Wabc

Music education makes you smart. Smart people educate themselves with music. Both are true to an extent. What is it about music that increases you brains efficiency? From a teachers standpoint, the answers are quite obvious. Because music education is such a broad topic, lets condense it to the studying of an instrument… more specifically the piano.

Teachers have noticed through the years that students seem to get sharper mentally with every lesson. Even the ones that dont practice a lot seem sharper at the end of a lesson as compared to the beginning although many teachers can think of a couple of past students who seemed to get more sluggish with every lesson. Thankfully, those types of pupils were the exception rather than the rule. So what aspects of mental capacity are improved by piano playing?

Hand eye coordination vastly improves with instrumental training on the piano. You can better judge distances between notes while playing of notes simultaneously, and there are a whole list of coordination demands that come from the gradual improving of fine motor skills.

Reading skills expand. If you think of music as a language, you are constantly improving your musical vocabulary with more compositions and technical exercises.

Memory, both visual and touch, is given a workout. In this regard, the phrase use it or lose it comes to mind. Musicians who constantly memorize new pieces just seem to be sharp in the memory capacity, provided they have a fairly healthy lifestyle.

EQ is forced to develop when performing the works of other composers. You really must feel and understand what a composer felt when composing a work; you will have trouble performing the work effectively for others if you dont.

Apart from studying the piano, the study of theory and history go hand in hand with the study of any instrument. Knowing about the history of a composer helps you to interpret a piece and improves your music knowledge base. Interpretive improvement is also achieved through the comprehension of a piano pieces structure. This understanding is obtained through theory knowledge. Music theory is often compared with math and it can be improved gradually, provided the student has a sound foundation.

Over the last decade, schools across the nation have experienced the loss of music. The San Diego schools also had to replace music in many of its schools with other curriculum dictated by the state or federal law. The San Diego schools budget only stretches so far and, unfortunately, the arts have felt the biggest hit.

Frank Glasson and the Presidio Brass are changing all of that for the San Diego schools. A trumpet player by profession, Frank is also president of Local 325 of the American Federation of Musicians and director of Presidio Brass, a brass quintet. The veteran musician has performed with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego Opera, and San Diegos Westwind Brass, as well as ensembles in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Glasson saw that music was steadily disappearing from the San Diego schools and wanted to do something about it. He believes that the constant influence of television, movies, computers and CDs could erode the senses of youth to the more refined music. He enlisted the help of the other members of Presidio Brass Ray Nowak, Mike McCoy, Sean Reusch, and Scott Sutherland, who play the trumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba, respectively.

Working under the umbrella of the nonprofit San Dieguito Performing Arts Association, Presidio Brass developed the Musicate the Mind program for the San Diego schools. Musicate is an educational and musical outreach program, developed specifically to fill the musical void in the schools. With Glassons wife Robyn coordinating the events and developing contracts with the San Diego schools, Presidio Brass presents various customized programs for the different grade levels that fits any educational or outreach school requirement.

Glasson and his ensemble want to create relationships with the San Diego schools students, not just play music for them. Within that relationship, he hopes the children will grow to appreciate live music and keep it alive by becoming tomorrows supporters of live instrumental music. He plans to eventually do 200 programs per year all over Southern California.

For kindergartners through fifth graders, Presidio Brass introduces the brass instruments, their development, and historical context. The quintet members also give some basic musical concepts in a fun and engaging manner.

For fourth and fifth graders, the ensemble can integrate music into the core curriculum by teaching language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science through the language of music.

For middle and high schoolers, they present their Residency-for-a-Day program, which exposes San Diego schools students to the brass quintet. The hope is to inspire students to promote and cultivate their own musical abilities. Additionally, they want to give encouragement and instruction to those already playing instruments, knowing that such support is crucial.

For high schools, Presidio Brass gives master classes and concerts for their school orchestras and bands.

Though Glasson and the Presidio Brass quintet are in other school districts as well, the San Diego schools and their students will benefit greatly from this unique outreach musical program.

What is the connection between music and the brain? Is it possible that music can help you think better? The research says yes, and after telling you about some of it, I’ll let you in on an even faster way to boost your brain power with music.

Music And The Brain – The Research

The research shows that music actually trains the brain for higher forms of thinking. Listening to, and participating in music also creates new neural pathways in your brain that stimulate creativity. An article in a Newsweek (21996) reported on a study from the University of California.

