Hi everybody, and welcome back to Season 3 of the Common Time podcast. We're so glad to have you here to continue bringing our conversations, insights, and inspiration for music educators everywhere. Each week, we'll highlight voices from across the music world and share ideas that you can bring directly into your classroom and to your ensembles. And now let's turn to our guest. Our guest today is Randall Standridge. Welcome, Randall.
Hello, happy to be here.
So Randall is a well known composer and arranger. He's also recovering band director and also the owner of Randall Standridge Music. And today we're talking about the important topic of programming for your ensemble. So, John, why don't you get it started?
Thanks, David. Hello, Randall. It's an honor to be talking to you today. You know, this is such an important topic that all of us, I think are struggling with in some in some capacity. So I am really looking forward to the insights that you're able to share today. So I'm just going to dive right in. So like you've written a lot of music at all grade levels. So my question is, what does educational relevance look like to you? And how should teachers think about that when selecting literature and rep to program for their ensembles?
Well, and thank you once again, thank you for having me here today. But when it comes to educational aspects for repertoire, for me, there's, it's, there's a spectrum of things that I always, you know, looked for when I was a director and as an honor band director, you know, traveling country and, and working with groups that I also continue to look for when I'm programming. The first and foremost thing for me is just the appropriateness of literature to the level that is always my first consideration. So, you know, if we're dealing with a, an ensemble that is playing at about a grade 2 to 2.5, you know, it would be foolish to, you know, program something that is going to not be achievable within the time frame that we have. So, you know, at the most basic level, I think, you know, the appropriate grade level is, you know, square one. That's where we've always got to start. Moving from that, the next thing I always look at is what concepts or experience am I trying to teach? So, you know, and that could take a lot of forms, you know, am I trying to teach something more practical like time signatures, like certain rhythms, certain key signatures, something, you know, just at a fundamental musical notation or musical theory level, you know, is there something that I'm trying to teach and does this, you know, touch on that. But moving beyond that, because I think sometimes when people talk about educational value, they solely look at, you know, what type of theoretical elements in my teaching, we can move beyond that because we all know that, you know, music is not just mathematical. Music is an art. And within the context of art, there are a host of other elements and experiences such as narrative experiences. You know, do we want to demonstrate that art and music can tell a story, that can communicate an idea or a program? Beyond that, is there some way that the art or the music we are programming touches on current event or aspects of, you know, that are relatable to the performers lives? So I think for me that's, you know, the next thing is, is what, you know, what am I trying to teach? What am I trying to get across to my students? And then the third, and this is one of the things that really informs my work both as a composer and as an editor for my company is, OK, you know, we, you know, whatever else we want to teach — does every single player have an engaging part? And this is the part where I will say that in my opinion, most band directors struggle because when they're picking out music, you know, they, they touch on those first two, but then there might not be melodic parts for low brass, there might not be engaging parts for percussion. The mid voices may be relegated to only upbeats or to accompaniment figures. And to me as a composer and as an educator, I don't think that's good either way. As an educator, I don't think it's good for the students to be relegated to a role; as a composer, I don't think it's good composition if you're only using instruments in one particular way. So to me, when I, you know, dig into the music, that's the last thing. And for me it's a deal breaker if I, you know, for example, within the context of what I do now with honor bands where I only have a very limited amount of time to make an impact on the students — for them to have a really great experience there — there are a lot of great wind ensemble pieces that I love that have almost no percussion parts. I am not going to program those for an honor band, no matter how great they are, no matter if they are the pinnacle of writing for wind band, because at that point it becomes more about the music and less about the student impact that you're having. And I think that for educators, the student impact has to be first beyond any other artistic considerations. How it is impacting every player in your ensemble has to be the number one consideration.
I couldn't agree more. No, I absolutely agree. I'm so curious in your experience, are there any pitfalls that you've seen from directors over programming purely for technical achievement or under programming out of fear, if that makes sense? And how can teachers find a healthy balance there?
