Today I showed my students a fantastic TED Talk featuring Evelyn Glennie. I found this video to be a goldmine for musicians (young and old). Aside from the fact that she's an incredible percussionist, she really goes into some interesting topics about musicianship. I love how she showed the difference between being a strictly "technically accurate" player as opposed to being a musician and doing a lot more with the notes (and even the instrument itself). 

The reason I decided to write about this video, however, is because I was fascinated at how the different AGE of my students affected how they perceived the video. For any middle school teacher out there, you surely know how drastically different 11, 12, 13, and 14 year olds can be. Where Evelyn Glennie was talking about how different people in a space perceive "sound" differently, I couldn't help but think how differently the developing middle school mind viewed and experienced her message. My young, excitable 6th graders practically participated like they were in the clinic themselves, where the 8th graders we as stoic as statues. I do feel that the overwhelming majority understood what she was talking about, but experienced it in their own way. 

I really love how she talks about and performs music. I spend so much time trying to teach students that there can be so much more than notes on a page (YES, I do teach that in middle school). It's all about the experience...and that's why I teach, compose, and perform music. And always will.

I feel like Tchaikovsky's music for the Nutcracker defined the mechanics of what much of Christmas music is these days. From the harmonies to the orchestration, a hundred years of composers, musicians, and listeners have grown up on that music, and it has clearly infused much of other Christmas music that has been written since. Every time I watch Home Alone (I was a kid in the 90s and have to watch it every year), I feel like John Williams was paying homage to Tchaik. I think what I like most about The Nutcracker, and really just Tchaikovsky, is his immaculate ability to orchestrate. The colors he achieves are glorious. 

I will definitely be listening to plenty of the Nutcracker Suite this holiday season...music I very much believe is the "Christmas" sound. What a great piece of music from a great composer!

At this point in my career as a composer/arranger, teaching is definitely what pays the bills. I do, however, love to teach. My experiences in the classroom profoundly impact me as a composer and I certainly enjoy giving students the "nuts and bolts" in order to perform and experience music on their own. This is where being a teacher/composer comes in handy. I often find myself writing countless exercises to teach students how to READ music. Its amazing how much reinforcement is needed...and sometimes it is very frustrating. Very frustrating. But when the lightbulb finally does go off, it is totally worth it. So to any educators (specifically band directors) that would like to check out my "Free Stuff" section, please use any and all of these resources I create. I write them when my students need it, every one has been used and works in the classroom (the ones that don't work haven't made it onto the website). 

For whatever reason today, I googled "Robert Frost public domain." To my excitement, I found that "The Road Not Taken" is actually in the public domain!! This poem has always been one of my favorites and despite the fact that it has probably been set to music many times, I plan on setting it myself. I can remember years ago reading about how Eric Whitacre had originally set Sleep to a Robert Frost poem and the words had to be changed due to copyright laws. Apparently, anything Frost published before 1923 is in the public domain. Great news. It has been quite a while since I wrote a choral piece, so this will be a great adventure for me. Maybe I'll go sit in the woods and read the poem a few times. 

"The Road Not Taken" (1916)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Summer is always a good time for me to sit down and get some editing done. Usually I am finishing up arrangements for various marching band, so I'm in overdrive when it comes to editing music. Because I edit all of my own music, I've developed a process that helps get clean, readable scores into director's hands. In my opinion, having a neatly edited score is as important as having a good composition/arrangement. Nobody will want to play your music if it's too difficult to read and put together musically. 

Below is a guide I've typed up for all who are interested. By no means do I feel like this is a perfect guide that includes everything, but it is a few thoughts that are going through my head during this summer season of editing.