Band Directors! Learn to Tune Your #%@&*%$# Bands!

“I have had it with out-of-tune bands”! The more I listen to concert bands, the more I get upset and wonder where we have gone wrong in instrumental music. As my readers have learned, I am a very patient yet sometimes out spoken person. I try to understand other opinions and give most people the benefit of the doubt but in the case of poor intonation in most of our instrumental music programs today, I have had it! I have decided to face the reality that the instrumental programs for the most part in our country have failed our students…

The Westerlies- Possibly the Best Brass Ensemble….Period!

When choosing these words, I have taken a lot of time to consider my final choice for one benefit of being old is that I have seen and heard many brass ensembles through the years. I have listed below many of the most outstanding brass ensembles and how they stack up against this relatively new chamber group. Established Brass Ensemble Westerlies New York Brass Quintet The Westerlies are more accurate Philip Jones Brass Ensemble The Westerlies have more dynamic contrast Canadian Brass Ensemble The Westerlies are a tighter ensemble (yes, tighter ensemble) Mnozil Brass The Westerlies are more sane Tine…

The Disturbing Monette Video- Re-posted from 2010

We all have had moments when something pops into our minds which is disturbing enough to keep us up at night and for me, this is one of those moments. Several weeks ago, while searching for topics for this blog, I came across a video produced by Mr. Dave Monette. I first met Mr. Monette many years ago while he was visiting our campus and was very impressed with his knowledge, personality and his obvious passion for the trumpet. As I have stated in more than one blog, I have a great deal of respect for this man and for…