In the study, researchers followed the progress of three-year-olds, split into two groups. The first group had no particular training in, or exposure to music. The second group studied piano and sang daily in chorus. After eight months the musical three-year-olds were much better at solving puzzles, and when tested, scored 80% higher in spatial intelligence than the non-musical group.

Brain Music

A study on music and the brain, done at UC Irvine’s Center for Neurobiology of Learning and Memory involved 36 students. They were given three spatial reasoning tests on a standard IQ test.

Just before the first test, they listened to Mozart’s sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448 for ten minutes.

Before the second test, they listened to a relaxation tape.

Before the third, they sat in silence.

The average scores for all 36 students: 1st test: 119. 2nd test: 111. 3rd test: 110.

That’s an average increase of 9 iq points from listening to Mozart. It’s assumed that their intelligence didn’t increase, but that the music put them in a state that gave them better access to the resources of their brains. However, other studies do show that repeated exposure to slow music can permanently increas you IQ, so play that Mozart!

Brain Wave Entrainment

Your brain wave frequencies vary according to the state you are in. For example, daydreaming and meditation usually take place in the “Alpha” range of frequencies. Alert concentration is in the “Beta” range. “Brain wave entrainment” products have beats, usually embedded in music, that your brain starts to follow.

If you listen to music containing beats at a frequency of 10 Hz (in the Alpha range) it will feel very relaxing. This is because your brain will begin to follow this frequency and reproduce the rhythm in the music. You’ll generate more brain waves at a 10 Hz frequency and enter a relaxed Alpha mental state. This is the idea behind brain wave entrainment.

This may be why some types of music have certain effects, but not all brain wave entrainment Cds use music. Some use the raw “binaural beats” as they are sometimes called, embedded in white noise, or in sounds of nature. (I have used these products and find them to be pretty powerful , especially the ones for relaxation.)

Whether you use “binaural beats,” or just pop a Mozart CD into the player, you can increase your brain power easily. Try it today. It is doubtful that Mozart will harm you, so why wait for more research to be done on music and the brain?

Im sure that its not news to you that MP3 players can be used to play many different forms of music. Your MP3 players can be used as an educational tool as well, a virtual mobile university if you will.

When I bought my first MP3 player I did what people typically do with MP3 players. You take music from your computer and you load it into your MP3 player. I had a great time with it listening to my favorite tunes. What I didnt know at the time was that I had a ton of knowledge at my fingertips that I wasnt even using. I decided to download some motivational MP3s to my MP3 player.

I then decided that Id love to listen to some motivational MP3s while I was in my car. At that time, my car just had a radio and cassette player, but soon I was able to find an adapter that can go right into the cassette slot and the other end plugged directly into the headphone jack of my MP3 player. Before you know it I was listening to tons of motivational and self-improvement MP3s and really, really enjoying it.

I know a lot of people listen to music while theyre in the car and as alternative the radio I could always bring some of my favorite music cassettes. But even my favorite music didnt put me in the right mood and frame of mind for the workday. My MP3 player soon solved that problem.

I was able to listen to the unique perspectives on life from a number of different speakers. While I was on my way to work in the mornings I found this particularly refreshing and it set a positive tone for the remainder of my day. I did this each and every morning. Okay. Basically I was addicted at this point. Now there is absolutely no turning back.

Im certain that you really enjoy listening to music on your MP3 player, but you might just want to give listening to some self-improvement, educational or motivational content a try. You might find it will fill your day with a new and positive outlook.

Aqu te presento una lista de las pelculas mas destacadas en la seccin de musicales para que disfrutes y entretengas.

La novicia rebelde (The Sound of Music):
La clsica historia de la familia Van Trapp en Austria y la niera, protagonizada por Julie Andrews en 1965, todava sigue siendo entretenida ya tractiva para la educacin de los nios. La trama, la msica, las visuales y el mensaje son parte de la niez de muchos de mi generacin.

Chicago:
Del musical teatral protagonizado en cine por Rene Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones y Richard Gere es otro de los recomendados. Su ms reciente estreno en los 2000 es de una excelente actuacin, baile y sonido que ha ganado un premio tras otro. Vale la pena!

