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To ‘daah’ or not to ‘daah’
Mike Lawson | March 3, 2020“One of the most common contributions to a non-characteristic brass sound from a young player is the approach to articulation. Many use a ‘default’ articulation, such as ‘poo,’ ‘thaw,’ between the lips ‘pthoo,’ or just a ‘whoo’ with no tongue at all.
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“Use the Force”
Mike Lawson | February 6, 2020Quick knowledge assessment: To get all students involved and to quickly assess their knowledge I will pose a question and have students close their eyes when they have the answer.
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Ready, Set, Go!
Mike Lawson | January 10, 2020Don’t start playing until you are ready: both mentally and physically set to commence.
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Picture Yourself in a Boat on a River…
Mike Lawson | December 5, 2019Imagine a story as you perform, whether the music at hand is an étude, a concerto, or a set of scales.
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Keys to Practice
Mike Lawson | November 1, 2019The warmup process is one the most important factors in developing musicians.
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Do you know the way to Carnegie Hall?
Mike Lawson | October 3, 2019We all worry about how much students practice. For the last 47 years I have asked band students if they are [also] athletes, and how much they practice.
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Attack Tuning
Mike Lawson | August 29, 2019When tuning, lightly articulate your tuning pitch a few times. Not only will this allow you to hear if you are above or below the reference pitch more easily, but it also ensures that you are in tune at the attack and not relying on embouchure or air adjustments to stay in tune.
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Positive Vibrations
Mike Lawson | August 2, 2019Saxophone and clarinet players: look in the mirror, place the mouthpiece in your mouth with your normal embouchure and DON’T PLAY.
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Out of Sight, Dude…
Mike Lawson | July 5, 2019When practicing at home, leave your case open, with your instrument ready to play.
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Student Band Manager!
Mike Lawson | June 6, 2019Some of the logistics of running an ensemble can be cumbersome. To alleviate this, I hire a student in the ensemble to serve as the Band Manager for the school year.
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Expansion and Contraction
Mike Lawson | May 8, 2019I like to use a Hoberman sphere (http://goo.gl/GTEmXh) as a tool to show my students how to play effective dynamics.
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Seated, Settled, Solfège
Mike Lawson | April 9, 2019I have over ninety students in one sixth grade beginning band class, and it always takes a little longer to get them seated and settled.
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