Friday, August 17, 2012

Duke Ellington and Teaching


At the funeral of Duke Ellington, in 1974, his long-time friend, Stanley Dance, said this of the Duke: "He brought out qualities in his musicians they did not always know they possessed. He had the knack of making good musicians sound great, and great musicians sound the greatest." It strikes me with force that this is precisely what a good teacher should do for his or her students.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Swing

Swing,
fail,
Swing again.