When a student is in the fifth grade (or fouth grade in private schools), he/she has to choose between band, orchestra, or choir.  If they choose band, in the spring, band directors from the middle schools go to the elementary schools and the students try out different mouthpieces to see what seems to fit them… Read more

At the first lesson of a beginning clarinet or saxophone student, I ask, “What makes the sound on your instrument?”  Many students say blowing air through the horn.  Well, that’s a good, logical answer, but it’s more complicated than that.  Something has to vibrate to make a sound.  A rubber band, guitar string, timpani drum… Read more

I’ve been cleaning houses since I was a mere child of ten years, starting in my mom’s kitchen doing the dishes after supper.  Not an enviable task.  But I grew up with a profound sense of order and cleanliness that I still adhere to today.  In my own kitchen, I am constantly cleaning up as… Read more

Kids are fickle.  They want one thing only to grow tired of it and throw it aside.  Then they start something else, and the whole process repeats itself.  Especially in the pre-teen years, it’s a natural part of growing up to try a lot of new things.  Sometimes, however, this mindset can go on beyond… Read more