Exactly What to Do in Your First Two Hours of Research

What if you could quickly find the most respected sources and reference information on your topic, organized in a way that would save you time in the outlining, drafting, and proofing stages. And what if you could do that all within the first two hours of research?

ScholarshipMark SamplesFebruary 4, 2021

Mental Representations for Musicians

Picture in your mind the Mona Lisa. Now take a step back and observe yourself picturing the Mona Lisa. Consider what you are seeing. If you are like most people, you can call up in your mind a general image of the painting by Leonardo da Vinci called the Mona Lisa. We can call this image your "mental representation" of the Mona Lisa.

Writing, Teaching, ScholarshipMark SamplesFebruary 3, 2021

Three Levels of Video Editing for University Professors [Video Tutorial]

In this video, I explain three levels of video editing that university professors should understand: basic, intermediate, and advanced. I explain each level, what skills you will need, and which level you should use in in your classes.

Teaching, ProductivityMark SamplesFebruary 2, 2021online teaching, video editing

This Is the Way

Things worth doing take sacrifice. One reminder of the principle of sacrifice comes from The Mandalorian, a television series in the Star Wars universe. As the story begins, it follows a mysterious, helmeted character called "Mando." At first Mando seems like a ruthless, lone warrior,

Teaching, Writing, Productivity, Arts and EntrepreneurshipMark SamplesJanuary 30, 2021

How to Make Simple Edits to Your Video Lessons—For University Professors [Video Tutorial]

If you’re a university student, or a university professor like me, you’ve probably been making a lot more teaching videos these days. In this video, I share my approach to making simple edits to my video lessons in a software program called Panopto.

Mark SamplesJanuary 28, 2021

Research Is a Superpower

Imagine a world without research. What would that world look like?

You would have no ability to seek out answers or information about a decision. You would have only your experience to draw upon. There would be no Google. No YouTube "how to" videos that could teach you how to draw, how to cut your own hair, solve a Rubix cube, or the perfect way to shovel snow in your driveway.

Now imagine, in this world, a scenario in which you are hungry and you are standing in front of a bush that has berries….

Scholarship, Teaching, WritingMark SamplesJanuary 28, 2021

The Humbug and the Nightingale: What we can learn about music promotion from P. T. Barnum

In a brand new academic article published by Musical Quarterly, I tell the story of how P. T. Barnum used strategies of branding to create the most successful music tour of the 19th century. The singer he brought to America was Jenny Lind. Lind was already a star in Europe, but was relatively unknown in America before signing a contract with Barnum.

Barnum did something unprecedented:

How to Identify Potential Mentors, for Music Professionals

There are few resources in your career more valuable than a trusted mentor. In this post I will share with you:

What is a mentor, who needs one, and why?
Two short quizzes (one question each) that will give you my personalized recommendations for where to look for your next potential mentor, based on your career stage and situation.

Two Mistakes to Avoid when You Get Advice from a Mentor

What should you do when you actually get through to a potential mentor, and get advice? How can you turn one-time advice into long-term mentorship?

In this short video (about 3 min.), I talk about the two big mistakes people make when they get advice from a potential mentor, and what to do instead.