On March 28, 2020 I wrote a chord progression based on some of the Random Harmony Exercises of Kenny Werner. I continued to write at least one progression a day for a year. I used two 12-sided dice. One pink, one blue. On the pink die, I assigned a number to each of the 12 types of...
16. Alison Krauss - Forget About It (1999) Alison Krauss phoned my house on Thursday November 23, 2000. Yes, the Alison Krauss. I was at York U taking Rob Bowman’s Popular Music course. Rob loves music more than anyone. One of the very best teachers I’ve had. Right at the top. By age 21, his life was...
Gerry Squires made this sculpture in 2005 honouring Shanawdithit, widely believed to have been the last of the Beothuk. She died of tuberculosis on 6 June 1829 in St. John's. I feel strongly that if you spoke to most Newfoundlanders who left high school in the mid 1990s, this fact would be the sum total of...
Dr. Peter Narvaez wore many hats. Musician, singer/songwriter, folklorist, and friend. I was lucky to perform and record with him, but my favourite Peter moments were in his MUS 3018 Blues and Jazz course at Memorial University. When I was getting ready to start work at the University of Victoria where I taught a similar...
Photo: Patrick Boyle Teaching music at university is simultaneously a constant joy and a constant dance of compromise. If I am being completely honest, I can’t teach music. I can show it. I can listen and guide. I can be an example of my own best self, including all manner of new and evolving flaws and...
Mark Levine wrote about as comprehensive and practical a book about jazz theory for beginners as I've come across. More than most texts out there, his book highlights specific concepts in context. One such example is this list of Intervallic Movement in Various Jazz Compositions. This is helpful in getting students out of the "My Bonnie"...
Photo credit: Studio Bee Creative. During my undergrad, I did most of my elective courses in the Summer session so I could exclusively concentrate on music during the Fall and Winter. This was a great move because university in the summertime is a paradise. You get the whole place to yourself. All bathrooms become your bathrooms. One summer,...
Many teachers at the end of summer experience the contradictory feelings of "I can't do this" and "I can't wait to do this." The rumble in the gut is real. Students also live on a dotted line between excitement and fear at the end of August. The hardest thing is a good start, so I've made...