by Alyssa Cowell, The Catoctin School of Music While everyone is at home under quarantine, now is the time to get in some extra practice! Build practice into your new routine: As the days at home feel longer and longer, try creating a new schedule that incorporates scheduled practice time. See how many days in a row you can practice without missing any days. If you have trouble practicing daily, try...
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Students have asked me on multiple occasions what it means to listen analytically/critically. Students often equate this idea with comparing one’s ability to that of another. Have you ever watched a video of someone playing a piece on your program and thought that person played it better? That’s a comparison based on an emotional response to what you’ve heard. That is also a perfectly natural...
Read MoreThe Toronto Symphony Orchestra recently debuted their comprehensive listening guides. The guides – colorful charts with pill-shaped reductions of beloved symphonic themes – seek to aid both the musical novice and musical expert. The stated purpose of these guides is to help listeners understand the most basic elements of each composition and see the way those elements are realized by the composer. Each guide includes...
Read MoreBy Sarah Haughton Nothing says New Year’s resolution like doing something you dislike (e.g. eating green leafy things, elevating your heartbeat past its resting rate, etc.). So why not stretch your taste in music? Here is my challenge to music teachers, students, and enthusiasts in the year 2016… Listen to a composer you have never heard of before. Here are a few composers that you should get to...
Read MoreBy Wayne Estes Through this blog, I hope to remind every musician and teacher of the one of the biggest reasons we all love and enjoy music…the sound. I believe every sound, note and voice has its own tone and texture which can invoke a rich feeling in us because of our previous experiences and interpretations of this mechanical energy that travels through the air. We...
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