Welcome to Five Link Friday. Every Friday I share 5 of my favorite links found online. Enjoy! Please add your own favorites in the comments below!

1) Sometimes as musicians we forget that if we really want something we need to go after it. It’s not just about playing well. In fact, I would say playing well is a given, and you need to focus on the other stuff. This is a great link full of advice and good reminders.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter/workplace/kay/story/2012-04-28/act-like-you-want-the-job/54579456/1

2) I have to admit that when I first read this I was pretty bummed. I think it’s the world “useless” that gets me the most. But it is an interesting read, especially the links at the bottom. What do you think?

http://newsweek.tumblr.com/post/21649811964/the-13-most-useless-college-majors-as-determined-by

3) This is an interesting interview with the composer Kim Planert, who composes music for ABC’s Missing and Castle.

http://musiccomposerblog.com/industry-interviews/kim-planert-composer.html

4) We all need inspiration in our lives, right? This is a great post with a whole twitter list of amazing people to do just that. How can you go wrong?

http://rightbrainrockstar.com/inspiration/38-amazing-people-who-will-help-you-quit-your-job-and-follow-your-dreams/

5) A special 2 for 1- links on why taking lessons over the summer is a good idea. What do you want to learn this summer?

http://linkermusic.weebly.com/studio-blog.html

http://www.musiclessons.monicashriver.com/advantages-of-summer-lessons/

Welcome to Five Link Friday – this is where I share with you some of my favorite recent links. Have one of your own? (Or five.) Please share in the comments below!

1) A while back I took a survey on how musicians and composers make money. Here is the results of that survey. I think it’s incredibly interesting to see the ways that musicians and composers combine revenue sources to create a “job”.

How Musicians and Composers Make Money Survey Results

2) Promotion is one of those things that both interests and terrifies me. I have been told that I’m good at it. I don’t know, I’m continuing learning. This post offers some good ideas on different places to post about your projects online. http://blog.rockthepost.com/2012/04/12-places-to-promote-your-rock-the-pos-project-online/

3) 10 new ways to build a kick-ass digital resume – Pretty much speaks for itself. It’s an interesting time right now – people make up their mind about you before they ever speak to you. I have had a number of people call me based off what they see on my website or what they read on my Facebook updates. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, but it’s definitely real.

4) We all know we need to network. Gigs are probably the best place to do that and here’s one post on how.  How to network on the gig I’m curious – how do you network? Any tips?

5) A friend of mine on Facebook posted this on another friend’s wall and as a big John Mayer fan, I had to check it out. I was blown away. Sit down and watch the whole clinic – you’ll learn something and laugh while doing it. At least I did.

1) Ever used a vision board? I’m the crafty type and I like creating collages and such. This blog got me thinking that maybe I used my fun little hobby to help my career. What do you think?
How Artists Can Use a Vision Board

2) This is a really interesting episode of Finding Your Roots on Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. I really enjoyed it. Look for the one titled John Lewis and Cory Booker

3) From the wonderful Jazz Video Guy, a little video blog asking the question: Would Shorter Solos Help?

4) I’m new to this whole selling merchandise thing (although I hope to have a Doublers Collective CD within the next year!) so I have been doing quite a bit of research. This is a interesting article from the people over at cdbaby. The comments to this post are worth reading as well.

http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2012/04/why-the-value-of-your-merch-changes-every-day/

5) I’ve started this book and so far I’ve been really enjoying it. Dubbed has a pay what you want (including $0) and is continuing to update the book. If you have the slightest interest in the subject, I’d definitely check it out. Music in the Digital Age ebook by Andrew Dubber

Little background: I started Doublers Collective with the help of Mike Crotty in 2010. The goal was to play a whole bunch of different instruments in a progressive jazz setting, commission and perform new music, and do performance clinics at schools. It’s such an exciting project. Find out more about Doublers Collective, including some videos visit our website: www.doublerscollective.com

Hot off the press – Doublers Collective stickers!