Well, I've definitely seen both. And I think it also has to just be contextual because for example, even when I was teaching, there would be pieces that I would put in front of my students in private, you know, things we were not necessarily going to play, but it's like, OK, we're going to work on this and learn to stretch our abilities a little bit. So yeah, I think that's fine. But on the flip side, there were times where, you know, we might, you know, we've programmed some other stuff and we need like one last easy thing to throw in. And I think that's fine as well. But as far as the pitfalls, you know, there is a certain type of educator who really feels the pressure to play the hardest music that they can, to program something that they feel is going to impress their community or their peers. And so they push the kids to and put them in a position where these students are either going to be frustrated or they're just not going to be successful. Because, you know, we do have that element of what we're trying to do, where we are trying to teach the students to achieve excellence. And if we put the goal post so far out of their reach that they can't achieve it, I think it's going to be easy for a lot of students to lose sight of, you know, what we're doing or even just get so disheartened that they're like, well, this is impossible. So I do think it's a danger to over program, and especially if you're not doing it for the right reasons — you know, if you're doing it strictly because I want to be able to tell people that my band played this, I don't think that's a good reason. Similarly, if, you know, there's that fear of failure in public and so we're under programming, you know, I have pretty strong opinions about why students either quit or stay in band. And I think one of the biggest things that will get a student to stay in music is if they feel like they are progressing and if year to year they feel like I'm getting better, I'm, you know, getting better at this. So if their progress becomes stagnant, if it's just like, well, we get to, you know, this level of music or I get to this level of playing, but I'm not getting any better, I'm not seeing any new challenges, it's going to be very — we call it getting bored, but I just feel like it's a lack of progress. So for music studies to remain relevant to students, they have to feel like they're progressing.
Yeah, I mean it yes, that is very well stated. So I'm also curious because this comes into it too, and I think many of us are fighting this demon in a way about contest and festival, right. So I think that teachers often feel a pressure to program for their contest or festival or honor band or pick your adjudicated program, right. How can, in your opinion, how can directors reconcile the need for adjudicated success with the desired program that has a deeper meaning or emotional weight or some sort of artistic experience for the students? What do you think?
Well, I think you can do both. It does take a great deal more thought and more planning and also, quite frankly, just a greater exposure to repertoire. You know, because I think sometimes it's very easy for directors, particularly as we get older, to be like, well, this is the music I like, these are the composers I like. And so we kind of get locked into that. So I think, you know, allowing yourself to be exposed to more repertoire is automatically going to partially solve this problem just because you're going to have a bigger, you know, wheelhouse to draw from as far as, you know, things to put in front of your students. But as far as balancing things, I mean, like I said, I think you can do both, it's just — I'm not sure I have a great answer to that other than it just takes careful planning and exposure and also collaboration. Because one of the things too, that is, you know, one of the things I loved about teaching in Arkansas — because people may not know this, and you know, not to brag on my state too much for a little bit, but Arkansas has a really, really strong band culture. You know, that may not be known across the country, but we really do. The concert bands are great, the marching bands are great, the individual playing is great. But it's because of both how our state organization is organized. We like to call it UIL Light. It's not quite as intense as Texas because Texas is great — like the way it produces excellence is awesome. But ours is kind of light like that. But the one thing I will say for us is the sense of community and collaboration among programs is incredibly strong. And it's just cultural when we go to, you know, our — in fact, I just got back from three weeks of travel. The very last thing I just came back from was the Arkansas Bandmasters convention, which we have every summer. And it's interesting because Arkansas is such a small state, I think that's one of the reasons we can do this. But every time we have a convention, it just feels like a family reunion — people just, you know, talking, hey, what are you playing this? How can I help you? So I think that, you know, if directors are more willing to ask for help and to make connections within the community, which is so easy now, especially in the age of social media and, you know, Facebook groups — I think if they're willing to ask for help, that finding that literature that will hit those sweet spots that we're just talking about is going to be even better. Because I mean, if you, you know, for example, I'm a member of the middle school band director's Facebook page, very proud member. So shout out to anybody listening that's on that page. It's a really great group. But you know, often people will get on that site and say, well, here's my instrumentation, here's what I'm looking for, do you have any recommendations? And then they are just flooded with recommendations from people across the world. So I think, you know, not trying to be an island and just, you know, being part of the greater band region community will definitely assist on that.
So then can I follow up to that just very quickly? I mean, we all do adjudication and honor bands all over the world. And so I was just at a state, to be unnamed, that had at a state concert festival and there were programs with like 3 pieces all of the same composer. How do you feel about that?
