(Coming Soon) A New Music Community
Welcome to The Commonplace
Not an online course. Not a masterclass. Not a Patreon.
The Commonplace is a space we share.
It’s a studio, a sketchbook, a reading room, and a living archive.
It’s a place for people who care deeply about how music is made, shaped, and understood.
If you’re a composer, performer, conductor, theorist, listener, or just someone who’s curious: this is a place for you.
We explore unfinished work.
We look closely.
We ask good questions.
You don’t need to catch up or keep up. You just need to come curious.
What Happens Inside
Most of what happens here grows from one core thing: my work as a composer, music theorist, and musicologist.
Each week, I share the real-time development of scores, recordings, and research — all before they’re fully polished or published.
This isn’t content for content’s sake.
It’s the kind of material that usually stays in private folders, notebooks, or conversations between friends:
- Drafts, sketches, voice memos, and score edits before they're ready for the world
- Commentary and Reflections. Not hot takes, but intentional thought on my creative and research processes.
- Theory, analysis, and research as it applies to real, evolving music.
- Member exclusive videos and behind-the-scenes looks including masterclasses and free access to online courses.
- Ongoing discussions and questions from the community on our community Discord server and live streams
This is not a one-way broadcast.
It’s a shared creative space.
Why It Exists
The internet rewards speed, polish, and sameness.
But real creative work is slow.
It’s iterative. Messy. Honest.
As I’ve thought about my own musical journey, I keep coming back to this:
I learned the most when my professors brought me alongside them - not just through lectures, but by letting me witness the process. I got to see real-world problems get solved in real time. It changed the way I understood music. It made everything more alive, more connected, more human.
The Commonplace is my way of offering that same experience for people who want to be part of a deeper, more honest kind of creative work.
It’s a slower pace.
A more thoughtful rhythm.
It’s space is for creatives who love the process as much as the outcome.
What You Can Do Here
You can:
- Watch a piece of music or a research project unfold across weeks or months
- Study scores from my back catalog
- Hear the ideas that didn’t make it into a finished work
- Follow the thought process behind choices: musical, theoretical, or structural.
- Join in the conversation; or just quietly observe
- Support the work if it resonates
Whether you create music, teach it, conduct it, or simply love it - there’s a place for you here.
Join us at The Commonplace
Come in.
Look around.
Ask questions.
Support what you care about.
Coming Soon.
Let’s create something meaningful together built on these core values:
Community:
I’d like to create a vibrant network of musicians. Composition and music research can be very isolating activities. Communities are often only found in academic settings, but we can change that. Engage in meaningful discussions, ask questions, and support each other’s growth. No one has it all figured out - we can all become better musicians together.
Accessibility:
Whether you’re a veteran musician or brand new; a student or educator; a composer, a performer, or a researcher; the music resources in this membership are designed to be accessible to everyone. Gain insights from my process and things I’ve learned over the years, as well as detailed courses and other exclusive content. I want to give everyone the chance to improve and excel, regardless of their background, musical style, or experience level.
Innovation:
One of my personal goals is pursuing innovation. That includes my creative work, but it also means pursuing innovative approaches to learning and creating music. From advanced masterclasses to unique composition techniques, we will continually explore new methods to enhance our musicality.
Discovery:
Composition, Music Theory, and Musicology are all about curiosity and discovery. There's something thrilling about discovering a new chord you love, or finding easter eggs hidden in the music you're analyzing, or in asking questions about music and finding the answer. This is your opportunity to discover new perspectives and deepen your understanding of music.
join The commonplace
The Instrument Transposition Chart I Always Wanted
If you’re a performer, conductor, composer, or music student who has to deal with the headache of transposing instruments - I’ve got a brand new resource for you today.
It’s no surprise that transposing instruments are notoriously difficult to understand. The math of compensation is a bear, and that doesn’t even include the notoriously confusing language that goes along with transposition (“it transposes down a perfect fifth? is that written or sounding? so, I need to go down a fifth? I want to punch whoever came up with this.”)
Not only that - in school, I had to learn the ballpark ranges of every instrument. Here’s the thing, it’s difficult to keep memorized - not to mention, we learned the ranges for professional orchestra players. But in my actual work, I usually write for younger ensembles and I need to know their ranges too. It’s another thing that takes a bunch of time and effort to look up.
For the last decade or so, I’ve been compiling a crude version of this on my desk on various scraps of paper so that I don’t have to endlessly google the answer - or flip through an orchestration textbook - only to have to try to decipher what they mean. Now, I’ve completed this “Instrumental and Vocal Ranges and Transpositions” chart as a comprehensive desk reference guide for all musicians.
The chart is divided by instrument family , with 44 instruments total. For each instrument the chart includes:
Ranges for Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Professional Players
Transpositions for each key, and a direct comparison to the concert pitch
Other notes about writing or reading parts for that instrument
Some great applications for this chart:
Writing and arranging for any ensemble that uses staff notation
Study guide for music students who are first learning about the idea of transposition
Educators who are teaching about transposing instruments
Score study for conductors who are using transposing scores
Analysis for music theorists (or music theory students) who are studying scores
Performers who play transposing instruments - especially younger performers
I think you will find this chart to be a priceless addition to your collection, improving your work flow - it has certainly improved mine.
As an aside, if you’ve been considering enrolling in my beginner composition course “Start Write Now”, this chart is included for free when you enroll. Just saying.
To get your copy of the chart click the link below.
further reading
