Many years ago, the legendary W. Francis McBeth wrote an article entitled, "It's A Hard Life" that sticks (pun intended, as you'll see!) with me every time I rehearse an...

This past summer, I had the wonderful privilege of serving as a clinician for a wind conducting symposium with my dear friend, Dr. Robert Halseth. Bob's extraordinary abilities...

As I reflect on so many facets of being a music teacher, I am often reminded of the marvelous words of A. A. Milne, who had Winnie-the-Pooh state so profoundly, "How lucky I am...

When one is bombarded with too much information all at once, it causes what is known as "Information Fatigue." The result of this condition is a sense of apathy, indifference,...

In my previous blog, I mentioned how our intense concentration, or worrying about a problem, in rehearsals often causes us to forget about using what can be our most powerful...

When I think back to the greatest conductors I have played under or watched, there are many commonalities: they knew the score cold, they possessed the theoretical and historical...

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." When Benjamin Franklin stated those remarkable words, he encapsulated one of the gold standards of...

Before class or rehearsal one day, write the following anonymous quote on the board: "Don't wait until you've reached your goal to be proud of yourself. Be proud of yourself...

In my previous blog, I discussed a specific way to use a video recording to help assess your conducting. Here’s another terrific technique. Video yourself conducting a piece from...