Mouline Rouge:
Protagonizada por Nicole Kidman y Ewan McGregor , dirigida por Baz Luhrmann este increble musical fue uno de los mas impactantes que vi. En 2001 Moulin Rouge logro traer a la pantalla grande, de la llegada de un humilde escritor ingles en 1900 a Paris, y su encuentro con una bailarina en Mouline Rouge.

Grease:
Grease es un musical para adolescentes, de 1978 que todava vale la pena mirar. John Travolta comienza su carrera de galn en la pantalla grande, junto con Olivia newton John hacen un do inolvidable. Sus canciones siguen siendo un xito hoy en da, reproducidas en transe y house music.

Mary Poppins:
Julie Andrews en 1964 de nuevo hace una brillante actuacin junto con Dick Van Dyke convierten este musical en un mgico de Disney inolvidable para nios! Ese clsico nunca pasara de moda.

El Mago de Oz:
Judy Garland en 1939, junto con sus tres amigos (el hombre de lata sin corazn, el espantapjaros sin cerebro y el Len sin coraje) siguen el inolvidable camino amarillo para llegar al Mago de Oz. Excelente.

La Bella y La Bestia:
Un dibujo animado de Disney para adultos y nios que fue capaz de ganar los corazones de millones de personas en 1991. Un gran mensaje para no guiarse por las apariencias, lleno de magia y entretenimiento. Increble sonido!

Aqu termino mi lista, espero que la hayan disfrutado y que ahora puedan con seguridad elegir su prximo musical!

Londons theatre scene is glitzy, glamorous and fun, and there are always hundreds of performances going on at once. Some of the most popular shows are the big West End musicals, many of which have been running for years and still sell out weeks in advance. Heres a brief guide to some of the all-time favourites.

Blood Brothers
Theatre: Phoenix, Charing Cross Road
Current Run Since: November 1991
Overview: Written in 1981, the original run of the musical starring Barbara Dickson had limited success. However, the remake 10 years later has proven very popular and has now become a cult classic. Its a captivating prince-and-pauper tale of twin boys from a poor Liverpool family who are separated at birth because their mother cant afford to keep them both. One is brought up by the mothers rich employer so both lead very different lives, only to meet again in adulthood with mixed consequences.

Chicago
Theatre: Cambridge Theatre, Earlham Street
Current Run Since: April 2006
Overview: This sordid tale of murder, greed and corruption focuses on main character Roxy Hart, who is accused of killing her husband and hires a sleazy lawyer to get her acquitted, only to set up a dance act with partner-in-crime Velma. With catchy tunes such as All That Jazz and Razzle Dazzle, its been a hit since its first run, which began in 1979.

Les Misrables
Theatre: Queens, Shaftesbury Avenue
Current Run Since: October 1985
Overview: In 2006, Les Misrables became the longest running musical in the world. For 21 years it has been keeping audiences captivated with its dramatic and emotional tale of social, political and romantic turmoil in 19th century Paris, adapted from the classic Victor Hugo novel. The musical score is excellent, moving seamlesly from rousing marches to moving ballads.

Lion King
Theatre: Lyceum, Wellington Street
Current Run Since: October 1999
Overview: Written by Tim Rice and Elton John, this excellent adaptation of the popular Disney animation has won six Tony Awards and is a real stage spectacular, with a dazzling set and fantastic animal costumes. Its the story of a lion cub, heir to his fathers jungle throne, whose evil uncle plots to take over.

Mamma Mia
Theatre: Prince of Wales, Coventry Street
Current Run Since: June 2004
Overview: 1970s Swedish pop sensation Abbas best hits are brought together in this great musical medley, arranged around the story of a girl on the eve of her wedding day. Tuneful melodies such as Money Money Money, Dancing Queen and of course Mamma Mia are guaranteed to have audiences tapping their toes throughout.

Phantom of the Opera
Theatre: Her Majestys, Haymarket
Current Run Since: October 1986
Overview: Andrew Lloyd Webbers most well known musical is a love story based on Gaston Lerouxs 19th century romantic novel about the goings-on behind the scenes in a Paris Opera House, where a mystery man in a mask falls in love with one of the opera singers. It has won several awards, including seven Tonys and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical, and is immensely popular so much so that the theatre has never had an unsold seat in 20 years of daily performances. Key themes from the musical are The Music of the Night and the title piece Phantom of the Opera.

