Creative Movement

Here at Myriad, we are of the mindset that learning never stops. Our teachers attend continuing education seminars a few times a year in order to provide your child with the best music education in the bay area. Our most recent presentation was by Patricia Reedy from the Luna Dance Institute, enlightening us all on Creative Movement in Teaching. We would like to share a bit of what we learned with you: creativity is a product of improvisation whether that be in music or dance. Creating an atmosphere where students are comfortable and free to express themselves is key to sparking creativity. This year our teachers will be sharing these concepts with their students composing, choreography, creative movement and improvisation! 

History's Greatest One-Hit Wonder

What was the first song you learned on piano? For most of us it was "Chopsticks". Did you know that it was actually a waltz, composed by an actual person? Read on! http://mentalfloss.com/article/58473/historys-greatest-one-hit-wonder

There's An App For That!

Have you heard of the Drum  Beats + App? Download it now on your personal device, and your child can choose all kinds of fun steady beat templates to choose from. This is a great tool to use at home, if we have asked your child on their assignment sheet to repeat a passage or song several times a day to 'iron out a wrinkle'. Choose a tango beat, or a jazz swing beat and play it again - lots of fun!

Dance Benefits YOU!

Dance is a powerful ally for developing many of the attributes of a growing child. Dance helps children mature physically, emotionally, socially, and cognitively.
Physical Development: Dance involves a greater range of motion, coordination, strength and endurance than most other physical activities. This is accomplished through movement patterns that teach coordination and kinesthetic memory. Dancing utilizes the entire body and is an excellent form of exercise for total body fitness. Young children are naturally active, but dance offers an avenue to expand movement possibilities and skills. To learn more about the benefits of dance Click Here.

Long Term Benefits of Music Lessons

We have all heard that taking music lessons as a child benefits the brain in many ways, but did you know that those benefits have long term effects? Watch this 3 minute video below to learn more!

http://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2015/06/08/music-and-kids.cnn#

How much money did we raise during our fundraising concert??---

On February 28th, Myriad Music School and Dance Academy partnered with a local charity, Kids & Art to put on a magnificent concert featuring some of our teachers and advanced students. The night was a huge success with a packed house and some very generous donations. Thanks to all of your support, we were able to raise $2,483 towards helping children and their families cope with cancer through art.

Thanks especially to all of the families who attended the concert and to those who donated online- we so appreciate you!

Here are our TIPS OF THE WEEK! We send little tidbits out every week to keep our families informed about what is going on in class each week.

Toddler Music:

Hand-Eye Coordination: Playing instruments, such as sand blocks with a back and forth alternating movement, gives the child an opportunity to develop hand-eye coordination. The eye leads the hand movements,so that the internal knowledge becomes the basis for the movement. This connection of movement with sight is essential in writing, drawing, playing an instrument, learning a sport or dancing.

Preschool Music:

Expressive Movement: Turn on the music and enjoy dancing while doing chores! During class, we are exploring and creating our own movements as well as using movements expressively in pretend play. In both kinds of activities, they are exploring and learning about themselves and their environment. Expressive movement strenghtens gross motor and social skills and nurtures children's creativity and imagination. The freedom of creative movement also helps children to express their emotions and relieve some tension.

Music For the Young Child/ Superstar Young Musicians

Benefits of Rhythm: The rhythm of music and language are connected. Children love to read, speak, and hear rhythm. Think of the silly rhythm rhyming stories and poems of your childhood. This skill helps your child understand that lanugage is rhythmic, thus fostering reading fluidity and a love for language and literature.

Dance:

Barre étiquette: In Ballet, the barre represents holding you partner's hand. So when you have to turn around, politely turn towards the barre, as though you are turning towards your partner. Turning away from the barre would be like turning your back on your poor partner.

Piano:

Musical Improvisation: Each student has a section on their Medal Level sheet dedicated to improvisation. The definition of improvisation is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition. This is an essential part of learning to be a well-rounded musician but is often the most feared by music learners. Here at Myriad we have a system in place that eliminates all fear by giving our students very structured boundaries to begin the process of learning this difficult concepts. As our students improve and become more comfortable with improv, the foundries start to fall away bit by bit until they are doing it with almost no help at all.

Voice:

"Think down" for high notes: When you sing your warm-ups, try thinking of the way an elevator works: a heavy weight is attached to pulley, and as the weight pulls down, the elevator goes up to the higher floors. So, the highest floor is reached with the weight us heaviest. Similarly, you should use the most "weight" on your highest notes.

Guitar/Ukulele

"Sometimes, you are going to be so frustrated you want to give up the guitar- you'll hate the guitar. But all of this is just a part of learning, because if you stick with it, you're going to be rewarded."- Jimi Hendrix This is a great quote because no matter what instrument you are learning, there will be a certain degree of frustration. Here at Myriad we have many, many tools in place to keep the frustration to a minimum. The best advice we have is to keep working. If you practice regularly and follow your teachers' practice tips, you will begin to see how fun playing guitar can really be. Jimi Hendrix knows!