Well, to me, I'm of a few minds about that. I mean, on the one hand, I am definitely a composer's composer. I mean, I started my own publishing company specifically so that we could assist in getting other composers' music out there. So I definitely think it's good for students to be exposed to as many compositional voices as possible as long as the music is good. Now, similarly, I'm just going to give you an example of one of my friends' music. OK, so one of my friends in the band community is Brian Balmages — great guy and also just a fantastic composer. You know, so one of the things I like about Brian's music, for example, is I honestly feel like I could program an entire program of his music and none of the music would be the same. That's not true for every single compositional voice out there, because some composers are still finding their voice and finding what interests them and, you know, expanding their repertoire. So I do think that, yeah, I mean, I think it's possible to do well, but it's obviously you're going to get a greater breadth and depth of different experiences if you program different composers. I mean, that's just a no brainer. And so I never lambast or judge anybody that does that because for all I know, maybe just these pieces are fitting their needs — you know, exactly what we talked about.
Or they have it in the library. It could be a funding issue.
Exactly. Exactly. So I don't have, you know, strong opinions about that. Like as far as I'm, I'm never going to shame a director for doing that, you know. But you know, I think it's just a no brainer that, you know, you will be giving a broader experience to your students by programming multiple composers.
Yeah, I think that's important too. Like it's to not necessarily judge because we just don't know the situation.
You don't know the situation. You know, we just, we just can't know.
But at the same time to keep in mind that the experiences that we're providing for our students are through repertoire largely. So just something to consider. So, OK, just shifting just a bit. Your catalog includes works that are, I would say, emotionally powerful, like they're socially relevant. You've spent time — it's kind of a wheelhouse in a way — but they're still very accessible. So I'm curious what advice you have for teachers that are trying to find music that resonates on sort of both sides with their students but also with audiences?
Well, I mean, I think the first thing is you just need to listen to your students and see what's going on in their lives and also just be a little more aware of the community you're teaching. You know, for example, one of the pieces we've published in the last few years that I love — not, I mean, I'll go away from my music just for a second — but one of my favorite pieces we've published in the last few years in our catalog is a Mariachi suite by Jorge Vargas. So first of all, to the listeners out here, if you've not checked out that piece, it's just great. Like it is one of my favorite things in the world. But you know, if you're teaching in a community where, you know, there is a Latin American experience, there is a Mexican experience, and this piece will touch on that cultural aspect — I think that's very, I mean, aside from the fact that it's just good music, like let's, you know, take that out, it's just great music. But you know, then you add this layer of it's affirming and representing an aspect of the community that you're serving. I think that's very powerful because I think, you know, if you're only playing things that represent a very narrow life experience of, you know, this type of composer or this type of idea, then I think that's very limited. So I think you have to be a little bit more aware of the community you're serving first and foremost. Beyond that, you know, we do have to keep in mind that we are dealing with students whose lives are very different than ours growing up — you know, we did not have social media, we did not have TikTok, we did not have all these experiences that are going on right now. So doing things that are relevant to them, even if it's something like, for example, one of my new pieces out this year, a piece called Pixels, which is about video games because I'm a lifelong gamer — I've just been since forever. And so just something as simple as that, where it's like acknowledging, you know, that this aspect of our culture, video games, but then doing it in a creative way that's also engaging and educational — that can be, you know, I think sometimes when we're thinking of like emotionally relevant things, it's, you know, of course I know I have my Unbroken project about mental health, but it doesn't always have to be that serious. You know, it can also be just something that touches on an aspect of their life outside of band or outside of music. Now, having said that, you know, the Unbroken project, which I alluded to a second ago about mental and emotional health, you know, this is also something that I think audiences resonate with just because it's a life experience that they can have or have had or will have. So I think just things that represent the community and the student and, you know, the audience are things that will be emotionally relevant.
Right, you know, kind of digging into — you mentioned Unbroken, I was going to bring that up later. Just kind of looking at your output, it's in works like that you've really addressed deeply personal and societal themes, you know, through your music. So can we just go down that a little further because I am curious how music educators — how and when and should they approach programming as a way to support student well-being as well as their own emotional expression? So like, let's go a little further because I don't think that's a topic that necessarily we're thinking about as much as maybe we need to.