Want one of your very own? Here’s how:

1. If you donated to Doublers Collective’s first IndieGoGo campaign last year – your sticker will be in the mail in the next couple of days or if you’re local, the next time I see you in person.

2. The first 25 people to contact Doublers Collective through the website will get one for free. Go to www.doublerscollective.com – clink on the Contact tab and fill out the form. Hurry, because they will be going fast!

3. Donate! Make a minimum donation of $5 and I will send you a sticker as a thank you! Go to http://www.doublerscollective.com/donate/ for more info.

4. Come to a live show! We will have them to hand out!

Thank you for supporting Doublers Collective!

Last weekend I did a Doubling Clinic with Mike Crotty at the Highland Jazz Festival. This particular festival is in its third year and is one of my favorite festivals. Run by two of my friends, the Highland High School Band directors, Kevin Bennett and Lewis Nelson, it is one of the few festivals where you get a complete experience. Middle school and high school bands of various sizes, instrumentation, and configurations (all are welcome!) perform for a rating and comments from out of state clinicians with the option to compete. Concert Jazz Band from Arizona State University performs with the adjudicators and guest artists in the evening concerts. Local professional musicians and educators provide clinics for the students and the band directors. Guest Artists have included Joe Lovano, John Fedchock, Jeff Coffin, Bobby Shew, and Wycliffe Gordon. These are seriously heavy players.

For me, the best part is the transition I’ve made personally. I started out as a student attending these types of Festivals (about 20 years ago… Yikes!), then being in the college band performing, then being a jazz band director and bringing my own students, then doing a clinic… It’s pretty cool to see that progression and how each step influenced me along the way to make me who I am now. I’m not done either. Next is being a adjudicator and eventually a guest artist.

Speaking of guest artists – one of the highlights of the day was getting to enjoy a clinic and performance by Joe Lovano. Lovano’s clinic was like beatnik poetry. I loved it! (not sure how those high school kids felt, though.) Having only ever heard Lovano on his records, I simply fell in love with his playing live. Especially his ballads. Man, that guy is one of the best ballad players I have heard – he played a tune based off Body and Soul changes and I melted. So beautiful!

Mike and I had a great great time doing the clinic. It’s fun to talk about something that we both feel so passionately about and enjoy doing. We hope to do many more of them. I’ve included our handout at the bottom of this post for you, if you’d like. In addition, I made some new friends – great players and educators: Erik Applegate, Robert Morgan, and Matt Olson. One of the best parts about doing things like this is meeting new people from all over the country. I’m so fortunate to be a part of this community of musicians who love, teach, and perform jazz.

Doubling Clinic PDF

Welcome to Five Link Friday – the fun Friday post where I hip you to five of my favorite links of the week. Please feel free to share your own favorite links in the comments below!

1) Chris Potter transcription of Confirmation – my dear friend Adam just posted this on his website and it’s ridiculous. If you love Chris Potter (I do!) then check this out. Insane! Adam has other transcriptions worth checking out too.

2) Next week I’m attending the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference. Luckily it’s close by this year – at Arizona State University. I really enjoy going to conferences (and I’m both performing and doing a Panel Discussion at this one). Derek Sivers has a great post how to get the most out of SxSW, but it applies to any conference. http://sivers.org/sxsw

3) Ten Do’s and Dont’s of Career Building By: Edna Landau

4) Chamber Music America – My group, Doublers Collective, just joined CMA and the organizatio0n really has a lot to offer. I’m excited about learning more and meeting other chamber music ensembles and musicians.

5) Fan Funding – 9 steps to find patrons completely on your own

There’s been an interesting debate about using fundraising platforms like Kickstarter among musicians lately and Disk Makers sent this out in their newsletter this week. Food for thought.

Have a great weekend!

Welcome to Five Link Friday – the fun Friday post where I hip you to five of my favorite links of the week. Please feel free to share your own favorite links in the comments below!

