Credo Music

Welcome to this Credite Voices entry! Each month, we will ask a question and publish the responses we receive from Credo students, alumni, faculty, parents and extended community. We hope you enjoy these varied responses as much as we did.

In September, we asked….

What is your earliest musical memory?

“My dad loves to tell the story of how I was absolutely enraptured by Beethoven’s 6th Symphony at age 3. I sat on his lap while we listened through the symphony, and he explained the programme to me—the beautiful sunny day, the people gathering for a celebration, a violent thunderstorm rudely interrupting, and the people coming back together after the storm had subsided. It made a profound impression on me then, and it’s still my very favorite symphony ever. Who says small children can’t pay attention to one thing for a long time?”

-Tim Crouch, Credo ‘11-’14

“My preschool hosted an outdoor concert by local folk singer Sarah Pirtle.
Normally a very reserved child, I danced in front of the stage. By myself.”

-Jessica Corwin, friend of Credo and Blog contributor

“Practicing while my parakeet was sitting on top of my viola.
Sometimes he would even perch on the tip of my bow.”

-Claire Peyrebrune, Credo ‘13, ‘14

“Hearing my mom sing “You Are My Sunshine” while I was going to sleep.”

-Helen Peyrebrune, Credo ‘09

“Sitting on the floor in front of the record player listening to Julia Child and the Boston Pops play Tubby the Tuba. I’m sure that I wore that record out before I was old enough to go to school.”… Click Here

When I was a student, I mildly enjoyed practicing scales. Compared to learning new repertoire with seemingly nebulous expressive and stylistic components, the process for practicing scales was clear. Straightforward. I could do it, check a box on my to-do list and feel that I had accomplished something.

It has taken me much longer to appreciate all that I got from those years of scale practice– and what more I could have taken away had I mentally engaged in a different way. Now that I’m a teacher, it is important to me that my students always have a sense of purpose for their practicing, whether I set their goals or they set their own. This not only facilitates more productive practice, it can make practicing more manageable and gratifying. Knowing why they have been told to practice something makes it infinitely easier to set these goals, so I always bring the topic up for discussion.

Here are some of the reasons to practice scales, in roughly ascending order of importance. The examples are specific to strings, but the principles can apply to any musician.

Scales appear in music. They may as well be at your fingertips, literally.

To learn key signatures. Well, you learn them in theory class too, but playing them is a different way of knowing them, and arguably more important.

To train your ear to hear a key. For developing musicians, scales are a great way to learn to focus your auditory picture around the tonic, or home note.… Click Here

We’re right in the middle of the holiday season and it’s Christmas Eve! If you’re anything like me, you’re still running around trying to find last-minute gifts. Shopping for friends is particularly difficult because I want to get something for everyone, but my holiday budget will not let me splurge on a new set of strings for every cellist I know. So, what do you do when you’re strapped for cash, but loaded with a friends list that’s a mile long?   For musicians, try combining thoughtfulness and practicality with this list of stocking stuffer type gifts.

VOCALISTS

Cough Drops: Yes, there are SO many brands out there, but here are a few that seem to work well for vocalists.

• Fisherman’s Friends Cough Drops
• Luden’s Throat Drops Wild Cherry
• Ricola Original Cough Drops
• Thayers Original Slippery Elm Lozenges

Tea: Who doesn’t love tea??  It’s warm, smooth, healing powers are great for your soprano roommate. These brands/types are particularly helpful and soothing.

• Throat Coat
• ginger
• chamomile

Honey: Winnie the Pooh hasn’t lost his voice yet.

Singer’s Saving Grace Throat Spray: Dry throat, begone!

BRASS PLAYERS

ChopSaver: Or as one friend put it, “ChopSaver!” This particular lip balm is designed specifically with brass and woodwind players in mind. If you’re debating between the regular or gold versions, go with the regular. It doesn’t contain sunscreen and is less greasy.

Al Cass Valve, Slide and Key Oil: A handy and standard lubricant.

Roche Thomas Mi-T Mist Mouthpiece Cleaner: Get a couple bottles for your brass buddy.… Click Here

Did you know that well known German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazis for his beliefs and actions of resistance during World War II, was not expected to become a pastor or theologian?… Click Here

Since my graduation from Eastman in May, I’ve been doing a lot of teaching. I chose to pursue this area of work for a couple reasons: for one thing, it represents a much-needed means of stable employment, but for another, it also provides a unique learning experience. Having spent the past six years at two intensive conservatories, and several years before that as a young cello student, my transition from student to teacher has been both educational and rewarding. Although I’m nowhere near the level of experience as professionals like Credo’s venerated “P-Slo”, the couple years I have been teaching regularly have provided me with many invaluable insights, and so I thought it worthwhile to share a few of them here.

1. Lessons are NOT that big of a deal.

As a student, it’s very easy to consider every evaluation of your playing as some irrefutable judgement – but the truth is, most of the situations in which your playing is critiqued are not of the “make or break” variety. This may seem to be stating the obvious, but I knew some people in music school who treated every lesson like a performance – literally. They would dress nicely, get somewhat nervous, and walk into their teacher’s studio as if they were walking onstage at Carnegie Hall. (They would also proceed to take the next day off of practicing, since, after all, their recent “concert” had taken a lot out of them.) While it’s definitely admirable to be so prepared for lessons, from my point of view as a teacher, it really isn’t such a to-do.… Click Here