Two Ways to Start (and Continue) Playing an Instrument

Two Ways to Start (and Continue) Playing an Instrument By Eric Booth Here are two scenarios used in recent child development research. A four-year-old child is handed an unfamiliar toy and invited to play with it. The child is delighted to discover it squeaks when squeezed, and keeps trying different things with it, playing with […]

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How Much Should El Sistema-inspired Teaching Artists Be Paid?

How Much Should Teaching Artists in El Sistema-inspired Programs Be Paid? By Eric Booth Did you actually think I would give you a hard number in answer to that question? There is no numerical absolute. Not even a reliable calculator to help you factor in local realities like comparable norms and cost of living increases, […]

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To Teachers in Music-for-Social-Change Programs

To Teachers in Music-for-Social-Change Programs By Eric Booth and Tricia Tunstall Our book Playing for Their Lives (playingfortheirlives.com) grew from our observations of teaching in El Sistema-inspired programs around the world, in over 25 countries and at over 100 program sites. This global faculty brings deep experience and skills to the shared global Sistema experiment, […]

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The 5% Solution

From Eric Booth To Friends in the El Sistema-inspired movement Hello Friends, If you were at the Take A Stand Symposium, or if you read the accounts of the symposium in the current issue of The Ensemble, you may have heard about a proposal I made to our field in L.A. I believe we have […]

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The Generous Laboratory

El Sistema-inspired programs must build generative connections to the larger music learning ecosystem within which they live — ideas on the whys and hows of building real relationships.

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