amateurmusicians.net

the silence of the sheep

When art becomes religion, even art pranks seem deeply profound. But what if avant-garde composer John Cage had placed a urinal on the concert stage?

music eludes simple definition

Music is an art that puts sounds together in a way that people like or find interesting. Sort of.

what is ‘experimental’ music?

How an unconventional music workshop opened up a can of (beautiful) worms. Hint: beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

puss ‘n notes

If music is as ancient and mysterious as the Sphynx, can a kitty cat tell us what's the name of the tune?

sensibility training

So what's this blog all about? Fundamentally.

variation 25, take 844

Here’s a clip to accompany my previous post, of Glenn Gould playing variation 25 from the Goldberg Variations. It’s from a recording made for television, late in his life. I include it here because of the sheer contrast between this delicate performance, and the visual chaos of his heavily-annotated score featured in my previous post. [...]

genius score scribblings for dummies

Terrible handwriting = genius? I'll say! Any other ways to find out how truly gifted you are?

blog review: music practice tips

(Update: the musicpracticetips.com website is no longer up and running. However, as this review compares web and print media approaches for teaching practice skills, you might find the info below useful for evaluating learning resources.) When I started this blog, I initially had this idea of a web resource for music practice advice. Providing such [...]

black slab of spirited energy

If a big bad building assails you with unsympathetic vibrations, can it be re-tuned like a musical instrument?

take in large doses, three times a day

Can listening to Mozart make you better-adjusted? Philosopher Manly P. Hall says: yes, but so long as you don't get too blissed-out.