Doctor of Music Education - Liberty University UPDATE

Hello everyone. So I get a lot of emails and messages asking about Liberty University’s Doctor of Music Education program. I made a video around the time I started the program back in 2021 on YouTube that you can watch by clicking here. As a quick update…I’ve been taking two classes per semester (spring, summer, and fall) and started my dissertation classes in the fall of 2022. Here is a quick overview of the major aspects of the program. As someone that does not have a background in music education (my bachelor’s is in music performance, and my master’s is in jazz studies), I’ve definitely learned a lot in my efforts to “round out'“ my academic knowledge in music.

WRITTEN COMPREHENSIVE EXAM

Once you complete all of the core coursework, you have to complete both an oral and written comprehensive exam. The written portion is administered first. You can pick when you want to take it within the semester. Typically it is best to take it as early as possible. The written test is three questions that are given to you by a special code. I can’t remember exactly, but you get about 5-7 days to complete the question (I think it is five days), and each question was a minimum of four pages long. It may seem like a long time, but I used the complete time to research, draft, and edit my responses. The questions, from what I understand, are completely chosen at random; however, all of the previous coursework prepares you for the challenge.

ORAL COMPREHENSIVE EXAM

The oral comprehensive exam is administered a few weeks after the written one. This allows the members of the board to review the written comp exam. Essentially, the board (usually consisting of two professors) will dig deeper into the topics from the written exam. My oral comp took about 1.5-2 hours. I was definitely challenged to support my responses. Overall, it was a great experience that I think will prepare me to defend my thesis.

CURRENT STATUS

I’m currently in my second dissertation class. The first class required me to complete chapters 1 and 2 (the literature review). The second dissertation class is for completing chapters 3-5. My process was extended, however, due to awaiting approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB process is required if your research involves human subjects. My research was exempted; however, the process still took about two months. Now that I have been approved to conduct my research, I’m currently seeking participants. This process is definitely taking a little longer than I suspected…so I may end up continuing throughout the summer.

I hope this blog post gave you some insight into the program. Wish me luck on my quest to become

Dr. DeMarius Jackson!

5 Jobs for Music Majors

5 Career Paths for Your Music Degree

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” Plato

If you know in your heart and soul that music is your calling, nothing can pull you away. As an educator, woodwind instrumentalist, and conductor, I know this firsthand to be true.

I remember being a senior in high school and telling my parents I was going to college to major in music. “Are you sure you want to major in that? Are you sure you don’t want to major in something like computers?” They asked nervously. 

After telling them you can’t exactly major in computers - I reaffirmed that yes, I am absolutely positively sure that I want to major in music. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the tale of an older, supposedly wiser mentor advising a young musician to do something different with their lives. “Is there anything you love other than music? It’s going to be a hard life,” they say. 

I’m here to tell you - that’s nonsense; plain and simple. You can make a very lucrative living as a musician - you just have to know how to hustle a little bit. So, today, I’d like to share 5 ways you can put that music degree to work for you.

1. Band Director. Also known as conductors, a Band Director leads orchestral and marching bands and is heavily involved in preparing music scores for their bands to rehearse. This is a flexible career choice as you have the option to work in many locations around the country, and even have the opportunity to travel for performances. Additionally, with the repetition required in band rehearsals, this path allows you to polish and progress your skill set to perfection. To take it a step further, you can also become a college professor. Ranging from a lecturer to an adjunct, to an associate/assistant professor, the enticing salary range of $80,000+ may require a specialized advance degree such as a Master’s of Music and beyond depending on the subject you’re teaching.

2. Private Lesson Teacher. The benefit to this path is you decide how much to charge. An hour-long lesson can range between $30-$60 and beyond. With the advance of technology and the rise of social media, you aren’t limited to teaching a lesson in your home, in real time. Offering prerecorded lessons or teaching via Skype or Facetime are among the many ways you can think outside of the box to maximize your influence (and income) on this path.

3. Studio Musician. Considered by many a highly stressful job due to the repetitions required to master a perfect recording, this was a personal ambition of mine as a young performance major. The benefit to being a successful, dependable studio musician are the referrals you’ll likely receive especially if you’re in a music hotspot like Los Angeles. Woodwind instrumentalist Dan Higgins is a household name to studio musicians with his impressive catalog spanning hit television shows like Alf, The Simpsons, and more. 

4. Military Musician. If you want to fulfill your dream as a musician while reaping incredible healthcare and education benefits, potential enlistment and reenlistment bonuses, scholarship opportunities, retirement, and more - this may be the path for you. I joined the Marine Corps Music Program as a saxophonist and have enjoyed a steady upward trajectory since 2005. This experience has been invaluable to me. 

5. Freelance Musician. Creating multiple streams of income for yourself as a musician is mission-critical to your success. Freelancing makes that possible. With an entrepreneurial mindset, some improvising, and a lot of patience, you can do a variety of different things as a freelance musician. Consider Adam Neely, Amy Nolte, and Jeff Schnieder - all wonderful musicians who thought outside the box and now have wildly successful careers as freelance musicians. Now that social media is readily available to everyone holding handheld computers we call smartphones, there are no excuses to NOT putting yourself out there and showing the world what you have to offer. Many don’t know that e-commerce titan Jeff Bezos got his start by selling books in his garage. If Jeff can start in his garage, you can start showing the world your extraordinary musical gifts on YouTube.

