Why Do Young Clarinet Players Play Flat?

This is a guest post from Rheuben Allen, taken from his site with permission. Why do young clarinet players play flat? Elementary school and middle school students who choose to play the clarinet often have an issue playing in tune. But they’re not necessarily to blame. The manufacturers of many student clarinets sell instruments with …

There Are No Shortcuts

Amongst the language learning community, there are a lot of products marketed to learners as being the newest and fastest way to learn a language. The problem with this, is with how they’re defining what it means to have learnt a language. Is this to fluency? To basic conversation ability? It is rarely clear just …

How to Learn Something from Any Situation

When we make the transition from school to the real world, maintaining our learning curve can present a challenge. In school we’re often handed things that we need to work on in the form or homework or assignments, and so we rarely have to think about the next step. But what happens when you no …

13 Things No One Told Me About Being A Professional Musician

I began my career as a professional musician while in high school and I’ve learned more outside of school these past few years than I did in all of my time in school (and I went to school through a Master’s degree). Some of the lessons that I’ve learned were much harder than others, but …

The Essentials for Any Musician

I’ve recently had a few of my students’ parents ask me about the music equipment that their child should have and so I decided to answer it here. I think it’s also apt at this point to mention the importance of storing musical instruments and accessories correctly and safely to avoid any damage. Parents, take …

How I Earned More in Tips than What the Gig Paid Playing to a Nearly Empty Room

At some point or another we’ve all had or will have gigs where the room is nearly empty. You can’t win them all. But, how those gigs turn out all depend on how you behave and how you perform despite whatever disappointment you may be feeling. So let me start by saying it’s not easy. …

Why It’s Important to Stretch as a Musician

Maintaining your health and keeping your body in shape while on and off the road as a musician is essential to a long-lasting career. By not taking care of your body, you could inhibit your ability to perform and so it’s important to be fit. One of the best things you can do to help …

Common Mistakes Made By Young Saxophonists

Hi everyone, this is Rheuben. I’m going to talk to you about some of the common mistakes made by young saxophonists. And the first thing that happens with most young saxophonists and the most important part of this is that they do not put the mouthpiece far enough on the neck. On every mouthpiece, saxophone, …

The Dangers of Swapping Instruments

I know that today’s post may seem a bit silly to some, but I wanted to touch on this subject because of questions some of my music students’ parents had about swapping instruments. First, to answer a specific question: “Is it normal that my child’s music teacher played their instrument?” Yes, it is, but they …

A Fun Way to Work on Ear Training | Memrise

The skills necessary to become a successful musician go beyond just playing our instrument well. In addition to being a good musician, we need to have a good business sense, the ability to juggle a diverse range of tasks, and more. Once we start getting busy with gigs, the business aspects of music, and practice, …