Nicola Benedetti is a 32-year-old Scottish violinist and rising star who plays with unparalleled virtuosic energy. Wynton Marsalis is a 58-year-old jazz trumpeter from New Orleans noted as an advocate for preserving and helping others appreciate the profundity in traditional styles of jazz as a way of grounding the richness of American music. The cover…
Tag: creativity
A string player’s celebration of 2019 (first part)
As we come upon a new year (and new decade), many music enthusiasts are constructing their “Best of 2019” lists. I decided to try something different. Here’s a non-hierarchical, subjective list of some of the albums, books, and other learning opportunities that inspired my own musical journey over the year. This will be the first…
An open letter to parents on winter break from music lessons…
This week marks the end of violin lessons I’ve been teaching this year in a few private schools in the South L.A. area, where I’ve been giving group lessons in beginning violin to students through a wonderful organization called Arts Alive. Please consider supporting their wonderful work. I’m including the letter I wrote to parents…
Learning truth from two artists…
Recently, I was privileged to attend two lectures by two creative artists, deep thinkers, and people of color who have struggled to expand the white-centric art world’s definitions of who is worth listening to. Favianna Rodriguez spoke at UCLA’s Visual and Performing Arts Program on February 6, 2019. She grew up in Oakland as the…
Recovery From Traumatic Music Lessons
Music lessons may not always be a positive experience, but don’t let that stop you from being creative and gentle with yourself.
Lessons from “Itzhak”
The world-renowned violin soloist Itzhak Perlman needs no introduction for many people who love the violin or classical music. I grew up with his name spoken with a reverent tone; among my teachers it went undisputed that he was one of the best living violinists. Very early in my violin studies, I was privileged to see…
Making and Teaching Music in Times of Racism
In 2014, the Southern Poverty Law Center went into the collection of music sold on iTunes, and flagged 54 bands that were either affiliated with hate groups or directly advocating hatred of and violence against non-white people. Protest and pressure lead to a change in policy that made these songs less available – but the…
Music in time of oppression
Creative musicians and artists, in their desires for freedom of expression, often respond to totalitarian regimes with suspicion if not contempt. These oppressive states have likewise censored and even persecuted artists unwilling to advance the government propaganda. Just ask Dmitri Shostakovich (a composer censored and threated by Soviet Union for creating supposedly “pro-Western” music), Victor…
The sheet music reader’s guide to chord charts
Music is, in many ways, is a language. It has its own grammar (structure for melody to follow) and vocabulary (motifs, “riffs” or “licks” that cluster sounds together). Also like music, language (with the exception of signing) is first and foremost aural communion. (What matters is one person’s mouth reaching someone else’s ear). However, that…
Mark Wood and Lindsey Stirling – a comparative review
Whether it was mourning the loss of George Martin, Prince, and David Bowie, or awaiting new releases from Beyoncé, The Julie Ruin, and Itzhak Perlman, 2016 has been a very noteworthy year for music. On top of everything else –two of the most widely recognized names in the non-classical violin world released new albums within…
Lessons from “The Song of Jigglypuff”
Recently, I’ve been thinking about all the ways music education or music lessons are portrayed in books, television shows, and movies. These narratives can tell us a lot about what music lessons can do in people’s lives – and provide important examples of what to do – or not do, to really contribute to someone’s…
the gift of permission to fail
One of the main challenges of learning the violin is the lack of instant gratification. You will not be able to play perfectly after one lesson. Or two, or a month’s worth. As a student, you may spend several weeks practicing nothing but bow holds, or playing a single note on an open string…
Violin Lessons with Michael Fox 