Laurel Black Music

 Woohoo, y'all!! On behalf of the Percussive Arts Society, I am pleased to invite you to participate in the 42 annual Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC® 2017) in Indianapolis, Indiana. This year, PASIC® will take place Wednesday, November 8 through Saturday, November 11 at the Indiana Convention Center. Your Professional Development proposal, “ PercussionMind: The Mental Performance Habits of Today's Top Percussionists...and Where You Fit In ,” has been accepted to be presented at PASIC17! I am beyond excited that a current passion project, PercussionMind, will be revealed this year at PASIC.  If you want a quick summary of what it is, and learn about my collaborator, Mike Cerreto, check out the tab in the menu bar above. :) PercussionMind is inspired by that long thought-journey taken as a young adult as you wonder what, exactly, suits you best in the professional music realm.  Here's a jaunt through my personal story: In early undergrad, ...

A few years ago I was fresh out of grad school and working with a wonderful group of young women, all of us artistic, but each at a different place in our lives: married with children, single parent, newlywed, and idealistic graduate (that was me).  Something they all told me, though, was that there was something about nearing the age of 30 that made them more confident. They didn't care what others thought and cared more about their own path and dreams.  They lost the worry about what the media calls "beautiful" and trusted their own gifts. Nearing 30, I feel exactly what they're talking about. It has been a big year for me in terms of professional personal development. I really started writing here on the blog, sharing my research and thoughts about body awareness and playing. Luckily, you guys decided to read it! This was huge, and a confirmation that I should trust my interests and passions. Husband and I moved to a new state, where I chose to let go of m...

This essay is all about the muscles of the back, since we talked about the spine in my last segment.  Since I get to talk all about shoulders at PASIC (woohoo!!!) on Friday, I thought a good connection between spine structure and the shoulder joint would be about the muscles of the back that help to protect both. Though I've never experienced it severely first-hand, it seems like there is nothing worse than constant back pain.  Ask anyone who has dealt with it and they will say that you must  protect your back so you never  feel what they do.  Doctors warn their patients that once they have one surgery, chances are they will need more.  (This makes sense, as you can't fix one part of the long spinal structure without later needing to correct other areas.) There's good news, though: keeping the muscles of the back strong, and freely aligning the spine, can help us lead pain and surgery-free lives. Waterfall Muscles source source   ...

There are songs written about seeing one's name in lights, but for a wordy nerd like me, there's nothing like seeing my name in print.  A few months ago Megan Arns , the editor of Rhythm! Scene asked if I would write a preview article for my PASIC masterclass called Shoulder Anatomy: Easing Pain and Furthering Technique through Body Mapping .   I think I was nodding my head "yes" before she even finished the question.   In case it's not obvious by the fact that I blog, I like to write. Specifically, I like to write about music, performance, health, philosophy, and how all of them come together into this experience of being a musical human. My article, "The Shoulder Bone's Connected to the..." outlines the basic ideas of my class, so if you aren't able to make it to PASIC, you can still get the gist of what I'll talk about. I created a video to accompany the article, and it's even embedded there, so all you have to do is pu...