Music is a magic that can change the world
I didn't want to get too sappy for this one, but this year has been a big one for me! I started the year working three jobs while being a part-time student, started grad school in the second half of the year, and learned how to better plan and craft blog posts that hopefully help …
Continue reading "Countdown to 2020: The Top 5 Posts of 2019"
I've been procrastinating this review for most of the year because this book, Presence, influenced me so deeply that I wanted to do it justice. While I may not be able to do just that, at least I can share this resource with people who would benefit from it: musicians, creatives, and people living in …
This book has been on my reading list for a while (and I think it got there from its mention in an Adam Neely video), but it was my class on Musical Expectation that pushed me to finally read it, and I'm so glad I did. Leonard B. Meyer writes from his perspectives as a …
Continue reading "Book Review: Emotion and Meaning in Music by Leonard B. Meyer"
Madeline Bruser, a Juilliard graduate and an authorized instructor of mindfulness meditation brings these two aspects of her life into her book The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart. In this work, she not only covers the physical aspects of playing an instrument in avoiding injury and freeing the body, …
Continue reading "Book Review: The Art of Practicing by Madeline Bruser"
Piano Notes: The World of the Pianist comes from Charles Rosen, a notable concert pianist, music critic, and overall celebrated thinker of music of the common practice period. Perhaps his two most well-known volumes on music are The Classical Style and The Romantic Generation, both which I referenced in some undergraduate essays. When I found …
Continue reading "Book Review: Piano Notes by Charles Rosen"
This is another book that helped shape me. In some ways, Jane is the typical heroine: she grows up in hardship and develops a strength that can only be grown from that kind of upbringing. Then a mysterious man who also needs healing crosses paths with her, and they complement each other. She saves him, …
To start off the Monday Book Reviews, I thought it would be perfect to choose something meaningful to me. Ella Enchanted is a children's fairy tale by Gail Carson Levine. It helped shape me. A re-telling of Cinderella, the story follows Ella of Frell in her journey to be freed of her "obedience curse." Every time I …
