by Peter Boonshaft | Sep 11, 2018 | Boonshaft's Blog
I am convinced that half the problem with teaching students in a band is that many of them have a very distorted vantage point from which they hear the group, by nature of where they are seated. Things like ensemble balance, section balance, layers of compositional...
by Peter Boonshaft | May 23, 2018 | Boonshaft's Blog
As I look out at my students while rehearsing, I so often see bad habits reveal themselves. And what gets me is that I have mentioned those bad habits over and over and over. It can be debilitating. When I take the time to think about why this is happening, I usually...
by Peter Boonshaft | May 15, 2018 | Boonshaft's Blog
I like a fast-paced rehearsal. No, I love a fast-paced rehearsal. I think I can keep my students awake and energized better, and get more done in less time. But that’s me. I also know that a moderately-paced rehearsal can no doubt be wonderfully effective, and that a...
by Peter Boonshaft | May 8, 2018 | Boonshaft's Blog
In the first moments of your next rehearsal, after getting the students quiet and focused, go to the board and with no words of explanation simply write these words: “I haven’t understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it. – Igor Stravinsky.” Then,...
by Peter Boonshaft | Apr 30, 2018 | Boonshaft's Blog
I was recently speaking at a workshop for band directors and was asked a fantastic question: “Why don’t most band directors treat percussionists like the rest of the members of the band?” I immediately replied with a two-part quasi-rhetorical question in reply:...