is an extremely common problem we should all guard against. In many ways, it is a form of confirmation bias, which in layman’s terms is...
#250. It’s An Attitude

#250. It’s An Attitude

Try walking into your classroom or rehearsal hall, and without saying a word to your students, write the following quote on the board.  Then just stare at it for a moment as you draw your student’s attention to the words in silence. “If you are going to achieve...
#249. Grab Your Paintbrush

#249. Grab Your Paintbrush

On the list of extraordinarily important technical things we must teach our students to do and understand has to be holding long durations for their full length. Hearing whole notes played in common time that more closely resemble a dotted-half note followed by a...
#248. Listen

#248. Listen

In the past, I have written about the necessity of us making the use of the word “listen” actionable. Simply instructing a group to “listen” is of little help. Telling them what to listen for is arguably far more enlightening and illuminating. Likewise, our use of the...
#247. I’ll Do It Later (Maybe)

#247. I’ll Do It Later (Maybe)

When students fail to do an assignment on time, or accomplish a task as scheduled, I have often wondered why. Are they lazy or are they procrastinating? I think there is a tendency to lump those two things together, when in fact they are quite different. It turns out...
#246. Happiness

#246. Happiness

If we were to write down all the things we want our students to sense in our classrooms and rehearsal halls, I think happiness would certainly be on that incredibly long list. But have you ever considered the notion of happiness? I mean really thought about what it...