Favorite blog posts, December 2024
- Joan Martí-Frasquier (saxophone): 15 More Works for Baritone Saxophone (2)
- At the Woodwindfixer’s Bench (Jeff Dening): Jeez! Repairs Are Expensive! Part 2: Specialist Pricing
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Favorite blog posts, May 2026
Just one to share this month:
- International Clarinet Association (Shawn Copeland and Jackie McIlwain): Pedagogy Corner — A Clarinetist on Her Head: Redefining Support
Favorite blog posts, July 2015
- Patty Mitchell shares insights on oboe finger placement.
- Betsy Sturdevant gives a behind-the-scenes look at playing principal bassoon on Tchaikovsky’s 5th symphony and Brahms’s 1st piano concerto.
- Sam Sadigursky explains why saxophonists should play the flute. (I would add to his list of reasons that the flute is a lovely instrument and playing it is a rewarding pursuit on its own merits.)
- Jennifer Cluff gives good down-to-earth advice for beginning flutists.
- The new The Clarinet: Online blog, the digital companion to the International Clarinet Association’s print journal, did some coverage of this year’s ClarinetFest® in Madrid, Spain. Here is day one.
- Christopher Jones shares detailed information about clarinet left hand position.
- The Adventures in Woodwindland blog examines the old question about “how many” instruments doublers play [update: link dead]. (Here’s my take from the early days of this blog.)
Favorite blog posts, August 2019
- Bill Plake Music: Clarifying A Common Misconception About Your Lungs To Help You Breathe More Optimally
- ClarinetMike Blog (Michael Dean): ClarinetMike’s Top 10 Tips for Successful Private Lessons!
- Nicole Riner, flutist: Developing your Home Music Studio: A Worksheet
- LearnSaxophoneOnline.com (Jeffrey Cunningham): 6 Steps for Learning Music by Ear
Favorite blog posts, June 2023
- The Flute View (Kim Lewis): Three Takeaways from Playing at the Met Gala with Lizzo
- Flute Journal (Peter Westbrook): The Bansuri and Pulangoil, Bamboo Flutes of India
- the Operatic Saxophone (Mary Huntimer): The Mystery of the Selmer Cigar Cutter Alto Saxophone in E and the followups A Selmer Cigar Cutter in E? Some Answers and more Questions… and Selmer high pitched alto saxophone? Possible answers to why this exists… [spoiler: it’s a “high pitch” alto]
- International Clarinet Association (Douglas Carleton, Bob Wilber, Henry Duckham, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman): Reprints from Early Years of The Clarinet: Jazz
Favorite blog posts, April 2016
- Saxophonist Steve Neff shares a Joe Allard overtone exercise. (Read the comments section, too.)
- Clarinetist Diana Haskell shares some results of asking colleagues what are the most important things about orchestral playing.
- Helen Bledsoe shares some flute intonation exercises (could be adapted to other instruments).
- Clarinetist Jenny Maclay offers advice on dealing with the mental baggage of being a musician. (Reminder: blog posts are not a substitute for professional counseling.)
- Woodwind doubler Kelsey Mire makes a case for fair pay for doublers.
- Saxophonist Bill Plake digs into reasons inefficient practice techniques get perpetuated.
- Bassoonist Nadina Mackie Jackson answers questions about gender in the classical music world.
- Oboist Jennet Ingle seeks balance between expression and technique.
- Woodwind doubler David Freeman shares a funny pit experience. There are possibly teachable moments there if you care to draw them out.
- Cate Hummel discusses solutions to third-octave problems, as well as when to introduce dynamics and vibrato to students.
Favorite blog posts, September 2016
So many great woodwind blog posts in September. The flute bloggers are on fire!
- Deanna Mathews Kilbourne offers some fingering tips for the flute’s notoriously sharp C-sharp.
- Oboist Jennet Ingle explores quarter tones. Also, an open letter to her students about making their own reeds.
- Flutist Nicole Riner shares some creative practice tips.
- Ed Joffe discusses the history of woodwind doubling.
- Flutist Angela McCuiston gets into some nuts and bolts of teaching lessons remotely via internet.
- Bassoonist Jolene Mason experiences burnout.
- Flutist Andrée Martin warns against mindless, repetitive practicing.
- Joan Martí-Frasquier provides an annotated list of amateur/student-appropriate baritone saxophone repertoire.
- Flutist Rachel Taylor Geier offers some suggestions on lesson scheduling.
- Viviana Guzman reports on the National Flute Association conference.