Introduction: The Mystery of the Music Page You’re sitting down with a new piece of music, excited to play, and then you see it. A little squiggle, a strange mark, something that looks nothing like a note or a rest you recognize. You stare at it, furrow your brow, and think, “What on earth is […]

Introduction: The Universal Mystery of Weird Notation Ever stared at a piece of sheet music and thought, “What in the world is that?” If you’re a musician, I bet you have! We spend years learning what all those dots, lines, and squiggles mean, because understanding notation is crucial to bringing the music to life. If […]

Introduction: The Frustration with Passive Learning Ah, orchestration! The thrilling, sometimes terrifying, art of taking a melody or idea and making a whole orchestra bring it to life. It’s the dream for many composers, but let’s face it, it can feel overwhelming. You might spend hours poring over textbooks, memorizing instrument ranges, and listening to […]

Introduction: The Perplexing Notation Have you ever been practicing and suddenly paused, staring at your sheet music because you saw something that looked like a total contradiction? I’m talking about those little staccato dots sitting patiently under a big, sweeping slur mark. It looks like the composer is asking you to play notes short and […]

Introduction: The Viral Post That Changed Everything An online discussion recently struck a chord with countless musicians. It centered on the frustrating gap between learning music theory and actually using it to write songs. As a teacher, I hear this *all* the time! Theory often feels like an academic exercise, full of rules and jargon, […]

Introduction: The Dream vs. Reality You spent your undergraduate years diving deep into history, science, or business, but all the while, your heart sang a different tune. You dreamt of composing, performing, or teaching music. Now, bachelor’s degree in hand, you’re wondering: can you pivot directly from that unrelated field straight into a music graduate […]

Introduction: Unpacking a Musical Mystery You pick up a musical score, ready to dive into the music. You expect a clear map: notes, rhythms, dynamics – all laid out perfectly. But sometimes, you find a little puzzle. One such puzzle lies within Oskar Böhme’s fantastic Trumpet Concerto in F minor, Op. 18. It’s a piece […]

Introduction: The Unexpected Detail Getting official documents can often feel a bit… well, dry. There are forms, waiting, and finally, you receive that important piece of plastic or paper. Holding my new Spanish residence permit, I performed the usual checks – photo, name, dates. But then, my eye caught something unusual woven into the background […]

Blog Post: Introduction: The Mystery on the Page Have you ever been practicing, humming along, and suddenly stared at your sheet music thinking, “What in the cosmos is that symbol?” You’re not alone! Sheet music can sometimes present puzzles, especially when we encounter something unfamiliar. One symbol that occasionally appears and causes a bit of […]

Introduction: The Subtle Art of Musical Transformation Have you ever listened to a song and felt the whole mood, the entire key, subtly shift? Not a dramatic pivot through a series of chords, but a quiet transformation where you suddenly knew things were in a different place. This fascinating trick, this kind of musical magic, […]