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Commentary

  •

    Finding the Money

    Mike Lawson | November 11, 2016

    Resources and strategies for paying for music school.

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  • Teaching through Leadership: Lifelong Lessons from the Podium

    Mike Lawson | November 11, 2016

    You’ve been through five years of college. You’ve learned music theory, aural skills, music history, marching band techniques, brass, woodwind, and percussion techniques, and basic (and I do mean “basic”) conducting techniques. You’ve learned educational psychology, curriculum development, lesson planning, and you’ve student taught. You’ve graduated and landed your first job. You are ready! ...but are you?

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  • Nurturing Passion in Young Musicians

    Mike Lawson | October 6, 2016

    In the September 2016 issue of School Band and Orchestra there appeared an article I wrote entitled “Practice Without Playing.” I actually wrote the article, or at least a first draft of it, a long time ago — half a century ago to be precise — when I was just 15 years old and a student in the tenth grade. At the time I had played the clarinet for just thirteen months but by my sophomore year I just couldn’t get enough of this mellifluous licorice stick and my passion for music was becoming insatiable.

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  • Perspective: “Summertime come and gone, my oh my…” or “Welcome Back.”

    Mike Lawson | September 8, 2016

    Its back-to-school season again.

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  • Make Your Band into Dynamic Detectives

    Mike Lawson | September 8, 2016

    As the marching season fades behind us and we move into a more concert band-focused period of the year, we are all looking for ways to improve the sounds of our indoor ensembles. Amongst the many factors we have to contend with – tone quality, rhythmic and pitch accuracy, intonation, and more – one item can often hide from our ears “in plain sight” as it were: balance.

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  • Classroom: Everything I Need to Know About Teaching I Learned from My Dog

    Mike Lawson | September 8, 2016

    I always had dogs growing up, and they were an integral part of our family. When I was a senior in college my family had to say goodbye to our dog of 12 years, Lucky.

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  • The Good Fight: Summer NAMM, Music Making, Politics, and Hammocks

    Mike Lawson | August 15, 2016

    I hope you are reading this in the throes of summertime renewal. Summer NAMM in Nashville wrapped on June 25th, and it was once again a great gathering of professionals in the music products industry. Attendees at Summer NAMM express that they value both the pace and scale of a show that allows them to spend more time with each other, to engage in product demos, to review business models, and make time for professional development. A slightly slower pace seems to be one of the essential elements of renewal.

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  • Rhythm: Overthought and Under-Taught Part 2

    Mike Lawson | August 15, 2016

    Upbeats are one of the most important parts of rhythm yet time and again they create havoc in our performances. The concept is so simple that most teachers think that the upbeats will fix themselves with time and/or they don’t want to take the time to deal with such a simple concept that seems to have very few solutions.

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  • Instrumental: Starting Your Bassoon Program: Taming the “Bundle of Twigs”

    Mike Lawson | August 15, 2016

    The German (and Dutch) name for the bassoon is faggott, which literally means bundle of twigs. And for many band directors, teaching beginning bassoonists – taming that bundle of twigs – is one of the most challenging, if not intimidating, parts of their jobs. Add to that the fact that good pedagogical information about bassoon is hard to find, and much of what little exists is vague and/or contradictory.

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  • In The Trenches: The Every Student Succeeds Act and What’s in it for YOU! (But Only if You Act!)

    Mike Lawson | August 15, 2016

    Earlier this year I wrote about the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) with some general ideas of how this could impact music education. Today we are going to get a bit more specific and focus on what is in it for YOU.

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  • Five Minute Read:Take on Cool-Weather Tuning!

    Mike Lawson | August 15, 2016

    At a recent caption-style marching band competition, I had the pleasure of judging the music performance caption. Even though it was a southern destination in very early October, temperatures were extra cool, especially as the sun went down. This of course lead to the many intonation challenges with which we’re all familiar: rising pitch in the mallet instruments and plummeting pitch in the winds. So, as we get deeper into the Fall contest season, and as temperatures continue to drop, keep in mind these strategies that can help fight cold weather intonation challenges!

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  • College Programs

    Mike Lawson | August 15, 2016

    Getting Your Students Ready for College and University Band Programs When the Last Note is Played, Does the Music End?

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