I’ll be completely honest: I’m relatively new to the world of paying gigs. My undergrad was not in a good location for classical performance, so pretty much ...

Anonymous asked: I’m preparing for college auditions right now and I have a problem that is even more relevant now. I want to be practicing a lot more but I ...

First seen on my Patreon! Juries are upon us. It is the time of panicking freshman, smug recitalists (because they don’t need to perform a jury), and general...

After a semester of spending your life incredibly focused on music, it can be really, really tempting to spend your whole winter break ignoring your instrume...

The following article is taken verbatim from my book, How to Music Major: Surviving the College Search! It’s on Amazon and all other places ebooks are sold. ...

There’s a big statewide competition coming up for me and members of my studio, and all of the freshmen are starting to get jittery. Recently, one asked me, “...

To practice effectively, you need to be able to do two main things: prioritize, and know when you’ve lost focus. A lot of performance majors feel overwhelmed...

Juries: the looming cloud at the end of every semester. Freshmen are told about them, and upperclassmen complain and warn about them. But what, in fact, are ...

One of the things people think about when they imagine the college music experience is participating in small performance groups. They think about rock bands...

My first college audition went kinda awful. I was terrified the entire time, and don’t actually remember most of it. I wouldn’t wish those kind of nerves on ...

Most musicians end up teaching at least a little, in order to help make ends meet. Some teach as their primary source of income. The thing is, to the young m...

If you are, were, are going to be, or even considered being a music major in college, then you know the fear of Not Getting In. (Heck, in broader terms this ...

If you’re similar to a lot of music students out there, then the moment summer hits, you find yourself without a teacher. This might be because either you me...

So you’ve finally hit the point in my musical career where you’re not just allowed or encouraged, but expected to bring your own ideas for new repertoire to ...

Auditions! They’re scary. That deserved a line break. Maybe a crash of thunder or something. Ominous music. That kind of thing. This drama is because auditio...

Summer is a time of laziness. Golly gee, do I know that. However, that’s no excuse to totally ignore your instrument. In fact, summer being such a lazy time ...

If there’s one question I have gotten more than anything else, it’s probably “Why are you so excited about a choral song?” Answer: Because it’s a Stephen Hat...

Hey! Are you like me? Do you ALSO have huge plans for stuff you are going to accomplish over the summer? And yet, do you wake up in September to find you did...

Finals are basically over for most people, which means that burn-out may or may not be on your mind anymore. I know I feel amazing now that all my things are...

What is your foremost priority as a singer? I’m gonna bet that, unless you are already literally the best performer in the world, your goal is something alon...