Boonshaft’s Blog

#94. Hammer and Nails

#94. Hammer and Nails

I’m sure we have all heard the wonderful quote of Abraham Maslow: “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” How...

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#93. The Wood-Cutter

#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 unchecked, the problem...

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#92. Worry

#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 give advice about it, but I...

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#91. A Wonderful Lesson

#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 Grammy award winning...

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#90. Don’t Share

#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 to sharing stands in...

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#88. A Lofty Goal

#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 important as making music...

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#87. Stands Up

#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...

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Dr. Boonshaft, Director of Education for KHS America, is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. He was honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education.” Dr. Boonshaft was selected for the Center for Scholarly Research and Academic Excellence at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, where he is Professor Emeritus of Music.