Teaching/Projects
Somerville High School Drumline
In 2007, I was hired by the school to re-start the percussion program. Many years ago, SHS had a large marching band and drumline and over the years it has dwindled down to almost nothing. The Mayor of Somerville this year decided to graciously refund the music program and our drumline is part of this program. I am enjoying this a lot as I haven't taught since 1999 when I was section leader for the NAU Drumline and also taught at Flagstaff High School (AZ). Below is an excerpt video from a recent rehearsal - most of the students here have never played any music in their life, and all of this show was learned via rote teaching (no music!). LAter this year, we will probably record at Hi-N-Dry studios in Somerville.
Nov 7, 2007 rehearsal for SHS Drumline half-time show
The Brahms 4th Symphony Project
A formal web-based analysis of the first movement of Brahm's Symphony No. 4. The project was completed in the Spring of 1998, in partial fulfillment of my Form and Analysis Class (MUS 303) and my Bachelors Degree in Music Peformance at NAU. The project presents my opinions and analysis on Brahms' themes, transition material, and developmental procesees, and requires a specific recording of the work (on CD) for best results. There are graphics displaying the major excerpts that can also be 'played' off the CD using the software download provided. In addition, there is a visual timeline that can accompany the CD as it plays. Although the CD and timeline do not always sync up 100% accurately, the timeline does do a decent job of displaying the current theme/section that is playing on the recording. A musician can also adjust the visual presentation to catch up or slow down to the CD as needed. At the time, HTML Meta-tag refreshes were the easiest way to implement this presentation although today we have better technologies that could display a smoother presentation. Please email me first if you would like to use this material in any way.
A Brief Look at Contemporary Percussion
Another web presentation I created, this project was completed in the Spring of 1999, in partial fulfillment of Music Pedagogy (MUS 210), as well as my Bachelors Degree in Music Peformance at NAU . Another multimedia presentation, this course was geared to teach the non-percussionist musicians in the class about percussion pedagogy through the use of text, photos, audio, and video. Most of the images on the site are linked to audio or video samples. At one time, this course was edited and presented on Smartplanet.com, an online learning website (with the artistic 'lingo' removed to faciliate a non-musician audience). Please email me first if you would like to use this material in any way.