Author: ericdunn

  • Keyboard proficiency exam

    Keyboard proficiency exam. Now there is a weird title for a post. I’ve been talking about my college experience in my previous posts. Last week I talked about my troubles with music theory and music history. Those subjects were difficult, but neither troubled me more than the keyboard proficiency exam (KPE). What the heck is…

  • Out of my league

    When my college classes started I realized that I was out of my league. I had the desire to be a great band director and I knew how to play trumpet and euphonium, but I knew absolutely nothing about the theory or history of music. This was going to be a big problem. What’s a…

  • My college experience

    I began my college experience in the fall of 1983. I had made it into James Madison University (JMU) by the skin of my teeth and now I was going to pursue my dream of becoming a band director. Leaving home Many kids have parents who send them off to camp for a week in…

  • Bruce Weissert

    My memories of Bruce “Bud” Weissert. I introduced Bruce Weissert in last week’s post. Bruce passed away in 2019 at the age of 59. This week I’ll expand on my experience as Bruce’s student. Meeting Bud I had taken private lessons on trumpet since fifth grade. My parents saw the value in getting me extra…

  • Going to College

    Today I’m going to talk about the events that led me to go to college at James Madison University. I’ve explained in a previous post that I gravitated toward marching band in junior high school and then went all-in with my high school program. But, how could I take this passion and turn it into…