Well, I mean, for me, I'm not sure there's a anyone great moment where he's like, oh, well, I should do this now. I think it's just, you know, for me, the whole unbroken project and the mental health aspect is, you know, this is something I've dealt with my entire life as somebody who lives with these conditions, as a teacher, you know, I witnessed students and faculty members and parents, community members who are also dealing with these issues. So I don't think there's like a particular moment that's just like, oh, this is when I should do this. I think just the nature of our art, the nature of being in a performance based class where we are going to create experiences and moments for people to have conversations or to feel something it, it could really happen anytime. Now as far as how we do that, for me, I always, anytime I've taught any of the unbroken pieces, we always start with just the music. We just play the piece and I don't really discuss the piece much with the students until we have a sense of the work because, you know, I don't want to, I, I don't want to make the work seem too heavy or too important at first. I know that may sound contrary to what it seems like it is, but the big thing is I, I don't feel like the students will be able to grasp what the piece is about until we can, yeah, at least partially get through it and to, to work our way through it because otherwise it's just an abstract concept. If I, if I build up this piece, oh, well, this piece is about, you know, depression. This piece is about anxiety. You know, they, they don't really have a concept of that until we get into the piece. You know, so I think I, I, I don't think you have to front load that experience too much like with building it up in terms of, you know, I think it should happen more organically across the preparation of the piece like as we do. Well, what do you think this means? Like what do you think this means? One piece that I've used at a couple of younger honor bands in the past couple years that has been really fun to work on in, in terms of this is our piece called Elemental, which is the youngest band piece in the unbroken project. And it has four movements and the movements are joy, anxiety, peace and aggression. And what was interesting was, you know, we, we've worked through those and, you know, after we got through, like we'd get to a moment in the, in the weekend, I'd be like, OK, you know, coming back from break, you know, which movement, you know, and the movements are numbered. So they're like, which movement do you feel right now? And it provided, like some students here are very happy, you know, a lot of them were happy, but there were a couple that were like anxious, you know, and a couple of, you know, percussion, you know, aggressive. And so it was it, it provided an interesting, you know, just context for students to feel OK to express their emotions. But had they not already played through the pieces and felt some type of, you know, connection with music, I don't think they would have been as willing to do that.
Yeah, that's very interesting. I hadn't really even thought about how that connection. It's an excellent. Even during a rehearsal.
Yeah. Oh, for sure. Yeah, for sure.
You know, a part of this too, Randall, I think why your music is so compelling, at least to me, is, is it's how you approach advocacy, whether intentional or unintentional. And I think that it is so important because we as conductors and directors and teachers have a large microphone and how we use it I think is really important and often times something that is underutilized in my opinion. My question is how can teachers utilize programming as a form of advocacy for their students for diverse voices, underrepresented topics, underrepresented composers? I mean, how do you feel about that?
Well, I think for me, the advocacy part, I have some pretty strong opinions about this because I think, I think the word advocacy is laden with a certain type of expectation of action, especially in this age of social media. One thing that you will see a lot is, you know, people basically just yelling at other people and just saying like you should feel this way, you should think this way. Is that a type of advocacy? Absolutely. But it is not the type that I ascribe to. For me, if you were to look through a lot of my social media or a lot of my pieces or the way that I present things, I'm simply stating my opinion. It's like this is what I think. This is how I feel. And then what I do that what I think that does is that allows people to connect with it without that sense of being told this is what I should do. Because one thing I tell people, I'm I'm not shy with my opinions. You know, if, and you could ask my friends, you could ask my family. Like I'm one of these people. I'm not shy about stating my opinion. I never necessarily expect people to agree with me, but that also, but I'm not going to curb my opinion just because I'm also because I'm afraid that somebody will disagree with me. You know, I'm very confident in my opinions. I'm very confident in my point of view and I'm not shy about stating it. So when it comes to advocacy for music, I feel like that may be what some people respond to is that I'm not, I'm not, I'm not dictating how people should think or feel, but I am allowing them to, you know, discuss and feel the things that I'm talking about whether they agree or not. So I think when it comes to how directors can do this, you know, I don't think audiences like to be lectured. I really don't. I don't think that people like to be told, you know, just. But when it comes to, for example, diversity, I think, you know, when you program diverse composers #1 their identity, you know, should be not necessarily mentioned, but at least obvious. So for example, if you're going to put together a program, have pictures of the composers. I mean, most composers in this day and age have head shots. They're available online. You can find them anywhere. So you know, have them, you know, on poster boards, a smart board like projection. You know, when you when you're working on the piece, show the composer have their biography available. If you can find anything online or if you can contact the composer, maybe some fun facts about them, but, you know, just some way to show the person behind the music. I think that can be very powerful, especially for students who might, you know, identify with those diverse voices. Because it's one thing to just see a name, but to