Sound On

While I don’t recommend Dr. Edwin Gordon’s tome, compiled through years of innovative research, as an introduction to his theories and results, I do recommend that it be read, eventually, by anyone who is serious about music education. This is a book that covers every essential aspect of music learning. Because of this, it ought to be the seminal text of every student of music education. Dr. Gordon’s book is at every turn insightful, logical, rewarding, inspiring, and most of all, relevant. It explains how people learn music and naturally guides the reader in developing their own methodology of musical instruction.

Music Comprehension

Unfortunately, many current standard practices in music education do not support the most important aspect of music learning: the ability to hear sound while it may or may not be physically present. This subconscious process, called audiation, happens in the brains of all good musicians and audience members. It allows us to compare what we are hearing with what we have heard, and anticipate or predict what we will hear next. This ability is the foundation for all genuine musical meaning and comprehension.

Before You Read

Learning Sequences In Music, being one of the most detailed and in depth explorations into music learning, is best prequeled with some educational resources based on Dr. Gordon’s work. Developing Musicianship Through Improvisation is my strongest recommendation, and it will even improve your musicianship and improvisation skills besides serving as a practical introduction to Dr. Gordon’s theory of music learning. If you have a child in your life, definitely pick up Music Play. Lastly, any of the Jump Right In series of materials can also be very helpful. But once you have a sense of the surface and practical applications of the theory, do read Learning Sequences In Music.

Serious Reading

The writing style is generally serious and academic in nature. Dr. Gordon does have a sense of humor, and anyone who has met him in person knows he loves to tell jokes, but to find the humor in his writing, you have to be sensitive to the way he explains things. If you are used to reading magazines or fictional novels for entertainment, this book will challenge you, but the challenge is worth the results.

A More Musical World

Dr. Gordon’s book will help you develop your own music learning methodology and curriculum that will help your students learn how to audiate and comprehend music. It is available in hardcover, along with a challenging study guide, and most recently, audio lectures introducing each chapter. But best of all, attend one of Dr. Gordon’s lectures in person, and keep up with the Gordon Institute for Music Learning. I truly believe that if more music education professionals were aware of the results of Dr. Gordon’s research, the world would be a much more musical place.

Alfie Kohn writes:

“There’s something perversely fascinating about educational policies that are clearly at odds with the available data.  Huge schools are still being built even though we know that students tend to fare better in smaller places that lend themselves to the creation of democratic caring communities.  Many children who are failed by the academic status quo are forced to repeat a grade even though research shows that this is just about the worst course of action for them.  Homework continues to be assigned – in ever greater quantities – despite the absence of evidence that it’s necessary or even helpful in most cases.”

Beyond Homework

Alfie Kohn isn’t just writing about homework, he’s writing about how decisions are made in education. The first sentence nails it: policies in education are not being influenced by available data. Decisions are made on whims. Someone tried something, and it seemed to be ok, so they kept doing it. Or it is simply considered “conventional wisdom” that a given practice is the best approach. But actual research is being done in the field of education; it’s just that, for some reason, people aren’t letting the research guide their practice.

Research In Education

Granted, research in education isn’t perfect. It’s not appropriate to raise children up in an isolated chamber only to expose them to a certain thing at a certain age. But you can assess two groups, try something one way with group A, a different way with group B, and see which group has better achievement in the end. It’s the best we can do, and it’s leaps and bounds above “but we’ve always done this way.”

Research In Music Education

Dear Music Education Professionals: please check out the work of Dr. Edwin Gordon, especially the tome Learning Sequences in Music.

The Data Is Out There

It is my hope that parents, teachers, and especially policy-makers in education seek out research, and not just know it, but let it influence their feelings, their thoughts, and their actions.

If you so desire, can you hear music when there is no sound physically present? If so, you are audiating, and you are well on your way to passing this class. If not, you should listen to as much music as possible (especially folk music, and repetition is good), learn to sing the melody, listen carefully to the bassline and learn to sing that too, and see if you can sing the song silently to yourself in your head without actually singing out loud. Then follow these instructions:

Get To Class

Being in class is more musical exposure time for your brain, not to mention the advice, instruction, and good will of your professor. So get up and get there, no matter what (unless you are very ill).

