Favorite blog posts, May 2020

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See the woodwind blogs I’m following, and suggest others!

Let audiences applaud at your classical music concerts. Or don’t.

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The question of when to permit applause at a classical music performance has already been discussed to death. In summary, some people believe that you should encourage applause only after a complete work is finished, because: It allows the piece to be heard as a unified whole It’s respectful to the musicians and/or audience It’s … Read more

Interpreting wind articulation markings

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It’s easy to think of articulation markings as being black and white (and not just literally). But sometimes the instructions aren’t completely clear. For example, I think most people would see this marking… …and understand it to mean that the D gets some extra length, perhaps so much that there’s no silence between the D … Read more

Do I have to practice over the summer?

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As I send my students off to their summer plans, I know many of them are asking themselves the same question I used to ask: Do I have to practice? Your teacher might give you a summer assignment. I feel like I really can’t give my students official, enforceable assignments when they aren’t enrolled in … Read more

Favorite blog posts, April 2020

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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, April 2020 edition.

Wind playing and contagious diseases

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I’m not a (medical) doctor or disease expert of any kind, but I’ve been thinking a bit about the instruments I play and the risks of catching or spreading disease. (At the time of this writing, Covid-19 is foremost in many people’s minds.) I’m presenting a few thoughts here in hopes that people with real … Read more

Announcing the Note Image Generator

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The Note Image Generator, version 0.1, is a tool for quickly generating batches of images of single notes on staves, like this: It might be useful to users of my Fingering Diagram Builder, who want note images to combine with fingering diagram images when making fingering charts, but there are lots of potential uses for … Read more

Fingering Diagram Builder, version 0.81

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Here’s a new minor release of the Fingering Diagram Builder with a few small improvements: Bug fixes and minor behavior improvements New bassoon keys: High F (plus offset high E and E-flat), alternate low C, alternate low C-sharp. This should cover everything Fox currently lists as bassoon keywork options. (Thanks to Trent for the feedback.) … Read more

Favorite blog posts, March 2020

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Hand-picked high-quality woodwind-related blog posts from around the web, March 2020 edition.

When things get canceled

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At the time it seemed like the world was coming to an end. But things worked out. I canceled some things and modified or delayed some others. Some kind prof