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:...
by Peter Boonshaft | Apr 24, 2018 | Boonshaft's Blog
I am often asked by band directors for suggestions about books to read. And I always worry about doing so for fear it will be like recommending a favorite restaurant to a friend only to find out that they went there and thought it was terrible. With heartfelt...
by Peter Boonshaft | Apr 4, 2018 | Boonshaft's Blog
Cicero, the great philosopher, held that one of The Six Mistakes of Man was “Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.” When I think something not doable, more importantly, when I fear my students think something not doable, I always...
by Peter Boonshaft | Mar 28, 2018 | Boonshaft's Blog
The next time you start to chide the students in your band about posture for the umpteenth time, don’t do it. Instead, ask them to sit with terrible posture. Then take a photo of the entire group. This may need to wait until you are in an auditorium or gym or large...