Solfege

You are probably be using a system of verbal association to help your brain organize a large number of tonal and rhythmic patterns. For tonal syllables, if your professor uses moveable do with a la based minor, they are very smart. More commonly, they will use moveable do with a do based minor, meaning you must alter the syllables in order to sing in different tonalities with “do” always as the resting tone. With this system, you cannot, for example, determine what tonality you are in by determining the correct solfege for the resting tone, since it will always be “do.” You will also be doing quite a bit of mental gymnastics as in tonalities like Phrygian and Locrian. But even if your professor isn’t using the best system, they are probably just old and set in their ways, and still have a lot to offer you in terms of musical instruction, so for now, use the system they want, and when you become a music teacher, use moveable do with a lot based minor.

Likewise, for rhythm, your professor will probably have you use the 1e&a system. The system that can help you the most is known as “du de,” because the syllables are based on beat function, not notation. There is at least one other beat-function rhythm solfege out there, but just use whatever your professor wants for now. Some kind of verbal association is better than none at all.

To get a better grasp on solfege, use it all the time. Solfege everything you hear – a little motif from a popular melody, your applied instrumental/vocal assignments – everything. This will carry you a long way towards mastery.

Rehearsing Sight-Singing Assignments

Each week you will probably be given a series of melodies and rhythms to later perform accurately for your professor or their grad student. It seems silly, like you are almost memorizing a bunch of music – but the goal is not memorization per say, but rather to commit the tonal and rhythm patterns you perform to memory where they can serve you. Then hopefully you learn to hear what you see, even when the sound is not physically present.

On the day you are given the assignment, go and try to sing through all of the lines. Sit at a piano and check your accuracy if you must. Pencil in the occasional syllable if you are just learning solfege. Do not leave until you have accurately performed each line at least once. It may take several hours, but your time will be well spent, and your total average daily time will be much lower if you solidify your performance now. Get into a good habit by doing this with the very first assignment, even if it seems pathetically simple.

The next day, again sit down and make sure you can accurately perform each assignment at least once. It will only take you maybe 25% of the time it took the first day.

The next day, do the same thing again: perform each line with 100% accuracy. Time spent now is a very small fraction of the time you spent on the first day.

The next day, do the same thing. Keep going through the assignment and performing each one with 100% accuracy, if only once per day. By now you will get to the point where you do it perfectly the first time. Keep practicing every day, even if all you do is reinforce perfection, until you actually perform for a grade. You will get better and better at the examples, with less time. They will become so easy as to make you sick of them. They will haunt you in your sleep.

Harmonic Dictation

When you must do harmonic dictation, listen for the melody first, then the bass line, and then any inner lines. Use logic to narrow down your choices of inner voices, and use your audiation instrument (your brain!) to confirm which tones you are actually hearing. Sometimes it really helps to write chord symbols (I IV V I) across the top, and then work from there. Use slash notation – don’t bother filling in circles for note heads; just draw a diagonal slash.

Rhythmic Dictation

Again, use slash notation. Sometimes it helps to quickly jot down tick marks across the top, and then go through and fill in the rhythms with the proper beaming.

Stick With It

I have seen people take this same class year after year. Keep plugging away and sticking with it. Get help from your professors. Practice with your friends. Keep singing along melodies and basslines to your favorite tunes, and solfeging your large ensemble music. You will get it and your musicianship will benefit!

There’s No Such Thing As Sight-Singing

In reality, there is no such thing as Sight-Singing. You can either read music, or you can’t. If you are truly learning to read music for the first time, this is a formidable challenge. But practice for a perfect performance daily, and you will find this class to be a very satisfying accomplishment. You might also enjoy How To Be Ridiculously Successful In College. Good luck, and happy reading and writing!

If you’re familiar with the musical aptitude tests developed by Dr. Edwin Gordon, you’ll appreciate this “aptitude test:”

Advanced Measures of Contemporary Music Audiation.

Joke Background

To celebrate the end of our Level 1 GIML Certification in Early Childhood Music, I developed the joke. I wasn’t going to do it, but then they lured me with research money.

Karlheinz Stockhausen

One day during class, Dr. Gordon told the following story [I paraphrase]: “I was at a music conference in Europe with composer Morton Feldmen. Karlheinz Stockhausen was explaining one of his pieces using mountains of charts and graphs. Morty told Karlheinz to ‘just sing it!’ Karlheinz couldn’t do it and was very embarrassed.” The musical excerpts in AMCMA are from Stockhausen’s Gruppen for 3 Orchestras (1955-57). Also, many have asked – yes, that is your author’s voice on the recording.

