Dramatic, yes? Perhaps a little bit, at least in the way I've expressed it. But true? Definitely. As soon as there is a whiff of obligation about pretty much any relationship, what happens? The death of freedom, excitement, engagement, and JOY. Think of friendships, family relationships, and work relationships. As soon as one person [...]
Mornings in The Bardic Academy begin with practice - this ancient love affair that never flags. For the last five or six weeks, Bach has been at the heart of the practice. I find myself visiting the piano three, four, five times a day to play through a sequence of fourteen of his short, [...]
I am a baby knitter. No, I'm not knitting babies (though one day - who knows?). I'm a beginner, at the wax-on, wax-off stage of learning. So far, in the space between Christmas and Epiphany, I have knitted three hats. This, in itself, is something of a Christmas miracle. Knitting patterns look a little bit [...]
It happens to everyone - and seriously, I mean everyone: the famous and the not-famous, the seasoned and the fledgling, the confident and the wobbly-kneed. All of us at some time or other freak out IN a performance or ABOUT a performance. It's debilitating. The self-talk tends to be vicious and crippling. Hands shake, voices [...]
I don’t come from a musical family. Sure, they liked music. My mother kept a stack of 45’s, including old hits like “Tom Dooley” and “Davey Crockett.” We had a hi-fi with LPs that included the soundtrack to “Black Beauty” and a wonderful, dark recording of “Peter and the Wolf.” There was a Chickering spinet [...]
I’ve got pretty good all-around intuition, but in one area my spidey-sense is just about 100% accurate. Specifically, I can read your future as a musician. Within about 60 seconds of talking with you, I can predict whether or not music is going to play a joyful and expansive role in your life over the [...]
