By Jamey Mann, Catoctin School of Music Every instrument comes with its own set of fingerings and other notations. These unique notations go beyond notes on the staff and other common notations. These fingerings communicate to the performer exactly how the composer wants the music or study to be performed. If the performer is unaware of these notations, they could be missing the whole idea of...
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Give Yourself the Gift of Regularly Scheduled Practice Time by Alyssa Cowell, The Catoctin School of Music Self-care awareness is currently at an all-time high. It seems like every other article floating across my dashboard pertains to developing strategies to give your mind a rest, to practice personal-care rituals geared toward stress relief, or to embrace a quiet moment of reflection. This Valentine’s day let’s jump on the self-care bandwagon and...
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As young musicians, our tendency for practicing is to pick up our instrument and just go, essentially just hoping for the best. There is some progress you’ll see over a long period of that style of practicing but, ultimately, it is just shy of a waste of time. When you put a little time into organizing your practice session and understanding what you want to achieve, you’ll get more done...
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by Robert Fisher: The Catoctin School of Music I will never forget one terrifying Sunday morning as I began accompanying the church choir in a hymn on the piano. I was in high school at the time and through some fortunate circumstances was given the opportunity to serve as a part-time pianist and musician at my local church. Though I had taken private piano lessons...
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By Jamey Mann, Catoctin School of Music This is the time of year where college bound students are getting ready for college auditions. Students not far behind them are making the decision to peruse music or not. Something I try to do with all my students making these decisions is to be as realistic as possible with them. Too often I find that most students have...
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