Category: Thoughts
-
Podcasts
There aren’t many ways to occupy your time while driving to and from work. Especially with when you have a four year-old diva sitting in the back seat belting out the hits like she preparing for an audition to “the Voice”. Before my kid, I had time to decompress after a long day, take long…
-
Balance
I’d like to think that I have a certain amount of balance in my life. If I keep to my routines I feel whole and complete. As a musician-educator there are few opportunities to work both sides of my professional life equally and with the same intensity. One will usually be stronger than the other,…
-
Book Review – from a trumpeter?
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Origins of Hip Hop I love this book. The story of the birth of hip hop in a format I can share with my daughter…Outstanding work! Many thank and congratulations to Laban Carrick Hill and Theodore Taylor. For more information about Laban Carrick Hill, check…
-
Modern Music
At one point in my early musical life, I became a fan of modern classical music. So much so that I remember not listening to anything that wasn’t written before 1952. I thought I knew something none of my high school friends were hip enough to know about. It was my little secret. When ever…
-
My Kid And Me
Parenting seemed like fun when I wasn’t a father. I have a 4 year old girl, and she is what we call “a spirited child”. Since I am a middle school teacher I knew I didn’t have any real answers to the question of parenting. I was also armed with the knowledge that I didn’t…
-
Miles Davis on my mind
While having a conversation with a students I said “I’m not the biggest Maynard Ferguson fan in the world, but I really like his recording of I Can’t Get Started With You.” The student gave the impression that there are not enough Maynard fans around here, and that we worship Miles Davis. I looked at…
-
Things I learned from my students
I was blown away by two statements made by middle school students I teach. The first made me wonder about the way independent thought is formed and the other is just an impressive thought I want to share. “Footsteps and echoes of the environment demand to be heard through something. That something is music.” “Chapstick…
-
Becoming an independent middle school music teacher
At some point after graduating with a yet another music performance degree, I found myself looking for a solution to the question of employment. Looking for a job becomes your job when you are unemployed, self-employed or underemployed. However, when you cast your net as wide as some of us do, you end up sending…
-
Why I teach
In the seventh grade, I was all about playing the drums. I would carry my sticks with me everywhere I went, tapping out beats on my notebook and/or playing along with one of my favorite songs on my Walkman. On the day of our first band class of the year, my buddy came to me…
Ed Castro's Blog 