Boonshaft’s Blog
#93. The Wood-Cutter
One of my dear friends shared this story with me. It perfectly describes what all too often happens to students when practicing or rehearsing. Sadly, left...
#92. Worry
If there were an Olympic Worrying Team, I would be the star! Look up worrying in the dictionary, and you will find a picture of me! So, I am no one to...
#91. A Wonderful Lesson
If you are looking for a book that is inspirational, validating, thought-provoking, and heartwarming, I sincerely recommend The Music Lesson, by five-time...
#90. Don’t Share
Though the life-lesson we all learned as children that states that “sharing is caring” is sage wisdom and a great message for most of life, when it comes...
#89. Make Sure You Cut Off The Ends
How many times have we been confronted with the sentiment that goes something like this: “But that’s the way we have always done it!” Though sometimes...
#88. A Lofty Goal
The remarkable twentieth-century cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich said, “You must play for the love of music. Perfect technique is not as...
#87. Stands Up
One of the first things I do when first rehearsing with a new ensemble is to ask them to raise their stands up, often almost as high as they will go. I...
#86. A Good Teacher…
I was recently part of a question and answer panel discussion at a music teachers conference. The questions were really terrific and thought-provoking....
#85. Process Versus Product
I once heard someone say that in business there is an expression that states that “we can control the process, we cannot control the product." And for...