by Peter Boonshaft | Mar 24, 2026 | Boonshaft's Blog
Seemingly every day I teach, I realize something I am doing that I need to improve, correct, or completely reimagine. It might be my choice of words, the tone of my voice, my sounding exasperated, how I sequenced the material, my choice of examples, my rushing the...
by Peter Boonshaft | Mar 17, 2026 | Boonshaft's Blog
I once was speaking with a perspective college first-year student about his musical studies in high school. He spoke about the ensembles and classes he had, his experiences in solo and ensemble contests, his times at all-state band, and all the things we would...
by Peter Boonshaft | Mar 10, 2026 | Boonshaft's Blog
One of my favorite quotes, one that I think truly encapsulates our profession, is by the remarkable Socrates, who said, “We cannot live better than in seeking to become still better than we already are.” Think about it; isn’t that what we all do? When we go to summer...
by Peter Boonshaft | Mar 3, 2026 | Boonshaft's Blog
In my last blog, I wrote about the idea of using scatter seating in rehearsals. The virtues of this approach can’t be overstated. Another related idea is using what I call “targeted scattering.” So often I ask my alto saxes to sound like the horns when they are...
by Peter Boonshaft | Feb 10, 2026 | Boonshaft's Blog
One morning last year, while I was rehearsing an all-state band, we came to a measure in a march that had a giant crescendo to the final climatic strain. They played it fine. It wasn’t inspired. It didn’t give me goosebumps or make the hair on the back of my neck...