see the person and to see, you know, to feel a little bit greater connection with them, I think that could be very powerful. And then for your audiences, you know, if it's possible, you know, when you're presenting in an auditorium, whatever, similarly, you know, is it an option to have a screen projected? And like, you know, it's not just overplaying the space, but like, you know, peace composer, you know, I guess also to show students that a lot of these composers are still alive and that this is a viable career path. You know, this is something people are actually still doing. You know, not all of the music in the world was written, you know, in Beethoven's time. So I think that can be very powerful too, you know, So, and don't get me wrong, I want to just double back on one thing I said. I mean, I am when I said audiences don't like to be lectured, I mean, I do sometimes. Do we need to have strong opinions and do we need to state them very strongly? Oh, absolutely. And I agree with that. But I just think when we're trying to build bridges, I think, you know, stating it in a way where it, it, I'm not sure I know the right word, but just where it, it, it invites discussion and it invites, you know, a reaction as opposed to dictating a reaction. I think that can be a little bit more powerful in terms of building those bridges that we really need to build. You know, and just to kind of follow up on that, I feel strongly that it's our responsibility to expose the students to as wide of a pallet as possible. And I think that we need to amplify underrepresented voices as much as humanly possible. One of the things that's been very joyful for me over the past 10 years is to see this push for diverse representation in band music because that is an issue that I strongly agree with and strongly support. I've built, you know, an entire publishing company whose mission is to, you know, support and amplify diverse composers. And we are very proud of that. Consequentially, because and as a good consequence, you know, if you look at, I mean, not just as I'm not taking care of this, but because of the push that we've seen culturally in concert band with amplifying diverse voices, you are seeing more and more programmed composers of diverse backgrounds. You know, more composers, you know, BIPOC composers, more female composers, you know, just in general, it's just been a lot more diverse. However, unfortunately, I think there's been a little bit of a relaxation on that because people are like, oh, well, you know, we're, things are getting much better. So, you know, we, we don't have to worry about that anymore. And that's absolutely not true. So I'll give you some real statistics from our company. OK. So last year we had 200 concert band submissions for, you know, consideration with publication. So, you know, and if we, you know, did the math, you know, by population, it should be, you know, about 50 or 50%, you know, maybe slightly more than 50% would be, you know, submitted by female composers and, you know, then those by male composers. That is not what happened. So in 2025, out of 200 concert band submissions, 30 were for women. That is 15%. So I think knowing things like that too, knowing specific statistics, you know, that's one thing you'll see a lot is I've seen it, you know, for instance, on Facebook where people will take works programmed at certain festivals or in certain circuits or things, and they'll break down the demographics. Even though there has been more music available by diverse voices, even though there's been more representation, it is still not representative of the population. It is still not, it is still not reached, you know, that equilibrium, for lack of a better word. So I think, you know, in addition to highlighting diverse voices, I think when you're highlighting statistics, highlighting actual hard data is a good way to advocate as well, which, you know, or I would have, I guess I would have said a long time ago, but you know, now that we're in the world of alternative facts, who knows, you know, So because it's like, it's like, oh, that's math, but that, that's not necessarily true, you know, and that was, that was sarcasm, by the way, to the, to the.
I'm with you.
Well, this is just such an important, it's an important conversation to continue having and I think you're right.
Absolutely, yeah. That conversation was elevated for several years and it has felt like there's been a bit of a relaxation and we just have to keep pushing forward. But that's why we have use the microphone that we have available to us.
Well, and that's a good point too, because like I just mentioned a second ago, I don't have the same like for example, somebody like a college conductor or somebody who works in fields where they have access to different data, different things like that. I don't have the same platform they have, but the platform I have is as a composer and as a music publisher. So one of the ways that I really try to exercise my influence on this issue is by what exactly what we've been doing, which is to promote and publish works by diverse voices. Because given my position in the, you know, music industry, that's the biggest impact I can have, or at least that I feel like I can have by, you know, trying to provide more works and more opportunity. Whereas, you know, somebody who's in a completely different situation, a completely different part of the industry, they're ability to impact might look entirely different, you know, So I think, you know, one of the things we have to do and, and I think that actually brings me to the point is like within our own realms, within our own, you know, spheres, we have to look at what we can do, what's possible, because it will be different for every person. I won't necessarily be able to have the same impact that somebody else will, or at least not in the same way. But this is what I can do. And so that's what I'm doing. But if it's a priority, it's possible.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. I also love that you use the term building bridges like several different times. That is, we are building toward that and we, if we continue building those bridges because there is a conversation in there, if we are advocating and bringing people in and bringing more people to the table, we're building those bridges. I like the idea that there's a, this should be positive. This is a positive thing that we're we're working toward in terms of equality across the board. So I just love.
