Our Lives Are Poorer Now

It used to be that every major city had at least two classical music stations and, many times, there were more than two classical stations. In the last 10-15 years, these stations have disappeared. As you know, gentle reader, I adore rock music, but, come on! Chicago has only one classical station and if you don't happen to like what they are playing, you are out of luck. We just don't have the kinds of choices we used to have.

More about practicing

Here's another tip:
Instead of always playing from the beginning of the piece, sometimes you should work backward from the end!! Hey, it just makes sense, doesn't it?

Orff Schulwerk

During the last half of my music teaching career, I became acquainted with Orff Schulwerk. I was immediately attracted to this kind of study, which was introduced to the music teachers in my town by a dynamic and accomplished musician -- Lillian Yaross, who quickly became my idol.

Orff Schulwerk is “Music for Children”, a way to teach and learn music using poems, rhymes, games, songs, and dances as basic materials. The Schulwerk was created by composers Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman in Europe. The emphasis is on students as improvisers and performers. It is the most exciting way to teach and learn music.

I became trained in this method by taking Level I at DePaul University and Level II at the University of Illinois at Champaign, Illinois. These were each two week courses and covered everything from the "Orff method" to "Movement" and "Recorder". There is Level III, but I never took it. Also, every year there are huge Orff conventions in a U.S. city. I have been to three of those: in Chicago, in Minneappolis and in Memphis. And, the Greater Chicago Chapter has monthly workshops, featuring nationally known clinicians who work music teachers for four hours on Saturday mornings.

With the Orff method, the students learn to play a variety of small percussion instruments, such as hand drums. They learn to combine rhythms and they learn to use rhythms from speech as musical elements. The learn to improvise, as well. Each school must provide a wide ranged of "barred" instruments, especially designed by Orff for use by elementary students.


There are several kinds of Orff instruments: xylophones (made of wood -- bass, alto and soprano), metallophones (bass, alto and soprano) and glockenspiel (alto and soprano). Combining these instruments creates a magical sound. Especially effective is the use of the pentatonic scale which allows the students to improvise their own melodies! The bars are removable.



Here is an example of an actual ensemble from an elementary school.

The odd thing is that it seems very few schools in Europe use this method, whereas it is used widely throughout the U.S.

My New Fav

I can't seem to get enough of "Crush" by the Dave Matthews Band. I have heard "about" this band for several years, but didn't know their music until I heard this one on the radio and fell in love with it. I like the words, his voice and especially the flute and violin solos. I like the way the song builds, too. (Sorry -- at the end of the song, I accidentally recorded the beginning of another tune -- The Witch's Ride from Hansel and Gretel -- enjoy!!)

Theories of Practicing Music

Ok, it's the New Year. Among my many resolutions is this one: to practice the violin and the piano every day. I will accept a minimum of 30 minutes per day per instrument, but, of course, more time would be preferable, if possible.

I became convinced of the importance of practicing every day after I interviewed Adolph Herseth, who, during his long career as first trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and who was known as "The World's Greatest Living Trumpeter". He told me that he practiced every day, without fail, no matter where he was and no matter what the season. He carried his mouthpiece in his pocket. After that, I began to practice every day and I noticed the vast improvement in my playing. In recent years I would say that I was able to practice for an hour on about 3 or 4 days out of 7. That worked pretty well, but this year I want to do even better. For example, my string quartet wants to do some ambitious music so I want to get into shape and learn the music, as well! At my age, my muscles can become sore (from disuse? or some other reason?) so that's another reason I want to keep my muscles toned.

I'd like to mention two other theories of practicing music. First of all there is a great rule: if you come across a difficult passage, play it very slowly and perfectly. Then work the speed up. I got another tip from YoYo Ma, in an article about him in Time magazine some years ago: when you make a mistake you must play it perfectly three times in a row. If you play it two times and make a mistake, you must start over on number 1! This is a great method because it trains you to repeat the perfect playings, not the mistakes.

Of course, there are many other tricks about practicing, such as repeating a group of notes over and over, then going on to the next pattern.

Listening to Music With Another Person

On New Year's Eve, a musician friend came to join us. I told my friend how thrilling it was to play Scheherazade with the orchestra. So we played the music as we were drinking. My friend said, "How wonderful it is to listen to music with someone else who understands and enjoys the music as much as I do!" It's true! As you listen with your friend, your eyes and gestures capture and anticipate the music. It's a whole new level to listening -- being able to share it with someone else.

A Day Full of Music!

On Sunday, December 30, a friend and I went to hear the taiko drummers in a free performance. It was totally awesome! We had to sit on the side because the place was packed. Oh, the thrill of hearing those drums! Your whole body throbs!



It was surprising and wonderful to see the young women playing drums, dressed in kimono. Two samisen players from Japan accompanied the drumming at times.



Two young men, naked to the waist, came out to play the suspended drums!



To see more pictures, go here:

Finally, as if that weren't enough, on the way home I heard an amazing street musician in the subway station!! It was "Shannon vs. the Stranger". He sings his own songs. His lyrics and chord changes were amazing!

Here's a little video clip. I accidentally stopped filming before the last line, which was, "My life is full of disappointment, but I'm so full of life."

I bought his CD for $5. Here is the song I heard him sing in the subway, "Full of Life". You can hear the whole song here on this player.