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12 books for the growing career
I’m working hard on my next #PsalmQuest piece – a concerto for Bass Clarinet and Strings, and it is going well, but with the holidays and lots of travel it’s been hard to keep up. Should have something to share with you in a month or so. In the meantime, here is a list of 12 books all budding/ growing… people should read (At first I wrote “musicians” but realized there is a great deal of info here that is relevant for anyone trying to grow a business or even just their own career, even in the music-related books!). If you or someone you love is trying to build a…
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Next piece: Wind Quintet 2
Yes, I’m forging ahead! Why? Because I know that as I improve my composition skills (the purpose of this entire project) I am learning how instruments sound and work together and I will be wanting to compose for larger combinations of instruments, such as a full orchestra. Writing such a piece will take a lot more time. If I can get ahead in the project now, it will allow some flexibility for taking longer on the bigger pieces. For example, this next piece is a Wind Quintet. That’s the standard combination of woodwind instruments (plus French Horn) found in most Western ensembles – flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon. However,…
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People Matter.
What are you working on? Do you have a hobby or skill that you pursue outside of your day job? Some people build model train sets, others go ice skating. Some folk coach Little League baseball, and others knit. What’s your hobby? (Tell me in the comments below). It’s interesting that over the past 10 days or so something has come to light in my world prompted by several emails following my “Keeping up appearances” post last week. That something is a project. No, a Project. Well, to be perfectly honest, it’s a “Major Project.” Much of the encouragement and advice you’ve shared in comments, tweets and emails has been…
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Very important people
How many very important people do you have in your life? The most difficult for me to get along with but who I value extremely highly, are lawyers. In the USA we need lawyers for just about everything, but especially in the music world. Did you know that most initial music industry contacts are made through lawyers? Not agents, not managers, not even the artists themselves. But lawyers can be intimidating. They charge by the part-hour and good ones attract a hefty hourly rate – rightly so, but when talking or meeting or emailing or faxing their laywers, many clients remain acutely aware of every second. There are many nice lawyers out there who…
