❓TO COLLABORATE OR TO JOINT VENTURE❓
Many musicians love using the word “collaboration,” a scenario that so often results in one party becoming an unpaid subcontractor experiencing minuscule gains for their sole-proprietorship for the sake of another party’s scalability and benefit. Musicians: Be wary of the words, “Let’s collaborate!” Musicians-to-musician interactions: Take time to [...]
Decolonizing Self-Care
Today’s Topic: Summertime Self-care Today’s Tip: Decolonize your self-care routine by taking a thoughtful and holistic approach to mental and physical wellbeing Background Information: Summer is the perfect time to take stock of how you’ve been feeling since the close of the school year. Maybe you are still experiencing [...]
Culturally Responsive Teaching: Using Exit Tickets to Foster Joy
Today’s Topic: Culturally responsive teaching with exit tickets (fostering joy) Today’s Tip: Utilize daily exit tickets for qualitative data that informs your practice. Exit tickets work! Since the pandemic started, I have been using exit tickets to gauge student engagement and understanding. It started as a [...]
The Music Business: Finding Your Way Through the Noise
The truth about the business So many people in the music business will want to "use" you. They will use you for your talents, understanding, and skills to bring them more "prestige" and "clout" rather than for the genuine pursuit of artistic, professional, and human excellence that culminates [...]
Four Ideas for End-Of-Year Activities with Ensemble Classes (that don’t include a concert)
As each school year draws to a close, many of us feel burned out, exhausted, and suffering from a lack of inspiration when it comes to lesson planning. Coupled with the pressures of spring concert season, it can feel daunting to find a way to keep kids [...]
The power of a microphone in a safe space
I remember playing an original song at my first open mic night. I was 17 years old and a senior in high school. Until that point, I had written some original songs that I would play around with but never felt confident with my voice or playing to [...]