There you have it. 5 eclectic, profitable career paths for the expert musician you’ve worked hard to become. For over a dozen more ways to put that music degree to work, watch this video. For more tips, music education, and resources, subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Triad Pairs for Improvisation

What’s up everyone!?! Hope you all are doing well! Triad pairs are a great way to add a vertical approach to your improvisation. Ultimately, it is one of MANY tools that you can utilize when you solo. It’s also useful to get your technique together on any instrument. I hope you enjoy the video. Happy Practicing!

Triad Pair Exercises

5 Scale Patterns for Jazz Improvisation

Scale patterns and modal sequences can provide you with an abundance of ideas to utilize in your playing. Additionally, they extend your technique on any instrument and guide/refine your ear. You can use the sequences and patterns in the video below over any set of chord changes in the “C mode.” For instance:

C Ionian (Major), D Dorian (Minor), E Phrygian (minor b9), F Lydian (Major #11), G Mixolydian (Dominant 7), A Aeolian (Natural Minor), and B Locrian (Half-Diminished)!

Once you can transpose these patterns/sequences into all 12 keys, you will have 35 options to consider for improvisation. Not to mention the countless ways that you can alter these rhythmically! So use your imagination and get creative!

Happy practicing!

5 Scale Patterns for Jazz Improvisation in C

Click here to purchase 5 Scale Patterns for Jazz Improvisation in C in 12 Keys!

Alto Sax Mouthpiece Comparison

Hello everyone!! So…If you subscribe to my YouTube channel, you’ll know that I purchased a Yamaha-62 (purple logo) a few months ago from a pawn shop. Well…I was previously playing on a Drake NY Jazz, and while it was a great mouthpiece, it sounds slightly different on my Yamaha than it did on my Eastman. So…I went through the process of going through my collection and trying them on my Yamaha. Posted below is the YouTube comparison video I put together with my Meyer 5M, Warburton J, Vandoren V16 A5 S+, and my Claude Lakey 4*4. So far…I’ve been using the Claude Lakey mainly. I hope you enjoy the video, and let me know what differences you hear (if any) and which one you prefer (if any, lol).

Claude Lakey 4*4 Mouthpiece - https://amzn.to/2Xt1Z7A

Vandoren V16 A5 S+ Mouthpiece - https://amzn.to/3AAyZJq

Warburton J Mouthpiece - Discontinued...maybe?

Meyer 5M Mouthpiece - https://amzn.to/3AqLTts

Rovner ligature - https://amzn.to/3lAUljT

Saxophone Dexterity Exercises

Hello everyone!!! It’s been a while since I’ve posted…I need to do better, lol! Anyway…below is the PDF for my saxophone dexterity exercises YouTube Video. I like to think of these as more or less digital patterns…so for example:

1,2,3,5

1,3,5,3

3,5,3,1

5,1,3,5

Hopefully, this makes sense…Hope you enjoy! Like, comment, and subscribe!

Saxophone Dexterity Exercises PDF

5 Gift Ideas for Musicians

As the holiday season approaches…finding great gift ideas becomes increasingly difficult. Hope fully my list below and YouTube video will make the process a little less painful!

1. Soundbrenner Wearable Metronome

2. Recording Equipment (Presonus Audiobox 96)

3. Noise Cancelling Headphones (Bose 700)

4. The Savvy Musician

5. Novelty Instrument (Yamaha Venova, Plastic Saxophone, P-Bone, P-Trumpet, Yamaha Digital Saxophone)

6. BONUS - A NEW instrument

Clifford Brown Licks

I have to admit…I have severely slacked on transcribing musicians that DON’T play the saxophone. That’s until I started shedding Clifford Brown!! I love how clean his lines are…I feel like I can digest his vocabulary easily…and I love his articulations. I’ll be trying to implement some of his overall ideas into my own playing. I hope you enjoy the video!

7 Clifford Brown Licks PDF

Music Practice Tips | Restraint

Hello everyone!! Improvising music can be a daunting task. Having unlimited possibilities of what to play can actually crush your creativity. By setting restraints on yourself, you can increase your creativity by focusing on one aspect of playing. Think of the things that can be done by placing restraints! Dr. Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham on a $50 bet with his publisher that he couldn’t write a book with 200 words or less. There was a rumor that Price wrote “When Doves Cry” because of a bet that he couldn’t write a song with no bass line.

My challenge to you is to come up with a restraint and apply it to your practice routine. It doesn’t matter if you you improvise or not. Here are a few example:

If you ARE improvising - Try restraining yourself to only using a certain scale OR limit yourself to a certain interval.

If you are playing PREPARED music - Try limiting yourself to playing only at one dynamic level.

It may feel ridiculous at first, but I can assure you that you will spark a new degree of creativity within yourself.

-D

Saxophone Wedding Songs

Hello everyone! Here is the list of the top 10 saxophone wedding songs from my YouTube video. They are in no particular order. If you have any suggestions that you would like to add…please leave a comment below and on the YouTube channel comments as well. You may be able to help someone else out! Enjoy the video!

1. Joe Cocker - You Are So Beautiful

2. 98 Degrees - I Do (Cherish You)

3. John Legend - All Of Me

4. Etta James - At Last

5. Frank Sinatra - The Way You Look Tonight

6. Nat King Cole - When I Fall in Love

7. Diana Ross & Lionel Ritchie - Endless Love

8. Kenny G - The Wedding Song

9. Luther Vandross - So Amazing

10. Elvis Presley - Can’t Help Falling in Love