Violin:

Play with good tone: To play with good "tone" and sound, listen to the bow on the string and try to play without sounding scratchy. Practice with a nice smooth bowing motion, in a way that sounds beautiful. When you change directions with the bow, do it smoothly and easily.

Check out Marc O'Connor's website: http://www.markoconnor.com/ We use this method book in our daily lessons

Trumpet:

Embouchure: Because everybody has individual teeth and lip shape, there are a number of embouchure developed. None of them are right or wrong, you'll have to find the way that feels best for you. There are some general rules though that apply to most of them. You must keep the corners of your mouth firm so the air won't leak from there. When going up, it's generally a better idea to push the lips a bit more center than to stretch them. Stretching will thinner the lip tissue which will expose it to damage and will make the sound thinner.

Guitar/Ukulele Quick Tip

If you or your child attends lessons at Myriad Music School and Dance Academy, chances are you have received a "Quick Tips" email pertaining to your instrument. These are usually practice tips that you can work on throughout the week in addition to your assignment sheet. Please take the time to read these as they are written by our teachers specifically for you! Here is one that was sent to all of our guitar/ukulele students but can really relate to all instruments.

"Sharing your music with family and friends is a great way to practice the music you are learning. Get your family together once a week to share one or two of the songs you can play well. If you have friends who play an instrument, organize a get-together to share songs. You can learn a lot from sharing and listening to each other play music."

Please visit our Facebook page to see more useful tips and to keep up with what is happening at our school!

Professional Development Workshops: Learning Modalities

Here at Myriad we place a BIG emphasis on continuing education. One way we do this is to have clinics for not only our teachers but for interested teachers in our neighborhood! Our teachers had a great time together with author / educator / education clinician Susan Bruckner, from Cabrillo College. Her topic was  “Teaching Students with Different Learning Modalities". This clinic was part of Myriad's on-going Professional Development Workshops for our music and dance teachers.  Susan is a talented, seasoned teacher, with  a plethera of research and a great biblio to back up her findings. She presents clinics to educators at various conferences throughout the US. This is her second appearance at Myriad.

Her book is entitled The Whole Musician: A Multi-Sensory Guide to Practice, Performance and Pedagogy.  It's a great read for parents too, to better understand your child's learning modality.

DID YOU KNOW? A few highlights..

• We only know the world from our own experience. As parents and teachers, we have to determine how our child learns. 
• 
  Our culture values and rewards visual learners - what happens to the aural or kinesthetic learners? Do you know how to tell what kind of learner your child is?
• 
  If you learn to read the tell-tale signs, you can direct your child towards into activities, or learning experiences that will speak to them more authentically. Our teachers learned about some of the signs that can be typical of visual, aural, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory learners. We explored helpful, engaging strategies we can easily employ at the lessons / dance classes that will aid our students to take in information in a meaningful, lasting way.

Sincerely,
The Teaching Team, Myriad Music School and Dance Academy

The Benefits of Structured Movement

Did you know that structured movement is crucial for your child's development? Motor activity is valuable in that it provides the sensory input that helps to organize the learning process. The brain's mental and social functions are based on a foundation of sensory-motor processes (mind/body connection). The sensory integration that occurs in moving, talking and playing is the groundwork for the more complex sensory integration that is necessary for reading, writing, and good behavior.
Movement activities offer practice in balancing, crossing the mid-line of the body (using both sides of the brain simultaneously), visual perception, and eye-hand/eye-foot coordination. In addition, movement classes provide vestibular stimulation, which affects how efficiently the brain processes information.

Source: Sensory Integration and the Child. By A. Jean Ayres, PhD, Western Psychological Services.

Flute Students: Listen Up!

Myriad Music School’s very own  Flute Teacher, Melanie Keller, performed a  concerto with the Vallejo Symphony in April 2013. It was recently broadcast on KDFC on Sunday, Sept 21st. 

 

 It is still available for listening on the KDFC website until Oct 5th!  Here is the link:

http://www.kdfc.com/pages/17262965.php

Secret Octave Technique

Here at Myriad, piano ergonomics and the way you use your arm, wrist, hand and fingers is a big deal for how we teach healthy piano habits. 

For our students who have hands approaching almost adult size, here is a “how to play octave tip” that reiterates our belief in the perimeter fingers stabilizing the rest of the hand. If you get your thumb and pinky aligned and playing forward into the piano, the arc of the rest of the hand stays strong and relaxed. Watch this video if you are playing octaves.

 

http://livingpianos.com/how-to-play-piano/a-secret-octave-technique-for-piano/

Moving Around the Piano- Some tips!

This is what Myriad Music School Piano Teachers call "hovering helicopter practice – finding your hand positions quickly, when your hands need to move over a new position". 

 

 Robert Estrin from  Robert@LivingPianos.com says about the same technique –we at Myriad agree.

It’s always a great idea to be over the keys before you need to play them. It will help you relax and be able to concentrate on actually playing and not just where your hands are located. A great way to achieve this is by practicing your music right up until the moment where you need to move your hand. Keep practicing the same line over and over and when you get to the notes you need to play next just move your hand over them but don’t play them yet, just get your hand in position. Keep doing this until your hand effortlessly glides to the correct spot and keep doing it until it just feels natural. When you feel confident you have achieved a fluid and precise movement over the keys, play the notes. Continue to play the phrase and the proceeding notes until you feel confident enough to move on.

