To study Music is to study the Self ~ Shunryu Suzuki
Posted in Habits of Mind, Practice on Mar 9th, 2011
The evening after my most recent orchestra concert (and in the middle of a snowstorm!) I unwound by watching a documentary on the great 20th century French music and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger: Nadia Boulanger – Mademoiselle. Since studying for 2 years (in 1997-99) at the University of Michigan with Marianne Ploger, who was one […]
Posted in Conducting, Habits of Mind on Feb 20th, 2011
Zazen is for allowing a clear mind. – Shunyru Suzuki, quoted in Crooked Cucumber by David Chadwick It’s February, which means that everyone in academe (students and professors) is in the trenches, trying to make it to Spring Break. It is easy to find oneself overwhelmed – and there are signs that a number of […]
Posted in Conducting, Habits of Mind, Practice, Trombone on Feb 7th, 2011
When you have a strict practice that doesn’t ignore the weak points of your practice, then eventually you will have good practice. – Shunyru Suzuki, quoted in Crooked Cucumber by David Chadwick A friend of mine, Keith Hill, notes (as have others) that on one level who we are is the sum of how we […]
Posted in Habits of Mind, Random Thoughts on Jan 12th, 2011
I offer a koan for winter – obviously a variation on a classic: What is the sound of snow falling? I came up with this last night, with the thought of listening to the sound of the snow while going to sleep. But this morning it occurred that there may be something to it. If […]
Posted in Habits of Mind, Practice on Jan 6th, 2011
Back from a long trip (sans instrument) over the holidays, I am taking notes while sitting at the piano playing scales for the first time in weeks, and anticipating doing the same in a couple days with long tones on trombone. I am definitely starting over (again). Many people loathe this feeling of starting over […]
Posted in Habits of Mind, Practice on Nov 22nd, 2010
I don’t know the specific biological or neurological mechanisms that would pertain to whether the Vibrational Model is literally accurate or more of a metaphor – but at some level it feels right. Even if only metaphorically, each of us does both transmit and receive vibrations from others; and we are deeply influenced at both cellular and energetic levels both by these vibrations, as well as by the range of vibrations we detect as sounds (music, speech, or ambient sound or noise).
Posted in Habits of Mind, Practice, Trombone on Nov 10th, 2010
The most basic part of pursuing music at any level is learning what it means to Honor your Craft. Many books address this topic – some of my favorites being Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (see my first post), Eric Maisel’s Coaching the Artist Within, Eric Booth’s The Everyday Work of Art, and Twyla Tharp’s […]
Posted in Habits of Mind, Performance, Trombone on Nov 7th, 2010
There’s a lot of cross-talk in my life between music and sports, which I imagine is true for many musicians. The first Sunday in April is the first local road race of the season, the Rome Fort to Fort 10k run. This year I was excited for the new season, and even played some psych-up […]
Posted in Habits of Mind, Practice on Oct 28th, 2010
The inspiration for this blog is my favorite book, Shunyru Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Every time I pick up the baton or the trombone there is the feeling of starting over again from scratch. Not completely, and not literally – but to some extent we are always beginning. There is, of course, a good […]