SST Blog

5/13/18   Today is Mother’s Day. I’m thinking about my mother and thanking her for the gift of life and music.   I’ve been watching Genius: Picasso on the National Geographic channel. I enjoyed their Genius: Einstein series last year and was hoping that they would tackle more geniuses. I was fascinated with Einstein’s passion to figure out how the universe works, even though I am a mechanical idiot. His belief in himself hit home. Before he was hailed as a genius, he faced the question many people grapple with: Am I good enough to pursue my dream or should...

5/1/18   I watched Michelle Wolf’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech just now. Would someone please tell me what all the outrage is about? As far as I know, she didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. Trump and his team are all liars, the Democrats can’t get their shit together, and the media gave Trump the presidency and are making billions off of it.   As my father used to say, “He can dish it out, but he can’t take it,” and my father didn’t live long enough to even know who Trump was. Since Trump knew that he is...

4/30/18   Before we get started, let me apologize for not writing as often as I used to. I still love you, but I’ve been awfully busy and distracted. OK, that sounds like a lame letter from a cheating spouse or boyfriend, but the truth is that I’m in the midst of writing and publishing half a dozen books and a hundred scores. The book I’m writing (actually co-authoring with Marc Schwartz) is a music software manual, which hopefully, will raise the bar for Sibelius users—making their experience easier, better and less time consuming.   In order to write this...

The Burden of Instrumental Music   Yesterday my assistant, Marc Schwartz, who also happens to be a fantastic saxophonist, asked me what the second chord of Easy To Love is. Not having defined the key, I said the first chord is a minor 7th and the second chord is a minor chord a 5th below. Then he asked if it is a tonic minor or a minor 7th. Ooh, I had to think about that. I went over to the piano and played it. Obviously a tonic minor. This is an unusual chord progression for a standard song.   I...

How to Take It and Give It 3/28/18 In a recent New York Times article about successful executives being open to criticism, it occurred to me that how we give and take criticism affects all areas of our lives. I’m uncomfortable when it comes to confronting people about personal issues, but am passionate and vocal about my musical, political, aesthetic and business views. This feels safe to me probably because I expect the recipient not to take my criticism personally. If I think a piece of music is bland or went on too long, those are easy fixes or, at...