Weeklong music intensive and performances welcoming professionals, students, amateurs, and teachers of all ages
Tired of settling for less as a working musician? Let me help you attract more opportunities to increase your income and impact.
Creative Strings Academy
Become a more creative, versatile string player (or teacher) with online training and personalized feedback.
Increase your skill, opportunities, and impact.
A guest artist collaboration focused on contemporary styles, improvisation, and related subjects which balances educational substance with inspiration via classroom sessions and collaborative concerts.
Free ecourse
Free downloads related to improvisation and contemporary styles
creative strings podcast
Exploring intersections between creativity, music education, string playing, DIY music business, and culture
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How to Become a Better & Happier Musician
If you’re frustrated by a sense that your musical growth is stuck, or if you fail to reach musical goals despite spending lots of time in the practice room, sit down with a pen and paper (not your instrument), and follow the steps below. After coaching hundreds of musicians and teachers in both musical and Read more about How to Become a Better & Happier Musician[…]
A Classical Musician’s Guide to Join the Band & Play Confidently in Unfamiliar Styles
Listen or read to discover, How to know when and what to play. How to avoid “writers block” (the feeling of having no idea where to start).
How to avoid getting “in a rut” ( stuck repeating the same few ideas) How to make the other musicians you work with feel comfortable and always want to call you back
To Cover or Not to Cover: A Youtube Musician’s DIlemma
Go ahead, laugh it up. I made a POP cover video. It’s an electric violin cover of Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”, done with a loop pedal. A musical Popsicle, if you will. “Popster McPopples”. Watch it embedded below or on Youtube here: Some people may say things like “Yes, finally!!!” and others will Read more about To Cover or Not to Cover: A Youtube Musician’s DIlemma[…]
Jean Luc Ponty- Full interview: Creative Strings Podcast Ep. 35
Not only is Jean-Luc Ponty one of the first violinists to adapt the instrument to modern jazz, and one of the great innovators of jazz on any instrument, but he also may be one of the most popular and respected violinists in any genre.
As it turns out, he is also a humble spirit, and generous with his knowledge, experience, and time.
There are few greater privileges than to learn about an art form directly from one of its greatest living exponents. Combine that feeling with getting to speak with one of your personal heroes, and you have a special experience on your hands in this full interview with Jean Luc Ponty!
In this conversation, we explore key points in his development, musical conception, elements of his violin playing, and more
What does Musical Creativity have to do with Personal Development?
I’m interested in how personal development and musical practice overlap for musicians. For example, most musicians pick a “lane”, identifying primarily as performers, composers, or teachers. To keep growing after they’ve peaked, they might benefit from stepping outside that lane. That’s when they’re likely to strike a nerve. Not that anyone needs to master every Read more about What does Musical Creativity have to do with Personal Development?[…]