by Jamey Mann, Catoctin School of Music What is your New Years resolution? This is a common question around this time of year. I often find it an annoying question as no one really takes their resolution(s) seriously and many give up within weeks to months of the new year. Although most of the time it is just part of conversation, it can be a lot...
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by Alyssa Cowell, Catoctin School of Music Today’s instrument is a little extra special because it is an instrument that the author designed and built from scratch! Let’s get to know CSM’s folk instruments – meet the Kalimba! CSM’s Kalimba was made during the pandemic lock-down by yours truly – it was a super fun learning experience that utilized some non-traditional, cutting-edge tech to create a traditional...
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by Alyssa Cowell, Catoctin School of Music I happen to love holiday and Christmas music, and it is not just that the melodies are so classic and they conjure up wonderful old memories of enjoyable times growing up with my family and church in a rural Virginia farming community. What I’ve discovered as a piano teacher is the power of one of those old melodies to...
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Turn your nerves into your superpower! Tips for handling those music performance jitters. by Robert Fisher, Catoctin School of Music Heightened pulse. Sweaty hands. Shallow breath. Serious gaze. Anxious thoughts… Almost every musician has encountered some form of nerves or the “butterflies” before a performance. Some may even wrestle with a Glossophobia: the fear of social situations in which one is watched or judged by others...
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By Alyssa Cowell, Catoctin School of Music Let’s get to know CSM’s Folk Instruments! Today’s instrument is the Bowed Psaltery – a super cool stringed instrument dating back to the 12th Century! What is a bowed psaltery? The bowed psaltery is a hollow-bodied, triangle-shaped wooden instrument set with a series of metal strings threaded through metal string pins. Bowed psalteries come in a variety of sizes to accommodate...
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