There are many excellent jazz music schools across the country as well as all over the world. Here is my list of some of the best colleges for young people who want to get the finest education that jazz music has to offer.

Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY

At Ithaca College, you can get a Bachelor’s of Music in Jazz Studies. The Jazz Studies program will get students to perform at many places-on campus as well as off. Some courses that students will take are: Jazz arranging, jazz improvisation and jazz history.

Ithaca teaches jazz music in both avenues, for instance, if you are a vocal jazz major or a major in any instrument, your private lessons will be done in the traditional classical style. If your major is jazz guitar, you can study electric guitar, but still know how to perform on classical guitar. Guest artists visit Ithaca and perform giving master classes for students, and they also coach them. Some artists that have performed there are: Jaime Laredo, Rhythm and Brass, the Bach Aria Group and Vladimir Feltsman.

Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA

Berklee College of Music is where students from all around the world come to study jazz music. Students would be majoring in jazz composition here. This jazz music program develops student’s creative side, contrapuntal skills, formal as well as developing melody, rhythm and harmony. The student will end up with a group of compositions that will be performed. in public for different ensembles to play. Students will attend jazz clinics, concerts, join in projects and develop critical skills that will enable them to discuss various types of criteria in jazz music. Completion of this major will give students all the skills they need to pursue a career as a professional jazz writer. This is one of the best schools to enroll in to get a top-notch music degree.

University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

The Eastman School of Music is a name that is heard quite often among the music crowd in upstate New York. Students going to this school will be majoring in Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media. Students choosing this major will acquire performance, teaching as well as other music skills and academics. Completing this major will enable students to be their own boss, in a way. They can be part of a symphony, and teach in college; or teach private students and direct as a church musician and free-lance their skills and give recitals. Some students become lawyers or music administrators because the training in music at Eastman School gives them the discipline to do and be anything.

Manhattan School Of Music, New York

Students attending this school will be skilled composers, arrangers as well as performers when they are ready to begin their jazz music career. Students are taught by faculty who are experts. The will also be able to perform with well known jazz artists.There are undergraduate level courses, graduate and doctorate level to major in jazz music. Those who are serious in obtaining a career in jazz music, should really consider any one of these schools to enroll.

If you are a jazz music lover, chances are that you go to a festival every year. What you probably didn’t know is that there are jazz festivals all over the world. If you like to travel, expand your jazz tastes and go to these international jazz festivals.

Akbank Jazz Festival, Istanbul, Turkey
October 17-October 27

The Akbank Jazz Festival is one of a diverse mixture of sounds from the country as well as all around the world. Last year’s festival was dedicated to Arif Mardin. One artist that has performed there is Kurt Elling. Kurt Elling is very popular in jazz music today. In his ten year career, all six of his albums were nominated for Grammy awards. He has toured all around the world in places including Israel, Japan and Australia. In 2003, he was made Vice Chair on NARAS.(National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) He has an album out this year.

Barbados Jazz Festival, Barbados
January 8-January 14

Some of the artists that will be performing here are Ruben Studdard, Anita Baker, Macy Gray and Robert Glasper. This is not a free Jazz music festival. Prices to hear performances range from $30 to $100, depending on the artist. If you want to attend this jazz music festival, you cannot order tickets internationally. You have to actually be in Barbados and provide the address where you’ll be staying in Barbados and the tickets will be delivered to that address.

Brecon Jazz Festival, United Kingdom
August 11-August 13

Brecon Jazz has been around for twenty-four years. The best jazz music is performed at the brilliant Brecon Beacons National Park. It is located in Wales. The company, Brecon International Festival of Jazz Ltd., a charity organization, is backing the festival has an education and outreach program in Wales and the South-West of England, during the year.
This year, the Brecon Jazz Festival had an Artist-in Residence, Joe Lovano. Joe Lovano is one of the world’s best tenor saxophone players and has been around since the ’70’s. He has performed in Woody Herman’s orchestra and Mel Lewis’s orchestra. The music he then went on to create broke boundaries collaborating with artists such as John Scofield, Hank Jones and Bill Frisell. He led the BBC Big Band at Brecon, taught a masters class to young welsh Jazz musicians. This year Brecon also featured “Women in Jazz”. A couple of the artists were: Jessica Williams from the U.S. and Hiromi from Japan.

