Musicing

I just finished entering final grades for the semester. This completes my first year as a college music professor. All in all it was an enjoyable experience. The students were great; they participated in discussions, took projects seriously, attended class regularly, were polite and cheerful, and were generally interested in learning. That’s not to say […]

We had our first family instrumental combo today. Our 7-year-old son, Landon, was on harmonica; he had just learned to play Hot Cross Buns (I wrote out the tablature for him). Our 5-year-old son, William, played the same tune on the piano and I played chords on the piano. We played it through about 3 […]

When I told my music appreciation class about playing the ocarina for the cows, they thought it was pretty funny. A couple of the farmers, however, thought I was nuts and said that all you have to do is go out and stand by the fence and the cows will come because they think you […]

I was watching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s weekly Music and the Spoken Word (http://www.musicandthespokenword.com) broadcast on BYU-TV this morning. They sang a John Rutter arrangement of Sourwood Mountain which included some whistling. This is the second time in two weeks that I have heard the choir whistle. It has increased my interest in developing my […]

I walked over to my office this evening to catch up on a few things and stopped on the way to play my ocarina for the cows. I pass by the pasture on my way and I just happened to have my recently acquired ocarina with me. But, why would I play it for the […]

I’m trying to teach my own children to play the piano without forcing them to practice. I’m calling their lessons “music time” instead of something more formal and I’m trying to make the entire process fun. For part of the time I play accompaniments and let them improvise on either black keys or white keys […]

How could I have a PhD in music education and not have known about the harp guitar? I really like it! Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvar4ZsqsEo I think it would be fun to play. I picked up my ocarina, found some notes that fit, and improvised along with the recording and that was delightful. I’m going […]