Author: csmusic

An important part of playing an instrument is learning how to care for that instrument. I try to teach basic guitar maintenance to all my students. This helps them be more confident in their handling of the instrument but will also help ensure lessons or practice is not interrupted by preventable damage. Below is a list of four basic steps to teach students and parents to...

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by Matthew Ogden, The Catoctin School of Music Oftentimes we celebrate the birthdays of some of the most well known composers, such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach. But sometimes observing the birthdays of lesser known composers is a fun way to expand our horizons. Below is a list of some notable February birthdays of various composers, some famous and some less well known. Have fun exploring...

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by Robert Fisher, Catoctin School of Music With the start of a new year and the first anniversary since the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic, most of us have been forced to embrace new norms in virtual teaching, rehearsing, and performing music online. Whether it be through Zoom or any number of teleconferencing applications and technologies, most educators have embraced (albeit, forced to embrace) a...

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by Jamey Mann, The Catoctin School of Music It is usually around the holidays when students start to find their practice schedule getting off track. Holiday travel, events, visiting and many other things start to take over. If not general business around the holiday, then other stressful events in one’s life can make practicing your instrument an overwhelming chore. It is moments like this where student...

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by Matthew Ogden, December 2020 The month of December marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven. Great concerts and celebrations of this composer’s music had been scheduled around the world, but due to the global pandemic, these concerts have been postponed indefinitely. Instead of the sublime music of Beethoven filling concert stages and symphony halls across the globe, all we hear is...

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