Favorite blog posts, February 2024
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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, February 2024 edition.
What would go wrong if you played louder?
My university students are often, at least at first, quite timid about playing loudly. (This is probably a side effect of learning the instrument in a school band program. They learn to play quietly because their section is too loud. Or, they get the hand from a band director who doesn’t have the time or …
Favorite blog posts, January 2024
Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, January 2024 edition.
How to do long tones (and why)
Long tones are at the core of most woodwind warmup routines. The most simple and obvious version is this: Simple sustained notes are good for developing consistent breath support, which is required to keep the long tone steady in pitch, volume, and tone color. (Some teachers also suggest them for developing “embouchure strength,” one of …
Favorite blog posts, December 2023
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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, December 2023 edition.
Favorite blog posts, November 2023
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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, November 2023 edition.
Favorite blog posts, October 2023
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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, October 2023 edition.
Pedagogy appropriate to students’ level
I remember as a young college student attending a masterclass by a world-class musician. He was scornful of students spending a lot of time in practice rooms playing scales. He urged us instead to get outside and watch a sunset, and then “play the sunset.” Advice like that has its place. But I was doing …
Woodwind technique and conservation of energy
That people prefer to move in energetically optimal ways has been established for decades and now represents a central principle of movement science. … Energy optimization may also occur over the course of a lifetime, as years of experience could allow people to learn the optimal way to move in familiar situations and allow training …
Favorite blog posts, September 2023
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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, September 2023 edition.
