“…I never imposed those fixed rules with which a pupil’s brain is so carefully t

[nafmeadmin]

Hi, I’m Matt Lovell, the “composition mentor of the month.” My background is in the warm, noisy, crowded trenches of the public schools. I’ve been teaching composition and bands at Burlington High School, MA since 1985. I’m looking forward to talking/writing/skyping with you.

The area in which I’m most comfortable is in devising lesson plans aimed at teaching specific concepts. The area in which I’m most personally invested is in the care and nurture of a student’s creativity. For me, this is one of the most important and alchemical aspects of this art form.

The delicate blending of these two facets of music composition—the fusion of a student’s muse with their technical mastery…is what I’d like to focus in on.

What motivates your students? What gives them ideas? What makes them want to live in their pieces like (as Berlioz put it) “a rat in a wheel of cheese?”

If you could share a technique, an idea, a project or a lesson (or a quote from a teacher) that worked for you or your students…that simply “clicked,” I’d love to hear about it.

I’ll start this off with a favorite quote:

“…I never imposed those fixed rules with which a pupil’s brain is so carefully tied up in knots.” Arnold Schoenberg

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