Change can be a good thing, even if it means that old systems we’ve become accustomed to are no longer available to us. As change happens around us, we adapt and evolve. This article discussed how Sam Ash – a major national music retail company – closed its doors earlier this year, after over a…

Preparation makes a world of difference in any field. Focusing on a task for a finite period of time develops familiarity and confidence. Beyond that, repetition is paramount to successful execution of any task, creating self-awareness to foster both proficiency and creativity. If you prepare correctly and often, you can accomplish most tasks. This article…

Audience engagement is everything in a performance setting. It’s the job of the performer to transport the listener: the performer emotes their own feelings and experiences through the act of performing, which inspires and creates those same or similar emotions in the listener. It’s a beautiful process, one that is inherent throughout humanity yet undervalued…

Listener affectation based on musical style is a topic I’m fascinated by, and it inspires and informs my work as both performer and composer. This article speaks to the idea that all music is medicine, a statement that has resonated with me for decades and even appeared on my business cards. My biggest takeaway from…

Though I’m not a sports fan, this story caught my attention. During one of the first-round games in this year’s March Madness college basketball tournament, the University of Idaho marching band filled in for the Yale marching band, whose members were on spring break. The Idaho band director’s statement says it all: “We want to…

The title of this article is somewhat misleading: it’s more about the guitarist/producer Misha Mansoor making business changes to establish and maintain his happiness and quality of life. The one quote that stands out to me in this article is when Misha talks about being happier working as a salesperson at Radio Shack because he…

I read in a music history textbook years ago that the music of Johann Sebastian Bach was so far ahead of his own time that listeners of that generation labelled his music “old-fashioned and out-of-date”. Today, mathematicians are fascinated by the works of J. S. Bach more than any other composer in classical music, citing…

I recently read an interview with the bassist Les Claypool about his failed audition for Metallica in 1986. In the interview he acknowledged that he was not a good match for that band, saying “I just didn’t fit in”. Less than a decade later, his band Primus played at the 1994 Woodstock Festival and continues…