Audie

AMCMA is based on Audie, a musical aptitude test for children ages three through four. The fact that the Advanced Measures of Contemporary Music Audiation uses the same format as a test designed for children ages three through four further pokes fun at contemporary music practices.

It’s All A Joke

The biggest joke here is that I am a huge fan and composer of contemporary music, including the likes of Stockhausen, Cage, and the June in Buffalo festival. Stockhausen’s Helicopter String Quartet is beautiful and magnificently spellbinding. Further, in accordance with the results of Dr. Gordon’s research, I believe that tonality is always perceived, and that learning to audiate helps one to make sense of contemporary music, where tonality may be subjective and or transient. So, Karlheinz, please don’t take my test the wrong way.

Explore

If you want to get in touch with the modern music scene, tune into Counterstream Radio, a product of the American Music Center, which I wrote about in July.

The past two weeks I have had the pleasure of achieving Level 1 Mastership Certification in Early Childhood Music through the Gordon Institute of Music Learning and the University at Buffalo. The two courses addressed the theory and practice of music learning.

Lectures By Dr. Edwin Gordon

Each morning featured lectures on Music Learning Theory right from the horse’s mouth. It was great to hear Dr. Gordon speak live and in person, and experience the physical manifestation of his voice and sense of humor, which comes through so clearly in his writing.

The most valuable aspect of the experience was Dr. Gordon’s regular demonstrations of the results of his research. It’s easy to read words like “continuous flowing movement,” but to see it demonstrated can be quite striking.

Dr. Gordon’s enthusiasm for research in music education and fervor for the practical applications derived thereof (and likewise, his overt antipathy for traditional beliefs and practice in the music education world) were an especially memorable component of his talks.

Although I approached class as a fan of Dr. Gordon’s work, it is clear that many of my classmates have become “converts,” as they were forced to confront stupidity latent in their thoughts and conventions.

Now I Know How To Flow

Jennifer Bailey and Natasha Sigmund led a class on the practical applications of Music Learning Theory in an early childhood environment. It’s something that cannot be learned from a book, or even a video, because it is such a visceral experience.

Applying Music Learning Theory is very challenging, because there is so much to know and do. You need to know many songs and chants which serve as a vehicle for a variety of meters and tonalities. You need to assess children’s responses, understand what level their brain is functioning at musically, and use that knowledge to respond back appropriately. The entire session must flow. You expect nothing from students, but go to them and bring them along with you musically if they are ready. Taking all this into consideration can be a paralyzing experience!

More Challenges

Having class each day was difficult. Normally, as a student I like to take my time reading, carefully organize my notes and review them before class, and in general, take my time – that is a critical mantra for me in my own experience of learning. Unfortunately, with class going on each day, I found myself struggling to complete assignments, practice, and really comprehend what was going on. But I know that the philosophy of the class was just to feed me enough information to keep me going on my own.

Another challenge was embracing simplicity in the construction of songs and chants. Sophistication is the natural result of a culture that embraces it.

Finally, I have a new appreciation for having gone to college away from home. As I attended my first graduate classes while living at home, I found “everyday life” interfering with class on a regular basis. Going to school out of state and living in dorms fostered an environment where I could really leave everything behind and focus on academics. While of course I made time for friends, they too were immersed in an academic life experience.

People

My classmates came from Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland to Searcy, Arkansas, USA, and everywhere in between. What a turnout! Time with the “dormies” was fun, musical, and overall well spent. Come on back to Buffalo any time! And of course, class would be incomplete without the illustrious Dan Reitz, whose musicianship and depth of thought never fail to incite.

Deception

While the certification and practical applications focus on early childhood with occasional ventures into classroom and even instrumental music education, the class was actually about how people learn music from the beginning. It is not chronological age, but musical age that matters. Thus, the knowledge gained through class is (for better or worse) applicable to even chronologically mature students. This class is appropriate for everyone, even if early childhood isn’t your “thing.”

Conclusion

The certification workshop, with all its ups and downs, was an overall excellent experience that I recommend to anyone. The concepts I learned will be developed into methods and applied to whatever sort of music learning environment I decide to become involved with. Also, class counted as the first six of 33 credits towards a master’s degree, so I am on my way towards a formal application to the program by February, 2008. Lastly, classmates: please keep in touch, and best wishes to you all!

