A Composer’s Musings (Mine)
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
1M ago
I am fascinated with who a composer's influences are. Whenever I listen to music, one of the first thoughts I have is, "who does this sound like?" For example, Leonard Bernstein was heavily influenced by Mahler and Copland, so it is fun for me to listen for passages in Bernstein's music that point to those ..read more
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Welcome To The Opera: This is how children should be introduced to opera
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
1M ago
I recently read Carolyn Sloan's excellent volume, Welcome To The Opera. In this article, I will share my running notes that I made as I read the book, and then my summative review. This is a welcome addition to previous books by this author introducing children to other music forms. It can be difficult to ..read more
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What’s A Concert Audience to Do?
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
5M ago
How should concert audiences be expected to behave? Recent events at concerts have quickly brought this question to prominence. For quite a long time, there has been a distinction between what is and what isn’t allowed at a concert, depending on the genre of music being performed. Audiences at a symphony orchestra, opera, or ballet ..read more
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Why following the beat isn’t always a good idea
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
6M ago
If you're a music director of a performing ensemble, I'm sure you've said it to your musicians many times. Follow me. Stay with the beat. After all, that's one of the reasons they have you, the conductor, standing up there in the first place, right? You're up there to keep everybody together, and the way … Advertisement ..read more
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Are You Fluent in Music?
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
8M ago
I inhabit a world of my own. I always have. Sitting on the school bus on the way to school, I remember retreating into that world, which consisted of me constantly humming softly. I was humming nothing in particular, just mindlessly humming whatever came to mind. There was an older boy who made a point … Advertisement ..read more
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A Different Kind of Music Advocacy
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
11M ago
Music advocates, and who isn’t one that reads this blog, are sometimes like that child in a class that always strenuously raises their hand—“ooh, ooh, ooh, call on me, call on me,” but is rarely called on because either that child is always answering questions, not giving anyone else a chance to answer and learn ..read more
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Tuplets Explained
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
1y ago
At times, music notation can be confusing. Even for highly trained musicians, certain aspects of music notation requires them to pause and investigate how a particular rhythmic grouping should be performed. This is particularly true with rhythmic groupings known as tuplets. All tuplets are mathematical ratios. The first number in the ratio is the number ..read more
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How Much Should We Interpret Music?
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
1y ago
As musicians, we regularly perform music written by others. For the classical musician, be it for the  symphony orchestra, chamber ensemble, or solo recital, we have on our stands notated music handed down to us by publishers, often composed by those considered among the greatest creators of music Western European culture has ever produced. Many ..read more
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Improvisation, Virtuosos, and Poignancy Are The Missing Ingredients
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
1y ago
Who is a concert about? Not what is it about, but who? If it’s a symphony orchestra concert, is it about the conductor? The players? If it’s a rock concert, is it about the lead guitarist? The drummer? The lead singer? To be sure, when we go to a concert we very well may be ..read more
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Three Leadership Styles In the Music Classroom
Mr. A Music Place
by mramusicplace
1y ago
Leadership has been getting a lot of attention lately. Much of it is directed at what good leadership is, and what good leaders do. I have always maintained that every teacher is a leader, and every good teacher is a good leader. Teachers have more influence over how their students will turn out that possibly ..read more
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