Oh, absolutely. Tearing down. You know, and that also ties into to David Exposure. You know, there's such good music being composed. Absolutely. Find it, find it, go seek it out. And if you don't, it's to me. And maybe this is going to get us in trouble. I don't know. If you have any problems with my next sentence, be sure to e-mail David, not me. But if you don't like, I don't want to hear the phrase, well, it's just not good. I haven't found anything good. Well, that's on you, man. Like get out there and find it because it's great music and we just need to have exposure to it. You know, it's it's a lack of effort in my humbled opinion. But you know, who am I?
Oh, absolutely. I mean, and, and I mean to me, it goes beyond even my own company. I mean, I, I fully stand behind all the pieces that my company has published. We, we have an interior motto that says nothing but gems, you know, and that's in our exterior motto is creativity, quality, diversity. So, you know, from our own company, I can assure you every single piece of ours is great. Like it has come across my desk, been through the editing process. So if, if you're looking for, you know, for that, then. But we are certainly not the only company doing that. And it's been so joyful and so important to see other companies embracing this and giving opportunity to diverse voices. So yeah, the music's out there. The music is absolutely out there.
Yeah, there's a lot of it continues to grow yeah and I you know it's it does kind of like sting a little bit to hear that in 2025 only 15% that's a such a low number and yet 10 years ago that might have been 2% so we. There's right? There is progress, we just have to keep after it.
We really. Well, exactly. And yeah, I think, I think you can simultaneously celebrate progress but realize there needs to be more of it. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.
So, Well, I'm curious. We've talked about a lot of different topics here, and I want to kind of go get back to music educators. And if you could give music educators one piece of advice on planning a concert program that really matters, what would that be?
Well, I mean, I don't, I really don't think it would be any different than what I said before. And I think the three elements that I mentioned that I look for and things are the keys. Number one, is it appropriate for your group? You know, because again, you do not want to set yourself up for something that's out of reach, but you also don't want to do something that is not going to progress your players. So number one, that number 2, you know, is it teaching something that you on a practical level that you want to teach? You know, so is it so which again goes back to is it progressing your band? You know, is it going to expose them to some new musical concept or reinforce something you've already taught? And then third, is it going to excite or engage the players in some meaningful way, whether it be with your interesting parts, with some type of story, with some type of feeling or representation that is going to be really powerful. So I, I think the best programs, you know, have that. Then lastly, on a practical level, I think every, every like for example, when I program concerts for honor bands, I think of the concert as an experience by itself. So to me, a really good concert should have a good flow, a good concert should have a climax and a little bit of a day. New mall, you know, for example, when I did the Michigan Allstate Band, you know, I which, and again, I just want to give a big shout out to those kids and educators again, that I had such a marvelous time with that group, you know, just such a great group of kids. But when I programmed the concert, I wanted it to take the audience on an emotional journey. So we started with a really exciting opener, Sonic Pathways by Nathan Hervey, and then we continued with a little bit more introspective, quieter piece by Julie Giroux, who by the way, is one of my favorite band composers. Then we continued with a couple of my works. We did animation episode 1, Wabbit, which is really wacky and funny and, you know, really got the audience excited. Then we continued with Unbroken, which is highly emotional and you know, like about a 15 minute big heavy symphonic work that leads up to a big climax. So that, you know, that piece was the emotional climax of the concert. And then we finished with just a, you know, real quick March at the end just to kind of give the audience something to tap the toaster or you, as I call it, the Daidu Mall. You know, it's not, we don't want to end just on that, you know, that big, big, big heavy thing. We want just something, you know, little account, almost like closing credits, you know, something like something small, short and leave them smiling. And so I think when you're programming, in addition to all the things we mentioned, if you can think of the overall concert as a almost as one piece, like where do you want the highs, where do you want the lows, I think that will assist in your programming as well.
