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, ...

Thumbs. Without them who knows how we'd play our instruments. Interest in the relationship between the hand, wrist, and thumb began a few years ago when I took piano lessons to refine my technique. (As similar as piano and percussion are in theory , there's much less crossover than I mistakenly thought and hoped.)   Anyway, something my mentor said was when the thumb isn't being used it should relax towards the rest of the hand and fingers.  Sure, may sound obvious, but in the throes of playing - piano or percussion - it's easy to forget little things like this.  Brain: Play a broken 13 over 7, across 6 surfaces...crescendo...oh, right. THUMB. End Scene Thumbs that are mis-mapped, working more than they should, or working when they don't need to contribute to funny aches, pains, and numbness that can get mistaken for carpal tunnel.   Just like all other subjects in the Marimba Body series, how we relate to the structure and movement desi...

This last fall was one of busyness and development. There are lots of exciting things to announce, like: I'm now on faculty at James Madison University! I've established a new chamber group: L+M Duo with Chicago-based pianist Marianne Parker I was accepted to the PAS Health and Wellness committee The  @ percussion podcast is alive and well, recording episode 77 this week! JMU Being asked to join the faculty at JMU was certainly a highlight of the last few months. It's great to be at a university again, teaching with husband, and resume working with passionate, talented colleagues.  It has been great to teach percussion again, share my 'healthy playing' research findings, and occasionally exercise empathic skills in those "talking lessons" which more resemble life coachings than music lessons. I also taught a Percussion Methods class for the first time. I learned a lot: things I'd do differently, things I'd incorporate, things I...

One of my most inspiring teachers, actress Carol Mayo Jenkins, would be pleasantly [un]surprised to learn that one of her adages has been confirmed time and time again by science.  I'll never forget the class when she said to us (and I paraphrase):  Feel this. Do you know a body of joy cannot hold despair, and a body of despair cannot hold joy.  She told us to stand tall, arms outstretched, face towards the ceiling; from there, we were to find the emotion of despair. One by one we each collapsed and closed slowly, unable to maintain such an upright, celebratory, and open position. That day was important; it was the day I realized that my kinesthetic awareness could affect how I experience my life. ---    Those of us that identify as artistic, creative types often deal with levels of anxiety and depression, sometimes very mild, sometimes more severe.  We Millennials, Gen X-ers, Baby Boomers, and Boomlets aren't the first to deal with t...

The weather this week in our part of VA has done nothing but create headache, both literally and figuratively.  If you're one of the unlucky millions of people who suffer from chronic migraines, the constant shifts from hot/somewhat dry to blustery, stormy humidity and cooler temps would have you reaching for either Excedrin or exceptional amounts of ibuprofen, as I've been doing these last few days. The world doesn't stop for a migraine, though sometimes our schedules allow us to sneak in a nap that helps dull the pain.  For those of us that make a living playing music, an ill-timed migraine can mean a bad performance or thwarted practice schedule. What Makes a Headache a Migraine? Migraines tend to not be acute, and rather progress through four stages over one to several days: Prodrome, Aura, Headache, and Post-drome.   Mayo Clinic has an entry that explains symptoms, but here's a synopsis. Prodrome - food and stomach weirdness, in what you want...

If you attended my class last year at PASIC, you may recall beginning with a simple exercise.  I asked everyone to find something to grasp - in most cases it was mallets or sticks, but some used a water bottle or wallet. Then, we all grasped those items tightly.  While gripping, I asked everyone to "check in" with their jaw.  Laughs and chortles filled the room as we all realized that they were tight as well. Further examination showed that the neck, shoulders, elbows, and wrists were tightening as a result. It's tempting to investigate why this tandem tightness occurs, but what's more important is simply that it does , regardless of the reason. A loose jaw is a shortcut to relaxation.  Free it and you will automatically feel relief along the arm. Temporal-mandibular Joint It's easier to free the jaw if we know exactly what area should receive focus.  To that end, here's a little info about the skeletal and muscular structures of the jaw. sourc...

It's been a busy first half of the month so far. Though summer isn't technically upon us, there's something about the month of June that makes it a month for personal projects. Perhaps it's because my entire life has been attached to an academic calendar, or perhaps it's because it's a month where there's typically more nice than dreary weather - either way, the first half of this selfish month has been a total joy. New Article It's been out for a little while, but you can read "Developing Kinesthetic Awareness: A Guide to Mindset, Explorations, and Wrists - Part 2" in this month's Rhythm! Scene .  Find it on page 14! TAPS East Coast By now there's evidence on social media that TAPS East Coast was a blast, both as a human and as a musician.  Held at the New England Music Camp (NEMC) at Snow Pond, the setting was nothing short of breathtaking.  The faculty were housed in cabins, the students in the new dorm, and our acti...