Confucious said, “The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.” If we could just get every one of our students to embrace this...

I firmly believe that all beginning clarinetists should use a neck strap. There, I said it! And I firmly believe it. Now I know that at this very moment, many clarinetists who...

I worry a lot. I could win an Olympic Gold Medal in worrying. Some of those worries are gigantic and some are tiny, but they are worries, nonetheless. When rehearsing bands, I...

One of the keystone, foundational concepts we all strive for in our ensembles is that of blend. Check any adjudication form or any journal article and you will see it right...

Standing in front of an ensemble, that sea of people each armed with a noise maker – I mean – with different instruments, playing positions, embouchures, and the like, can be...

If I had a dollar for every time I have told my percussion section that they were playing too loudly in a band rehearsal, I’d have enough money to be writing this blog from my...

As much as we work on breathing with our students, with various approaches, techniques, and exercises, one problem remains: how much air are they actually moving? Though I’ve...

Trying to get students (or ourselves!) to change the way we do something is one of the most difficult and frustrating aspects of progress and growth. It can seem impossible at...

In a conversation between Police Detective Danny Reagan and his Assistant District Attorney sister Erin Reagan during an episode of the television show “Blue Bloods,” he argued,...