Top 10 Things To Do This Summer!

Top 10 Things To Do This Summer!
by Dr. Michael Dean “ClarinetMike”

Lessons. Take private lessons with a good teacher. A good teacher will spend time improving your basics and teaching you how to practice in addition to working on music.
Practice. Work hard to improve using a good practice routine.
Basics. Work on fundamentals plus Scales, Etudes, Sight Reading, and Transposition. Hey Students! How about working on what your teacher emphasized last semester – posture, embouchure, tonguing, etc.?
Camp. Attend a band camp, music festival, workshop etc., especially one that you can participate in.
Study. Study a work or composer you don’t know.
Clean. Organize your office and/or practice space! Those stacks of music (and pizza boxes!) need to be dealt with. AND clean your case!
CALL! Contact an older musician – especially a retired private teacher or band director. Call them and see how they are doing. In fact, STOP reading this and call them right now – yes, right now!
Movies. Watch old movies (check out Turner Classic Movies) and listen to the music. Learn about the composers. Some of them have written solo music for your instrument!
Jazz. Work on Jazz or a style that is new to you. If you don’t know anything about Jazz, Now’s The Time to learn.
Live. Get outside in the sunshine. Attend a church or similar meeting, get some exercise, read a good book, learn a foreign language, explore a side hustle, become a volunteer in an organization that helps people, etc.

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NOTE: I took the picture above of a famous statue of the great Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (175 AD) on a summer trip to Rome a few years ago.

About ClarinetMike

American Clarinetist Michael Dean “ClarinetMike” performs and teaches internationally and across the USA to consistent praise and acclaim such as, “world-class clarinetist and pedagogue,” “consummate performer,” “inspirational,” “outstanding teacher,” “super,” “brilliant performer,” and “one of the best clinicians I have ever seen.” Dr. Michael Dean’s career is headlined by appearances at Carnegie Hall, ClarinetFest, NACWPI, Royal Northern College of Music, and Eastman School of Music, with recent recitals and master classes in Italy, Canada, Spain, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Louisiana, and Texas. He is currently planning an international recital and master class tour of Israel for spring 2025. He is on the faculty of the international Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy as Clarinet Artist Faculty in Residence. Michael Dean performed with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra for 11 years and has also performed with the Texas Chamber Music Project, Northeast Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Wind Ensemble, Southwest Symphony, Nevada Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic, Abilene Opera, Southeast Chamber Players, Red Mesa Trio, and Duo 35 with saxophonist Todd Oxford. As a clarinet performing and recording artist, he has commissioned, premiered, edited, toured with, and recorded new and lesser-known clarinet works. He is featured on 6 commercial CDs, including the soon-to-be-released Postcards from Silver Lake CD. He is also prominent on New Media, such as YouTube and Facebook. He has given more than 1000 master classes, clinics and performances at universities, colleges, conservatories, festivals, conferences, and high schools. His ClarinetMike Blog and ClarinetMike QuickTips are widely read on the internet and social media and viewed in more than 150 countries on 6 continents. His articles also appear in professional journals such as Southwestern Musician, WINDPLAYER, The Bandmasters’ Review, and NACWPI Journal. He is a past president and former National Board Officer of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI). A committed teacher and noted pedagogue, Dr. Dean’s students enjoy successful careers as professional performers, educators, and administrators and are consistently accepted into prestigious university music schools. They consistently win awards and distinctions at competitions and festivals including solo & ensemble, all-region, all-state, and various concerto and other competitions. After a successful 20+ years of teaching the clarinet and music at the university level, he relocated to his native Texas due to family concerns. He is currently an active clarinet and woodwind performer, teacher, clinician, and consultant based in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. He is also currently studying digital assets and their application to music and music education. Dr. Michael Dean studied clarinet performance at Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Colorado at Boulder, and University of Texas at Arlington. His teachers include Robert Walzel, Philip Aaholm, Carol Jessup, Bob Ackerman, and Jesse Youngblood. He is a BG France Performing Artist and his professional website is clarinetmike.com. Mike and his family live in Hurst, Texas. His family’s Golden Retriever, Nimbus, is a relative of Andy.

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