Copenhagan Jazz Festival, Denmark
July 6- July 15

In case you didn’t know, the Danish are really into jazz. New artists as well as the old have been performing in the city. The concerts in the day are perfomed near the canals and historic homes. Some prefer to play small, crowded clubs. Every live performance is electrifying and memorable. Artists that have performed here are George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, McCoy Tyner Trio, Scandinavian Brasillian-Big Band,Mavis Staples W. Band, The Zawinul Syndicate and Maceo Parker. Jazz music is not something that is only appreciated in the states, but everywhere around the world. It is important to experience jazz music in other places so that the magic of jazz will ever be broadened, shared and continued to be translated for years to come.

iPods as a hard drive

Moving and backing up files

Though they might be revolutionizing the way we listen to music, iPods are, at the end of the day, little more than glorified data storage devices in pretty little boxes. iPods and iPod Minis contain a hard drive exactly the same as the one in a computer, while the iPod shuffle uses a memory “chip”. So it’s no surprise that, besides its role as a digital music player, an iPod can also function exactly like a standard external drive, storing any type of computer file. Assuming you have some free space on your Pod, you can use it for transporting documents between home and the office. And your Pod will still play music as usual.

Enabling hard drive use

To use your iPod as a hard drive, first you have to enable this feature. Simply attach the Pod to your computer as usual, and, when iTunes recognizes its presence, click its icon on the Source List and press the iPod Preference button at the bottom of the window (or open the iTunes Preferences window and choose the iPod section). Check the “Enable disk use” box under Music and don’t worry about the “manual unmounting” warning that may pop u p – it’s only telling you that you’ll have to eject the Pod each time you want to disconnect it.

Using your new drive

Once disk use has been enable, your iPod will appear as a standard drive (or volume), as well as within iTunes, whenever you connect it to your computer. On a Mac it appears on the Desktop and in the left-hand column of Finder windows in this state, the drive is said to be “mounted”. On a PC it appears within My Computer as an external drive icon with a drive identification letter (perhaps “F:” or “G:”).

Now you can use the drive as you would any other volume within either Windows or Mac OS: view its contents (though your music will be invisible), create folders, drag files on, drag files off. And so on.

You’ll probably find several folders in the iPod’s drive when you open it: these relate to iPod organizer functions and photo functions. None of these folders should be deleted.

Ejecting your drive

When you are done with the drive, eject it (or “disconnect” it) in the same way you would whenever the “Do not disconnect” message is displaying.

Interesting Information About Digital Music That You Might Not Already Be Aware Of

Digital music is something more advanced in technology than any other types of music sources ever created before and it is unbelievable how much more advanced technology will become down the road for all of us. We look at digital music as being the best thing known to man but as I said, within just a matter of time there is simply no telling what types of music sources we all have to look forward to enjoying someday.

There are so many types of great music available to us all and every person definitely has their own type of music that they prefer to listen to and there are also individuals who are so diverse with the types of music that they love, they try it all out at some point in time. Music of all types is truly amazing and every song ever written tells a story of some sort and if you have any knowledge whatsoever about music and art then you already know exactly what I am speaking about.

Digital music is going to continue growing throughout the years to come and I do not know about you all but I am totally stoked when I do think about how our music sources are only going to continue improving eventually. Right now as I sit here typing you all this article I myself am enjoying listening to some of my favorite digital music and I absolutely love it and am thrilled each opportunity that I get to listen to it.

I could literally listen to digital music from the time I step out of bed each morning up until I close my eyes at night, even to help me fall asleep. Music is never going away, everyone from all around the world is fascinated by so many amazing and incredible artists that they simply can not and will not ever get enough of them or their lyrics and will continue loving and supporting them completely.

Digital music has totally changed the way that we get to enjoy our tunes, only improving it every step of the way, there is seriously no doubt about that. I do not know about you but I definitely have some fond memories of listening to my favorite 8 tracks as a small child and them my favorite cassettes as I was growing up. So, I am not knocking any of those music sources one bit, I am only saying that technology is absolutely amazing and it is all only going to continue getting better and better over time, which is something that I personally am totally looking forward to.

Digital music is so phenomenal that everybody just about has already started and has been enjoying it for quite some time now and will definitely continue to do so over time. Enjoying digital music in every single way is going to bring so much joy and happiness to your life, take it all in every step of the way.