“Since its founding in 1939 by six composers including Aaron Copland, the American Music Center has been building a national community for new American music.” Here’s how they have been accomplishing their goal:

NewMusicbox

At the 2007 June in Buffalo music festival, I had the pleasure of a conversation with Randy Nordschow, associate editor of NewMusicbox, “a Web-based advocacy magazine and portal dedicated to the music of American composers and improvisers and their champions.” NewMusicbox is regularly updated with high quality content and opportunities for discussion.

NewMusicJukebox

NewMusicJukebox is “a vast, searchable online database of more than 40,000 works by American composers; publications and directories compiling opportunities in new music and other information useful to industry professionals; and benefits and services for nearly 2,500 members in all fifty states and around the world.” But following is the most valuable resource to any musician or music fan!

Counterstream Radio

Counterstream Radio is the web radio station of the American Music Center. If you are interested in broadening your musical horizons and hearing substantial, influential works in American repertoire, visit the website and tune in through the web player or through iTunes. Counterstream Radio has been a constant source of inspiration and thoughtful entertainment, and I hope it will continue indefinitely! When confronted with the possibility of reading about music, learning about music, talking with someone about music, or listening to music, listening is always my primary choice. Bravo to a first class musical resource!

American Music Center

Support the American Music Center and gain the benefits of membership by joining. If you have any questions, telephone (212) 366-5260 x10 or email center@amc.net.

You have a baby, or know one, and you love music. You want to pass on this gift of musical enjoyment to your baby. Perhaps you do not consider yourself “musically inclined,” but want the baby to develop this miraculous talent. Where to begin?

Hereditary vs. Innate

Musical aptitude (the highest possible achievement in music) is innate (you are born with it), but not hereditary (it is not passed down genetically). So the bad news is that just because Dad is Helmut Lachenmann doesn’t mean the child will possess that musical potential. The good news is that even if you don’t consider yourself to be “musically inclined,” your baby could be the next Irvin Arditti. No one has no musical potential, and everyone has at least some musical potential, so make the most of it!

Music Aptitude

A child’s potential for achievement in music is greatest at the moment they are born. From that moment onward, as parts of the brain are gradually assigned to various non-musical tasks, musical potential decreases until about age nine, when it stabilizes for life. Further, a child’s musical preferences stabilize around age three! Even by eighteen months, a child will become aware of cultural influences in music.

Listening

Allowing a baby to listen to music is the best thing you can do to help them enjoy music later in life. The best thing for them to listen to is adults singing and chanting. However, music recordings in addition are also appropriate.

Babies take in everything in their environment, even if they do not appear to be doing so. Music playing softly during the day or while a baby sleeps will be perceived. The most important element of a music recording is the tone quality – the recording should be pleasing to the ear, not harsh. The selections should be short, not more than about three minutes, and each section of music should have a consistent tempo or speed. Pop music is fine, but it is critical for children to be exposed to a wide variety of music from all eras and cultures, especially by age three, if not eighteen months, so that they may make appropriate judgments about music later in life. A child should never be forced to participate in any musical activity.

Moving

Unlike melody and harmony, rhythm (“the beat”) isn’t something you think – it’s something you do. By moving, the body teaches the brain about rhythm: the time, space, weight, and flow of music. It is critical for babies and young children to observe adults moving freely, and to develop their own abilities in free-flowing continuous body movement. A child should never be forced to move, nor have their limbs moved to music by an adult. Moving and seeing other people move is as important as singing and listening.

Singing And Chanting

By around age one, a child’s larynx will drop into place and they will gain the ability to sing and chant. Even before this time, adults should sing and chant to (but not with) their child. Any time is a good time for this – after meals, in the car, or even if you are just “killing time.”

Often I have heard parents lament, “I’m not good enough to sing to my child.” What if a parent who did not think themselves a particularly good speaker chose not to talk to their child? Would the child grow up talking? Would the child ever learn to understand language, or have a conversation?

It’s critical for parents to sing and chant to (but not with) their children! Parents, if you are a good enough speaker to talk, then you are a good enough musician to sing!

Don’t Sing The Words

Children’s brains are highly determined to learn language. So when you sing a song to a child that has words, the child will learn the words more than the music. Because of this, don’t sing the words. Just sing on a neutral syllable like ba, ma, na, la, ya, or whatever you are comfortable with.