Yeah, absolutely. No, I know you, you went back to some things you said earlier, but that's, these are really good bookends for the conversation of kind of where we started and kind of where we've we've ended in terms of putting this all together. And I'm you're right, I love Julie's music. We had Julie on. Last in our last season, man, she's a she's a fun conversation.
Oh she is. Absolutely, Absolutely. I program her and Kimberly Archer in every all in every Allstate band that I ever do, which I just love it. Their music is so good.
I love Kimberly Archer's music too. All right. So now we're going to transition slightly into some questions that we ask all of our guests. And I'll, I'll take the first one. Do you have a soapbox topic?
Do I have a soapbox topic? It would be one of two things. It would either be mental health in general or specifically music educator work life balance.
We never have a problem with that, do we? Work. That's not What is that about?
Yeah, exactly. Then you must, you must be the two that don't because everybody else.
My hair is Gray to prove otherwise.
Yeah, that's true. So yeah, that's that's very, very true. The work life balance is something and we've talked about it actually on this podcast quite a few times. We've had people on to talk about mental health. We've had people to about physical health. I mean, just we've had a psychologist on. We just, it's so important to just like we've been talking about programming to keeping this conversation going about how do we balance what we do with who we are and what we need. So I appreciate you bringing that back up.
The next one's a little less, I guess, heavy. Is there a particular book or books that have inspired you in your journey? Doesn't have to be musical, just anything that we could share with our listeners.
Well, not so. I mean, I'm a big fiction reader and so, you know, I, I mean, and I'm a bookworm. I read all the time. I'm my favorite author, hands down, is Stephen King. So I'm not sure if I find any of that super inspiring. Although now having said that, I would recommend two books like if people were looking to be inspired. The first is a Stephen King book, but it's not one of his fiction books. He wrote this really, really great book that's called On Writing. And so the first half of it details his life. You know, growing up in Maine and kind of like, it's not an entire biography, but it's like specifically moments that he felt turned him into a writer and turned him into the writer he is. So and then the second-half of the book is his thoughts on the art of creativity and the art of writing. And it's, it's just really, really great. The second book that I read that. So, you know, I go to the gym quite a bit and I've got a trainer that I work with and I have a rule that pretty much any time anybody recommends a book to me, I'll read it. Not, I may not finish it, but I'll at least start it. And if it catches my interest, I will, you know, I will finish it, but I, I will read or try to read everything anybody recommends to me. So he recommended this book one time. It's called the Champions Mind, and essentially it's a bunch of anecdotes and recollections by Olympic athletes about, you know, their feelings of excellence and routine and training and what it takes to really excel in whatever field you're in. Now, I've got to be honest, when he recommended this book, it sounded like the pits to me. I was like, this is not something I want to read. But again, with my rule, I was like, okay, I'm going to give it a shot. So I read it and it's great and it's just like, I mean, it's not something you have to sit down and read like all of it. But you know, I'll, I actually have, I have a copy now and I'll just dip into it every couple days, just read a couple chapters and kind of get, you know, get re inspired and kind of refocused on what I'm doing. And so I like that book a lot. So those two, I would recommend those two.
Perfect, we'll add them to our list.
Indeed. All right. So the final question, Randall, and probably the most important of the day, what is your favorite time signature?
What is my favorite? If I could only write in one time suture for the rest of my career, hands down. It would be 7-8. I love writing in 7-8. There's something that just appeals to me about it. It always feels very adventurous and joyful. So I love writing in 7-8.
7-8 great. We've had a lot of guests that have chosen 7-8. It's, it's great.
It is it's it's a great one.
Randall, thank you so much for the conversation today. It's been inspiring and enlightening and we really appreciate your time.
Well, thank you for having me on and as we get the new year started, I hope all the listeners plus you guys, you have a great start to the year and I'm all over social media. So if you ever need recommendations or just want to say hi, please look me up and find me because I've all absolutely.
Absolutely. Thank you again. That's it for today's episode of the Common Time Podcast. And thank you for spending time with us. We hope that today's conversation will give you something useful to take back to your students and your program. And if you enjoyed this episode, make sure you subscribed so you don't miss what's coming up. And if you know another director who might benefit from this, please share it with them. Also, don't forget you're able to nominate a music educator for our Standing Ovation program. The link to submit is in the show notes below. Thanks again for joining us on the Common Time podcast. As always, keep making music and keep making a difference.