Category: Professional Development
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What are you listening to?
I have been wanting to compile a listening assignment for my percussion students and I decided to use Spotify so everyone would have access to it. (If you would like to check it out, click here. You have to be a registered user of Spotify, but you can sign up for free. If you are…
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2012. A Reflection and Goals for 2013.
To say 2012 was a busy year would be an understatement. I celebrated a milestone birthday, saw the birth of Zachary Andrew (our second son) and bid farewell to my friend and mentor Michael Carney. As I wrote on my FaceBook wall, “It is very hard to say goodbye to someone who has meant so…
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Audition Advice 102
Last month, I wrote an article about Audition Advice. We received a lot of good feedback on the post. Be sure to check out the comments for additional tips. I am planning on releasing my tips as a PDF document in the new year. I also wanted to draw your attention to some videos on…
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Audition Advice 101
Auditions are just around the corner and I thought it would be a good idea to crowd source an audition advice post so that we can give some advice to incoming freshman and transfer students who will be auditioning soon. To start off the discussion, I thought I would present my observations and suggestions from…
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How Effectively Do You Use YouTube?
We all know that YouTube is a valuable source for any musician. According to YouTube’s statistics, 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. We all know that there are a lot of bad videos included in this number, but there are also many videos that are educational and worth watching. So how do…
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Digital CD release/marketing/distribution
On September 12, Tom Burritt and I sat down for a somewhat impromptu google+ hang out to talk about digital/CD recordings and their marketing and distribution. Take a listen to hear about how to get your recordings into iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. And, a few other services you may not have heard about. After…
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Navigating Social Networks Article
I was interviewed for an article called “Navigating Social Networks” for Halftime Magazine. The article is now available online. Thanks to Jeremy Chen for asking me to be a part of the article. Below are some excerpts from the article. Click here to read the entire article. Navigating Social Networks By Jeremy Chen With social…
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John Luther Adam’s Inuksuit Resource Guide
“…to act in the capacity of the human” John Luther Adams is one of the 21st Century’s most important composers. He has written a lot of extraordinary music for chamber ensembles, orchestras, solo instruments and specifically percussion ensembles. Most of his music draws inspiration from the outdoors, especially the landscapes of his home in Alaska…
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2 Mallet Double Sticking Considerations
The semester is in full swing and have been continuing to teaching marimba fundamentals to my students at CSU, Long Beach. One concept I talked about was 2 mallet double sticking considerations, so I thought I would list my ideas here and see if anyone in our community had any additional thoughts. 2 Mallet Double…
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Three Things
The other day during one of my college percussion lessons, I mentioned to a student that with all of the things we need to learn as percussionists, I think there are three things that we should always be working on. I know it is naive to believe that these are the only things to be…