Be Consistent

Sing the same songs over and over and over. If you sing a song once, and then sing it again at a different pitch, or a different speed, the baby will think it has heard a different song! So every time you sing a song, sing in the same way, in the same register and speed. If you can, check your pitch with a piano, guitar, or bell. You should sing a variety of songs that are in different speeds and tonalities, but each individual song should be performed in the same way every time. When you sing, take a big breath to start, and use your most pleasant, natural singing voice. After you sing or chant, wait, and give the child a chance to respond. It takes some time, and the child may appear to be doing nothing (the “audiation stare”) for a minute, but sooner or later you will get a response.

Music Babble

The brain learns music much in the same way that it learns language. When a baby is growing up, they will go through a music babble stage just like they babble with language. Interact with your child with music just as you might do with language – sing, chant, and move to (but not with) the child, and encourage a response (but not a particular, or specific response). When a child emerges from the music babble stage, they are ready for structured informal guidance, and eventually, formal instruction in music.

Giants In Music Education

John Feierabend is a noted expert in early childhood music education, as well as Edwin Gordon. They have provided all of the information in this blog entry, and have produced many resources to help and inspire you. Good luck and happy music making!

Some musical ensembles sit or stand while they perform. Others, like marching bands and drum and bugle corps move while they play. While I support both kinds, I do so in different settings.

Why Music In Motion

Moving while playing can be a very satisfying and rewarding experience, not to mention the best exercise program around. Young people may find solace in the discipline and regimen that a moving musical ensemble demands. Physical exertion offers the pleasure of endorphins, and a roaring crowd is quick to warm the heart of any ensemble member. It feels like they’re all cheering for you, personally.

Mental Stamina

But does a moving ensemble prepare young musicians for a more traditional professional environment? Christopher Martin, principal trumpet of the prestigious Chicago Symphony Orchestra thinks so. He cites his drum and bugle corps experience as having prepared him for the exhausting schedule of a performing professional, relentlessly requiring exquisite mental focus. So far, music in motion seems like an excellent way for a young person to spend their time.

Why Not Music In Motion

In economics, there exists a concept that the potential for earning money should be a calculated expense. For example, if I put $100 into a savings account for one year yielding 5% interest instead of an account yielding 10% interest, it’s like spending $5, because my money is not doing as much work for me as it could. This is called opportunity cost.

Opportunity Cost

In a moving ensemble, there are extra expenses, including specialized equipment which must bear outdoor use and frequent transportation. But most importantly, in a moving ensemble, an enormous amount of time and expertise is devoted to things like learning how to march and learning a drill, which have nothing to do with learning music. There is an opportunity cost for spending time learning things that are not music, instead of music itself. This is the primary reason I cannot support music in motion at a public institution where time and funds are especially limited. Every available resource for music, especially a student’s time, should be spent on musical learning, not on other things like uniforms and drills.

Creativity And Improvisation

The highest form of participation in music is to create it freely (creativity), and to create it in conjunction with an existing form (improvisation). These experiences are hard to come by in any large ensemble, but especially in a moving ensemble, where the prevailing culture is one of conformity. A hallmark of moving ensembles is getting everyone to do the same thing at the same time: an icon of the need for reform in modern educational practice.

Artistic Integrity

The artistic integrity of music in motion is sometimes called into question, as all moving ensembles (in terms of opportunity cost) sacrifice musicianship to motion in some degree. Composer Eric Whitacre encourages moving ensembles to perform his music if they feel they are genuinely experiencing beauty through their art. However, he does reserve one tune, When David Heard, which he asks to only be performed in its original choral setting.

Former Marching Member

I admit that I get a kick out of music in motion. Having spent four years with the Ohio University Marching 110, I joined to make some friends and stayed for the leadership opportunities and the members’ unwavering attitude and dedication to excellence. Also, the pageantry, kaleidoscopic intrigue of a well designed and executed drill, and sounds of a choir of bell-front brass instruments never fail to create an enjoyable experience for me as an audience member.

Current Music Education Professional

However, as a music education professional, my primary commitment is for students to develop the ability to think in music just like they can think in language. This unconscious process is called audiation. For this reason, I must invest all resources not in drills and marching skills, but rather directly in music learning, and especially in opportunities for creativity and improvisation. Though I appreciate the prospects for students to make meaningful creative decisions in a musical ensemble, music understanding is not a means to an end, but rather an end in and of itself, worthy of time, attention, and financial resources. Marching band makes a great physical education class, but not a great music class, because so much time, attention, and financial resources are diverted away from music learning. I hope this helps explain why I consistently turn down employment openings in music education where music in motion is a major or primary component of the program.

