The News from School

The Pleasure of Practice – Week 4

I once saw a sign on the wall behind an online fiddle teacher that said, “Listening is Practicing.” Sounds like the lazy way of practicing, I thought. But after a second think, I realized how much work your brain does listening to other people play the songs you want to learn.

The Pleasure of Practice – Week 3

“Practicing is a form of meditation.” — Frank Hamilton After I graduated high school, I spent a year abroad as an exchange student. If you’ve ever lived in a strange place, you know it can produce a different form of stress. Pretty much every day after I got home...

The Pleasure of Practice – Week 2

Hopefully, you’re finding those fifteen minutes every day to practice. Some time-saving advice comes from several of our instructors - leave your instrument out. George Eckerd suggests, “Hang your instrument on the wall or, if you don't have dogs or small...

The Pleasure of Practice – Week 1

There’s a joke going around social media that I’m going to paraphrase: I used to think I didn’t practice because I didn’t have the time. Then I was in lockdown and discovered that, yeah, that wasn’t the reason! So. Need some ideas and tidbits to get that...

Welcome to Term 2!

This term brings in a few changes for the school--a couple of new teachers, a few new classes, and a new executive director! First, we’re excited to welcome into the teaching ranks Charlie Fisher and Adam Bern! Charlie has been performing as a drummer since he was...

Goodnight, Irene…

I was a student in the Frank Hamilton School’s first Guitar 2 class, taught by Frank himself, in October, 2015. I had been teaching Suzuki violin and experimenting with classical guitar, and the Next Door description of the school sounded like it might be a good place...