by Peter Boonshaft | Jan 27, 2026 | Boonshaft's Blog
What got you hooked on music? Was it practicing scales in a practice room? If it was, you are a sick individual in need of professional help. It was performing music! Sadly, I don’t think our beginners perform enough. My hope is that as soon as beginners can play “Hot...
by Peter Boonshaft | Jan 20, 2026 | Boonshaft's Blog
At a music education symposium last week, I was asked a question that really gave me pause. Actually, it stopped me dead in my tracks. Ready? Here it is: “Dr. Boonshaft, if you could change one thing about yourself as a teacher, what would it be?” See why I was...
by Peter Boonshaft | Jan 6, 2026 | Boonshaft's Blog
If I had a dollar for every time I instructed an ensemble “to listen” in a rehearsal, I would be writing this blog on my private island in the Caribbean. Sadly, most of those times were the equivalent of asking the extremely bald band director writing this to grow...
by Peter Boonshaft | Dec 8, 2025 | Boonshaft's Blog
I got into a routine, well, more like a rut. During rehearsals, after stopping to correct something. I would identify the problem spot, state what was troubling me, and what I wanted them to try. Then I would say something like: “Let’s go back to Letter G.” The rut...
by Peter Boonshaft | Dec 2, 2025 | Boonshaft's Blog
“If we don’t change the direction we are going,” a Chinese proverb suggests, “we are likely to end up where we are heading.” So I try to ask myself questions like, “Are we headed the right way? Are there better places to end up? Are there more efficient ways to get...