Learning the Right Notes

Ok, so Star Wars is going on tour – A CONCERT TOUR, that is.  It is the wonderful music of John Williams with scenes of Star Wars playing on the screen.  Also, they will have film props and other cool things.  I think this is the coolest and geekiest thing I’ve ever seen.  What a [...]

Ok, so when I saw this, I was basically like “Well that’s neat, Zoom came out with another portable digital recorder.”  Then I started reading the description, I realized that this was more than your average recorder.  Not only does it come with two incredible built-in compressor mics for recording, but it can record FOUR [...]

Just more proof in case you really need any that music lessons improve overall quality of life and therefore where the rubber meets the road – test scores. The thing that intrigued me about this article is how they focused on teaching free lessons to those who qualified for free lunch.  Anyone else know of [...]

LOUD AND PROUD: HOW TO BE A GREAT SINGER 
You may think that your rendition of Silent Night makes people grimace in horror, but research suggests that you are, in fact, singing in tune.
We’re born to sing Scientists from the University of Montreal tested the singing abilities of 62 people by asking them to belt out [...]

I believe that we as Americans need to rethink our approach to music history.  I certainly think there is value in learning about Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and the like, but on a recent trip to Costa Rica I found I knew nothing of understanding the local music and culture.  I believe that our approach today [...]

This is an excellent article regarding the truth about music lessons – leave your thoughts…

The Truth About Music Lessons
by Jeffrey A. Tucker
At some point when a child is very young, many parents consider pushing the kid into music lessons. This sometimes results in a year or two of piano or violin under a private teacher [...]

J.W. Pepper = good company – I made a list of music to order for my students for next fall and found some great pieces at J.W. Pepper’s website. How many of you use Pepper and what are some of your favorite pieces? I have lately been into Gustav Holst for band and [...]