But Music In Motion Is Fun

Although there is nothing quite as much fun as understanding music through audiation, music in motion can be fun as well. To summarize my position: music in motion is an enjoyable, legitimate activity, which I encourage young people to participate in during college or in their spare time. However, especially when public funds are involved, the young musician’s time is best invested all in learning to think musically, rather than learning to march a drill. You can learn to march in a couple days, but learning music is a life-long pursuit.

DCI

Drum Corps International coordinates performances and competitions for moving ensembles. Young people spend their time in these groups during the summer, when it does not otherwise interfere with their regularly scheduled music learning. Check out the schedule for an experience near you. If you really enjoy a particular ensemble, consider supporting them by purchasing a t-shirt or cd, and happy marching!

Trent Reznor, leader of the pop music ensemble Nine Inch Nails, has been releasing free music on his website. But it’s not a stereo mix like you would hear on a cd; it’s the actual source files, meaning you can chop them up and remix them using Apple’s Garage Band software!

What’s In It For Students

Mixing professionally produced music tracks helps students understand music production (NY State Standard 1: Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Arts), and use current music technology to manipulate sound (NY State Standard 2: Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources). While there is definitely room for this kind of activity within the National Standards for Music Education, they are, appropriately, geared more towards the development of musical thinking. Still, picking apart a multi-track session could be a big step in helping some students understand what they’re hearing.

What You Get

On April 15, 2005, Trent updated the Nine Inch Nails website to include the song The Hand That Feeds in the form of a multi-track Garageband file. Every part of the recording (vocals, backup vocals, drums, etc.) is on a separate channel which can be muted, panned, or otherwise mangled using the program Garageband, which is only available for Apple Macintosh computers. The release was a huge success, costing many people many hours of their time as they remixed the song at home.

But I Don’t Have A Mac

No problem – Trent went on to release another tune, Only, in not only Garageband format, but also Ableton Live, DigiDesign Pro Tools, and Sony Acid. If you don’t have any of these programs, Sony Acid Express can be downloaded for free.

What To Do

Visit the Nine Inch Nails website. If you have Garageband on your computer, download The Hand That Feeds, or if you have one of the other programs, download Only. Open up the file, and play it back. Try muting and un-muting the tracks, and hear how the sound changes. Try panning some of the tracks left and right. Chop up some of the existing tracks and add in some loops. Once you have something you like, quickly jot down some lesson plan ideas for your students, and then…

Share Your Work

When you are ready to share your work, or you would like to hear what other people have done, head over to NINRemixes.com, where people post, rate, and organize remixes.

Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor is the founder and primary creative force behind the band Nine Inch Nails. Nine Inch Nails spans various genres and techniques, has been nominated for ten Grammy awards (2 wins), and has six RIAA certifications from Gold to Quadruple Platinum.

This book was recommended to me by my high school band director, Matthew Cool, when I was a collegiate student in music education. I finally got around to reading it. It’s designed to start the reader on a personal path towards greater achievement in music.

Kenosis

James Jordan makes reference to the Greek theological term kenosis, which literally means emptiness; the reader should empty themselves of love to all the people around them. Most appropriately for music, this should happen by an ensemble conductor to the performers. Like many themes in the book, it’s not only a great approach to musicianship, but to life.

Mimetic Envy

In a musician’s brain there is a “perfect sound.” When a performing ensemble inevitably fails to achieve this, the musician can either turn to anger and envy of the perfect sound, or they can choose to accept and love the reality of the sound the ensemble is creating.

Stillness

The case for spending quiet time alone is made because this peace is a source of joy in music. How can we love others if we do not love ourselves? How can we love ourselves if we do not know ourselves?

Metaphysical

While the book references deity and is generally composed through a lens of Christianity, this element should not detract from the value of the material. I would encourage any musician, and especially directors of performing ensembles to read this. Though the ideas presented here are simple in nature – to know yourself, to love yourself and others, to choose love over idolatry and envy – to practice them is another challenge entirely.

James Jordan

Dr. James Jordan is a writer, conductor, and professor at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. The Musician’s Soul and many other works are available through GIA Publications, Inc.