1) Free Flute Sheet Music – http://www.flutetunes.com/ – Free music, including midi and accompaniment. Worth bookmarking!

2) Are You Making These 20 Mistakes on Your Blog?

3) Workflow Tutorial for the Collaborative Internet Musician by Rob Michael Great article on virtual recording sessions and collaboration.

4) 10 Truths From 10 Established Artists On Making It In Music [Free eBook]

5) Blog post about Ernie Watts – short and sweet, but as a doubler, I got a kick out of it.

Welcome to Five Link Friday! This is where I post 5 of my favorite links from the week. I hope you enjoy and please check out the FLF’s from previous weeks. If you have a favorite link please post it in comments!

(Sorry I missed last week – it was one of those insane weekends full of gigs, rehearsals, and clinics that never ended. It’s the life of a musician – you enjoy the insane busy times, because quiet is just around the corner.)

1) 11 Top Ways To Create Compelling Music Video Content

2) From the newly formed Facebook group called Woodwind Educators – http://melmartin.com/html_pages/edu.html

3) The Importance Of Keeping The Same Band Members by David Liebman

4) Why Every Jazz Enthusiast Should Join the Jazz Education Network By Pete BarenBregge

5) Why LA Club Owners Are Totally Lost and Some Advice For Them From a Professional Musican by Dave Goldberg. A great article and definitely work thinking about.

La Club Owners

Welcome to Five Link Friday! This is where I post 5 of my favorite links from the week. I hope you enjoy and please check out the FLF’s from previous weeks. If you have a favorite link please post it in comments!

1) Highland Jazz Festival

This is an annual event that happens here in Phoenix and I’m really excited to be a part of it this year. Mike Crotty and I will be doing a clinic on Doubling and it’s going to be fun, entertaining, and educational. I’m also excited to hear John Fedchock and Joe Lovano perform during the evening concerts. Check out the site – tickets are insanely cheap.

2) How to Play Jazz Exercises Jerry Bergonzi on his Teaching Style JazzHeaven.com Video Excerpt

3) A Guide to Free Online Saxophone Lessons – one of my favorite online friends and part of my panel discussion on social media during the NASA conference next month, I love Doron’s site. This is a great article – it’s nice to have all those resources in one place!

4)  Violinist Has Classy Reaction To Phone Interruption – this has been going around my community of musicians friends and I finally got around to watching it. I love it. There’s lots of ways to deal with “technology disruptions” in a musical setting… sometimes I’m thankful I play jazz and usually can’t hear a cell phone ringing anyway.

5) I’m a Local Biz. I Don’t Need to Be Online…Do I? – I have this discussion with musicians all the time about getting a website up – but it really applies to all small businesses. (Sorry musicians, you’re a business. Yes you’re an artist, but you’re a business too. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing.)

Welcome to Five Link Friday! This is where I post 5 of my favorite links from the week. I hope you enjoy and please check out the FLF’s from previous weeks. If you have a favorite link please post it in comments!

1) 3 Ways to Reduce Online Noise and Get More Done – a great blog post on how to get some control back when updates, events, subscriptions, etc start to take over your life. I did some cleaning up of my own inbox after reading this and it’s helped.

2) The Mistake that Topples Careers and Industries by David Cutler – a nice little article about keeping an open mind when it comes to your career.

3) Creativity Comes After The Fact – gapingvoid has become one of my favorite things to read in the morning. I even have one of his cartoons as the lock screen picture on my phone. This particular one really made me think… and then get to work.

4) Double-A Goals – some tips from The Musician’s Way on goal setting and attaining!

5) The last one this week isn’t a link, but a picture. I had the privilege of sharing the stage with the famous Don Rickles last weekend. I didn’t get a picture of myself with him unfortunately, but there is some video of his calling me “dragon lady”. It was a very cool show! I did snap a picture of the stage while we were on break: