0

Play one note. Wait until it becomessomeone else’s note. Play another. Do not listento the instrument. Listen to the distancebetween the instrumentand the person listening. Imagine a pianoat the bottom […]

0

For twenty-three years, Konrad had been explaining musicians to people. This was how he described his occupation. Technically he was a music journalist. He had written for magazines that no […]

0

I remember the first time I encountered people who hated the Beatles. Not people who found them overrated or preferred someone else. People who appeared to regard admiration for the […]

0

I have been reading about university enrolment declining. It makes sense people question it: the expense, the debt, the uncertain employment afterward, and the assumption that institutional recognition is the […]

0

Mr. Hamm at Grant Park High School gave me the keys to the music room. Not permission for Tuesdays between three and four. Not supervised access, conditional upon good behaviour. […]

0

A former student wrote to me late one night: “If a shadow realized it was merely a shadow, would that invalidate its position?” Then added: “Do you see this as […]

0

I returned to an old song this morning, the equivalent of opening a suitcase sat untouched in the basement for thirty years. The chords were wearing the same clothes, waiting […]

0

Strike a chord on a piano. We say the music is “out there,” but half of it is manufactured in a dark factory behind the eyes. I sit at the […]

0

I have always felt a debt of gratitude to Randy Newman, showing me that the “I” in a song does not have to be the songwriter, naked beneath a single […]

0

I am seriously close to breaking down and buying an older Mac to replace my ancient Mac. This means I will finally move closer to the year 2026, although I […]