What Music Means to Me
This podcast explores how music and life intersect: how music affects life and life affects music. As a music teacher, I discover these connections all the time and I thought others might be interested in hearing about them.
Episodes
September 15, 2017 • 6 mins
The premise of this podcast is that there are all sorts of connections between music and life. In each episode I have shared observations about some of these connections. The idea of making connections between music and life, of being a musician whose musical life is integrated into his broader life, is something I learned from my teacher and mentor, Dr. Ken Laudermilch. In the preface to his very excellent book, An Under...
Mark as Played
June 6, 2015 • 10 mins
In other episodes of this podcast, we've discussed life lessons that music can teach us. In this episode, we take a look at two more important character lessons one can learn from studying and playing music.
One of these, the value of contributing your efforts to something bigger than yourself, may seem obvious considering that a lot of musical experiences come from participating in an ensemble like band or chorus.
...
Mark as Played
March 7, 2015 • 7 mins
Many people compare music to a language. You may have even heard a music teacher say to you in school, “Music is an international language all people can understand.” Of course more recent multicultural studies reveal that the music to which these teachers are referring – Western, tonal music – is actually a European idiom expressed in a nomenclature that developed around the year 1,000 especially in Italy.
Just as ...
Mark as Played
March 7, 2015 • 15 mins
When you hear the term “classical music” you probably think of any serious art music played by orchestras, string quartets, pianists, or any other concert performers….and you’d be right since that is one common use of the word. But…more correctly Classical music (with a capital C) refers to music written in Europe during a musical style period that lasted from approximately 1750 through 1825 or 1830. From this Classical ...
Mark as Played
March 7, 2015 • 14 mins
In this episode of What Music Means to Me I’ll attempt to tackle one of the toughest musical concepts to explain: the difference between modal and tonal music.
Around 500 B.C. Pythagoras wrote about various modes and by 500 A.D. Pope Gregory the Great was compiling church plainsong, which we call Gregorian chant, written in these modes. By the Baroque period and on up through the Romantic period, church and concert ar...
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March 7, 2015 • 7 mins
No one likes “busy work”. And nothing seems more like busy work than copying. When I was in grade school corporal punishment – or spanking – was still administered occasionally by a building principal, but more often a wayward student was sentenced to copy a corrective phrase over and over, sometimes into the hundreds of times. More recently, teachers have been encouraged to avoid busy work and find more constructive w...
Mark as Played
February 15, 2015 • 10 mins
In this episode of What Music Means to Me, we’ll look at the concept of musical fusion, the idea of combining elements of two or more musical traditions to create a new, unique sound in music.
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July 28, 2014 • 12 mins
One thing I am sure of: the music of one’s youth makes a lasting impression.
What you listen to, especially in your formative years, is more than just nostalgic. I believe it helps define who you are, and who you are becoming. I know it did with me.
In this episode of “What Music Means to Me” I want to share some of my magical moments of music listening mostly from my high school years. Certainly high school is w...
Mark as Played
November 28, 2013 • 8 mins
Long time followers of this podcast know that when all the leaves on the trees here in the Northeast have just about fallen, when temperatures drop, and when Thanksgiving and Christmas are in our sights, that the students in my fall Music Production class at Parkland High School have been hard at work on producing their annual holiday album, “Parkland: A Season for Giving.” As always, the kids select a charity to donate pr...
Mark as Played
June 24, 2013 • 8 mins
I view every single moment I have with my students as precious! Whether it’s the half hour, “small-group” lessons I have with beginning instrumentalists, the sectional lessons I have with my second-year players, or the longer rehearsals I have with the entire band, there’s always so much to accomplish and no time to waste.
Nonetheless I still believe it’s worth taking the time to establish the habit of warming up at the...
Mark as Played
March 30, 2013 • 11 mins
Groove is one of those extremely important, yet somewhat ambiguous, concepts in music. In this episode of What Music Means to Me we discuss and explore the vital concept of groove!
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November 27, 2012 • 13 mins
The term Baroque is used to describe a style of European classical music from around 1600 to 1750. The term, used to describe the visual art of the period as well, means “highly ornate and extravagant in style.” It’s very appropriate since Baroque painting, sculpture, and music are elaborately decorated in their own way – favoring ornamentation and business over simplicity.
For me, however, a term I’ve come to rely ...
Mark as Played
July 26, 2012 • 13 mins
I’d love to see all my instrumental students stay in band, grow as players, and contribute their talents to our district instrumental program; but realistically there are always a handful of students who quit each year. In this episode of “What Music Means to Me,” I’d like to take a look at some of the factors to consider when trying to decide whether or not a student should continue instrumental music instruction. Mayb...
Mark as Played
July 25, 2012 • 9 mins
Have you ever noticed that performers of certain instruments in band share common, sometimes quirky character traits? If you’re in a band or ever have been, you probably know what I mean. And if you’ve worked with instrumental music students for several decades like I have, you’ve seen these unfortunate stereotypes time and again.
In this light-hearted episode of What Music Means to Me we imagine the medical diagnose...
Mark as Played
July 5, 2012 • 18 mins
There are some very visible examples of classical musicians who get into some pretty silly situations in their personal life. In this episode of What Music Means to Me, which I’m calling “Bad Boys of Classical Music.” I’ve decided to focus on a couple infamous artist-musicians whose excellence in music doesn’t seem to carry over to their personal life!
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June 26, 2012 • 19 mins
The date is May 7, 1747. The place is Potsdam, in the Kingdom of Prussia….about 15 miles from the capital city of Berlin. In the newly built summer palace of King Frederick the Great, the day was drawing to a close as it usually did – with an evening concert in the palace’s large music room. This would indeed be a memorable evening of music making. As it turned out the musicians readying their instruments to play that ni...
Mark as Played
May 29, 2012 • 20 mins
In Part 2 of my interview with composer, Robert Sheldon, he continues to share insight into his music for band as well as his feelings about music education and the future of instrumental music in our schools.
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May 29, 2012 • 27 mins
In the first episode of What Music Means to Me, back in October of 2007, I mentioned that I intended to do interviews with leaders in the field of music. I ended up making good on that promise in the Spring of 2009 with this interview with composer, Robert Sheldon. The interview brings out some great insights into composer and Sheldon's music. Since the my old podcast host went out of business, I've been meaning to re-po...
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April 13, 2012 • 18 mins
In this episode of What Music Means to Me I want to discuss the significance of Repetition in music. Specifically, we’ll look at how the right mix of repetition and variation of musical ideas – on both a small- and large-scale – contributes to how music is understood by listeners.
Mark as Played
April 7, 2012 • 6 mins
This episode of WMM2M is one in a series of episodes I call “Music Lessons.” Aside from the obvious joy and aesthetic pleasure that comes from producing music, and the way music augments intellectual development (often called the “Mozart Effect”) music additionally teaches valuable life lessons to those who formally study it. Stick with studying an instrument and years later you will have learned far more than how to per...
Mark as Played
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