You can really do this for all your music – whether it requires crossing your hands or not. The best thing you can do is to stay relaxed and be ready over notes ahead of time. You should never play from a position in which you feel like you are constantly catching up.

When Did 88 Keys Become Standard on the Piano??

The original design of the piano evolved from the Harpsichord which had about five octaves of keys. Throughout Beethoven’s life, the piano evolved in its robustness as well as the keyboard range.

Learn More! 

Balancing Music and School

This is a very important topic that not only applies to school but applies to nearly every aspect of life. Learning to balance and manage your time is an absolute necessity to finding success and happiness in your life. I learned a long time ago through some personal struggles that sometimes it is necessary to give up things that are good for the pursuit of what is important. You can’t do everything.

Read more at http://livingpianos.com/general/balancing-music-and-school/

How to Add Color to Your Music

How do you achieve color and interest to the piano songs you are playing? One technique is how you balance the hands. Playing the melody stronger than the accompaniment immediately adds more flavor and color to the music. An easy way to achieve this is to simply apply more arm weight to the right hand while playing.

All instruments essentially imitate the human voice. However, with the piano, every time you play a note, it immediately begins to fade out. One thing I’ve noticed from listening to flute players is that they play higher notes with more breath and volume than lower notes. This is totally natural when singing or playing a wind instrument. One thing to be learned from one of the great piano teachers, Ruth Slenczynska is that you can mimic this effect on the piano. Playing higher notes louder and lower notes softer will add a lot of color and expression to your music. You can also take a bit more time when you reach the higher notes to add a greater effect. You will create the sense of a singing line on the piano!

But let’s not forget about the left hand in all this. If you were using the pedal you could meld the notes to create a nicer sound. Yet without the pedal you can achieve this by holding selected notes with your fingers! Try holding the bottom note holding the first note in each group so it overlaps the following sixteenth notes. You will be rewarded with a rich sound! ~ Living Piano, Piano Tips with Robert Estrin

Childhood music lessons may provide lifelong boost in brain functioning

Childhood music lessons may provide lifelong boost in brain functioning: "ScienceDaily (Apr. 20, 2011) — Those childhood music lessons could pay off decades later -- even for those who no longer play an instrument -- by keeping the mind sharper as people age, according to a preliminary study published by the American Psychological Association."

Musicians' brains highly developed

Musicians' brains highly developed

Musicians suspected this was true, now we have proof!

12 Benefits of Music Education

Twelve Benefits of Music Education

1. Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning. It is thought that brain development continues for many years after birth. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain's circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds.

2. There is also a causal link between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things). This kind of intelligence, by which one can visualize various elements that should go together, is critical to the sort of thinking necessary for everything from solving advanced mathematics problems to being able to pack a book-bag with everything that will be needed for the day.

3. Students of the arts learn to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions, rejecting outdated rules and assumptions. Questions about the arts do not have only one right answer.

4. Recent studies show that students who study the arts are more successful on standardized tests such as the SAT. They also achieve higher grades in high school.

5. A study of the arts provides children with an internal glimpse of other cultures and teaches them to be empathetic towards the people of these cultures. This development of compassion and empathy, as opposed to development of greed and a "me first" attitude, provides a bridge across cultural chasms that leads to respect of other races at an early age.

6. Students of music learn craftsmanship as they study how details are put together painstakingly and what constitutes good, as opposed to mediocre, work. These standards, when applied to a student's own work, demand a new level of excellence and require students to stretch their inner resources.

7. In music, a mistake is a mistake; the instrument is in tune or not, the notes are well played or not, the entrance is made or not. It is only by much hard work that a successful performance is possible. Through music study, students learn the value of sustained effort to achieve excellence and the concrete rewards of hard work.

8. Music study enhances teamwork skills and discipline. In order for an orchestra to sound good, all players must work together harmoniously towards a single goal, the performance, and must commit to learning music, attending rehearsals, and practicing.

9. Music provides children with a means of self-expression. Now that there is relative security in the basics of existence, the challenge is to make life meaningful and to reach for a higher stage of development. Everyone needs to be in touch at some time in his life with his core, with what he is and what he feels. Self-esteem is a by-product of this self-expression.

10. Music study develops skills that are necessary in the workplace. It focuses on "doing," as opposed to observing, and teaches students how to perform, literally, anywhere in the world. Employers are looking for multi-dimensional workers with the sort of flexible and supple intellects that music education helps to create as described above. In the music classroom, students can also learn to better communicate and cooperate with one another.

11. Music performance teaches young people to conquer fear and to take risks. A little anxiety is a good thing, and something that will occur often in life. Dealing with it early and often makes it less of a problem later. Risk-taking is essential if a child is to fully develop his or her potential.

12. An arts education exposes children to the incomparable.

 http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/12benefits.html

Carolyn Phillips is the author of the Twelve Benefits of Music Education. She is the Former Executive Director of the Norwalk Youth Symphony, CT.

“I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in his courtship. I like a state of continual becoming with a goal in front and not behind”