Quote of the Day

Another amazing statistic about how the brain develops when learning music:

It was found that a bundle of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum, which functions in carrying signals between the two brain hemispheres, is about 12 percent thicker among keyboard players who started training before the age of 7, compared to keyboard players trained later, or to non-musicians.

The corpus callosum is the part of the brain that connects the left and right hemispheres. It needs to be firing on all cylinders if you want to develop the finger and hand coordination required to become a musician.

There's a meme for that too:

(Thanks Indrani!)

Quote of the Day

From Eileen Huang's new collaborative piano-oriented blog, a Recipe for Learning Contemporary Music. This is totally à propos, given the difficult new music I've been working on the last few weeks:

1. Combine 2/3 cup unusual intervals with 1/2 cup challenging rhythms.
2. Sprinkle liberally with accidentals. (Double-sharps and double-flats optional.)
3. Add sprightly tempo marking.
4. Bake until your brain is melted with a golden brown crust.

Quote of the Day

My new accompanist tagline: "Won't eff up your JRB tunes."

--@sometimeskelly on Twitter

Quote of the Day

I teach the way that I wish I was taught.

--Sal Khan

(Via 37 Signals)

Quote of the Day

Amazed at how many students of mine found the best example of a ground bass was, in fact, the "inhalitus" in Bach's Cigarette Cantata.

--@DFelsenfeld on Twitter

Quote of the Day

There's gotta be a story behind this...

Ran into Steve Buscemi today at work. Someone asked him if he was an accompanist. He said he was an accompanot. My life is always amusing.

--@MissCarlyPants on Twitter

Quote of the Day

don't pity the accompanist too much... those dudes make serious cash!

@neddaahmed, in response to @noelrk

(if only it were true)

Quote of the Day

Why is it, then, so wonderful? Well, once in a while, we just click into place: there comes a fleeting moment when each of us, playing highly individuated and often wildly complicated parts, actually become an ensemble. We … blend. This is a tremendously intense feeling, and hard to describe. There's a kind of "whoosh" to it – the sensation that you are part of something immensely powerful, something bigger than your own individual capability. The idea that you are part of not only what you yourself are making, but also what the others are creating. Out of our normal human isolation, we make a single, complex voice. This is strangely emotional, and when it happens, I think we all feel it.

--Charlotte Higgins, from How chamber music changed my life

Quote of the Day

The unnamed pianist in this Twitter status update certainly put their foot in their mouth, as ShellyAnnSings tweets:

Accompanist said "I'm sorry, I was counting like a singer"The chorus booed, & thedirector informed us that there'd be stones available after

Quote of the Day

Always construct a written payment contract between you (the pianist) and your collaborator containing the fee amount and when that amount is expected to be compensated.

--Michael Yenny, from the wall of the Collaborative Piano Blog Facebook Page

Thanks for this important reminder, Michael. Comments are welcome below. Are there situations where oral agreements are more appropriate, or are written agreements (even in email exchanges) the most reliable method to ensure terms are agreed upon?

Quote of the Day

I finally have a paying job as an accompanist. Yes!

--Elizabeth Vaughn on Twitter (@rainthesnowaway)

Anti-quote of the Day

Do not invest too much of your practice time on accompanist literature. Accompanist literature should be a supplement to each practice session, not a substantial portion.

--from eHow's How to Accompay on Piano

Quote of the Day

The best way to become a conductor is to work as a rehearsal pianist, study, and watch other experienced conductors in action. You start to conduct when you become a man. It's not enough to be talented. You need life experience, whether you're conducting a symphony orchestra or an opera production.

--Incoming San Francisco Opera Music Director Nicola Luisotti from an interview with Chloe Veltman in SF Weekly.

Quote of the Day

A set of films by Justin Blome accompanied Mr. Broome’s performance, which ended with Cage’s “4’33”.” His version was oddly rushed: I clocked it at 4’20”.

--from Alan Koznin's review of pianist David Broome in the New York Times

(Thanks, Stephen!)

The Search for the Perfect Musical Quote

My newest post for the MTH blog is up, entitled Personalize Your Music Teaching Website with Favorite Quotes. The article looks at how to change the pre-loaded quotes on MTH music teacher websites, places to find them, and the importance of using a quote to influence the perception of your site in the first few seconds of viewing. 

By the way, what's your favorite musical quote?

[Update 9:47pm] 

This quote is from @musicformedia: B Sharp, don't B Flat, always B Natural :)

Quote of the Day

From Stephen Sondheim to Dr. Kaiser:

I am not the composer of A Chorus Line.

Sorry,

Stephen Sondheim 

The original note is available for purchase from Roger Gross Ltd.

(via Soho the Dog)

Quote of the Day

No matter if you're an artist, a desk jockey, or anything in between - give yourself permission to include regular (dare I say daily?) reinvigoration in your work ethic. Silence. Slowness. Clarity. The machine doesn't work so well without them.

--Kim Witman, from Living and Singing on Interest in the WTO Blog

Anti-Quote of the Day

Being an accompanist is a behind-the-scenes kind of job, much like working stage crew for a theater show.

-from a Yahoo Answers thread on Why is it that the accompanist gets absolutely no credit?

Quote of the Day

For the next week and a half, I'm examining for RCM Examinations at their Mississauga West center. From the exam room that I'm using this week, here is a quote framed on the wall:

Priorities

A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove; however, the world will be different because I was important in the life of a child.

--Anonymous

Quote of the Day

I believe that this is where we are headed, into a world in which information is so abundant that learning how to participate in the world's knowledge conversation becomes the primary responsibility of our educational organizations, and where students learn to [become] contributors to society by actually contributing under the tutelage of wise mentors. If this is an accurate vision, then we need to help educators experience for themselves the these same transformative changes and opportunities. If we don't, we're just asking them to learn about one more technology fad in a parade of technological fads that were each supposed to remake education, and their interest reflect their "technology fatigue."

--Steve Hargadon, from The Web Is Becoming a Conversation