Uncategorized – Peter J. Folliard

The Bach Initiative

The Bach Initiative is now available through GIA Music.
Read more about its origin and how you can use The Bach Initiative to enhance your ensemble’s musicianship.

Practicing Tips for the Aspiring Musician

Vince Lombardi is attributed with saying, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” Everybody knows that we need to practice to get better, but how should one practice?

Score Reading at the Piano – A Graduated Method with Suggested Resources

Have you ever seen a conductor sit at the piano and play fluently off an open score? It’s impressive, for sure, but wouldn’t it be invaluable for your own studying purposes to be able to do that too?

One of the questions I asked most frequently in the beginning of my conducting study was, “How do I study a score?” I never got a straight answer (because there isn’t one), and my question morphed into many more: What edition of the score should I buy? Is it OK to listen to recordings? HowContinue reading “A guide to score preparation”

Tips for Making a Great Conducting Video

Whether you’re applying for a conducting position with a professional ensemble, a graduate program or a summer festival you’re going to need to produce a high-quality video recording. You can Google “how to make a good conducting video” but the results are…well, you know, not that helpful. Let’s start with the end goal: You need 20-30 minutes ofContinue reading “Tips for Making a Great Conducting Video”

What do I do with all of these tuplets?!?!

Do you remember the first time you encountered a quintuplet? I was practicing a solo in high school that was far too difficult for me, and I encountered this passage: I remember feeling so proud of myself, wiggling my fingers and aiming for the next beat. “Wow – listen to all those notes I justContinue reading “What do I do with all of these tuplets?!?!”

The Conductor’s Corner

So you want to be a conductor? You’re crazy – stop now, and go on enjoying your life. Psshh, conducting…why would you want to do that? Oh, you’re still here? Good for you. You must love music as much as life, itself. You’ve probably played under the batons of great conductors and been inspired by their musicianship,Continue reading “The Conductor’s Corner”

Pete’s DMA Lecture Recital

A milestone in the life of any DMA student – the lecture recital. This combines everything I love about being a musician: engaging with great music, greater people, having the opportunity to teach and learn and using technology to bring it all together.

Pictures at an Exhibition – Admiring a Masterpiece from Multiple Angles

Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (1874) for solo piano is widely known to audiences through Ravel’s orchestration, commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky in 1922. Ravel’s version is, however, only one of 38 published orchestrations for the symphony orchestra (and one of over 300 hundred arrangements for various ensembles). In a lecture recital I will discussContinue reading “Pictures at an Exhibition – Admiring a Masterpiece from Multiple Angles”

New Album released by Off Bass Brass – Tubacus Galacticus

My favorite part about being a musician is being surrounded by some of the most wonderful, creative and thoughtful people on the planet. Tubacus Galacticus shatters the ‘norm’ of what one would expect from a tuba-euphonium quartet, and pushes the ceiling higher on what we can expect as chamber music moves forward in the 21st century. FromContinue reading “New Album released by Off Bass Brass – Tubacus Galacticus”