Make No Small Plans
“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.”
—DANIEL BURNHAM, CHICAGO ARCHITECT. (1846-1912)
The Musician’s Way – new book
There’s a new book out by University of North Carolina School of the Arts professor Gerald Klickstein designed to help musicians develop core skills needed for a career in music. Titled The Musician’s Way, this book covers topics like the following (from the companion website for the book):
- Enhance practice and performance skills
- Expand musical knowledge
- Overcome performance anxiety
- Foster creativity
- Collaborate amicably
- Build music careers
- Boost health and prevent music-related injuries
- Become productive artists
This book looks like a nice complement to David Cutler’s The Savvy Musician, a new book designed to help musicians build entrepreneurial skills that we featured in a recent podcast. We also chatted recently about similar topics with James Knabe, a Chicago-area musician who specializes in developing websites for musicians.
Top U.S. double bass schools – reader survey results
A couple of weeks ago, I put out a survey for blog readers asking them to rank what they feel are the best universities and conservatories for double bass study in the United States. This survey got quite a response, and I’ve got the final results tabulated. While I certainly wouldn’t base where I decided to go to school based purely on this survey (!), I think it’s interesting to poll the community like this and see what people’s perceptions are regarding the top places to study double bass. Also, remember that, much as I’d like to think that my readership is completely unbiased, I imagine that there are certain schools with a lot of students reading this blog, and others with significantly fewer, and I’d imagine that people would root for their school, so these results may also be slanted toward school with a high doublebassblog.org readership… or maybe not.
I’ve written many articles about this topic in the past, so you can go spelunking through the blog article archives if you’d like a more in-depth look at this topic, but I think that this list should prove to be, if nothing else, food for thought:
Top 20 Ranked U.S. Schools for Double Bass Study – 2009
doublebassblog.org reader poll
- The Curtis Institute
- Rice University
- Indiana University
- University of Washington
- Boston University
- The Juilliard School
- Cincinnati College-Conservatory
- The Colburn School
- Michigan State University
- Peabody Conservatory
- New England Conservatory
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Manhattan School of Music
- Boston Conservatory
- Eastman School of Music
- University of Iowa
- Arizona State University
- University of Southern California
- The New School
- University of North Texas
Download this list:
top ranked double bass schools 2009.pdf
I’ll expand this survey with more schools and do it again in 2010, so stay tuned!
Any thoughts on great schools not on this list? Feel free to leave a comment below.
CBC 145 – David Cutler and The Savvy Musician
We’re chatting with David Cutler, the author of The Savvy Musician, this week on Contrabass Conversations.
This new book is filled with excellent and informative about musical entrepreneurship, product development, branding, marketing, networking, and much more. I hope that you enjoy this interview and check out David’s book, and be sure to also visit his blog, which is a great supplement to the book and quite entertaining.
next Musicians at Work forum at Chicago Cultural Center 11/16/09
I was a panelist for one of these forums last spring. They’re really cool. Here’s a link to the audio track for the forum that included me if you’re interested.
October 31, 2009
Stand out in a Digital World
more info: chicago-music.org
Monday November 16, 2009 Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington Blvd.
5:30 – 6:00 pm Networking session
6:00 – 7:30 pm Panel program
We will discuss using Social Media to build fan relationships. Developing a strategy that helps you choose how to use the available services and networks. Getting the most for your effort in growing and maintaining your fan base. Setting expectations and converting those relationships into real-time results.
Moderator:
Jim Goodrich – Chicago Music Commission
Panelists:
Jeffrey David Goldberg – The Everyday People
Miriam Brosseau – Stereo Sinai
Alan Jay Sufrin – Stereo Sinai
Matt Ryd – Singer/Songwriter
Tim Toomey – Assault Records
Musicians at Work Forums address current issues of interest and concern for Chicago’s growing community of musicians working in all genres. MAWF are free, monthly, open-to-the-public forums hosted jointly by CMC and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Inspired by the popular Artists at Work Forums, this series invites industry professionals and musicians to discuss the current state of making a living through music in Chicago. For all Forums, venues, acts and music professionals are welcome to bring fliers, business cards and marketing materials for the audience. Come 30 minutes before the panel starts and network with your peers. The forums take place at the Chicago Cultural Center.












