#14 – Jeannie
Congratulations, Jeannie! You will receive the 8-hour compilation of music put together by Michael Griffin. I’ve sent you an e-mail with information about how to claim your giveaway!
Also, for anyone else interested in purchasing a copy of the compilation, Michael Griffin is offering it to Music Matters Blog readers with a discount of $10, making the total only $29. Contact him via e-mail if you are interested!
Check back for another great giveaway next Tuesday!
Just a quick reminder that if you’re planning to purchase a copy of The Pianist’s Book of Musical Scales and Keys, next Tuesday is the last day to use the $5 discount code (enter this code when you checkout: O68233H4). The entire proceeds of the sales this month will go to Zach and his family as they begin the long journey of treating his recently-diagnosed Leukemia.
Here’s a snapshot of what the book looks like when it’s printed:
Jason Bernstein, of the Piano Lessons World website, has a helpful post on How to Motivate Your Kids to Practice Their Instrument. He shares 6 specific ideas that are great for parents looking for practical tips on how to help their child be successful. In particular, I really appreciate #2 – Participate in Performance Opportunities. This has proved to be one of the most motivating elements in my studio. Students who attend group classes regularly and play for other students develop a great deal of confidence in their playing and are usually eager to work on polishing a piece for this purpose.
In addition, I have had numerous students come back after participating in our big annual Christmas Recital and be extra driven to learn new music and become more skilled in their playing. There’s nothing quite like watching other students perform really cool-sounding pieces well to make you want to work harder and play better the next time. And perhaps one of the most memorable expressions of this came after our 2010 Christmas Recital when my long-time student, Isabella, exclaimed to me during the reception, “Wow. I really need to kick-it-up-a-notch!” Her comment sparked an idea and last summer we launched our first-ever Kick-It-Up-a-Notch! summer piano intensive. Just last week at her lesson she was talking about the incredible progress she made from the 2010 Christmas recital to the 2011 Christmas recital and remarked that Kick-It-Up-a-Notch! was a huge turning point for her.
As I think back on the whole process for Isabella, it’s really neat to see how one thing spurs on another, all contributing to a student’s motivation and development as a musician. You never know what great experience or event will spark the drive to do better in your child or student, so make the most of whatever opportunities you have! And, as Jason points out in another of his tips, “if you stick with it, they will get something out of it and almost surely begin to truly enjoy what they have learned.”
In last Friday’s post, I mentioned that we played a game at our group class called Mixed Messages. Students had to translate Italian music terms and then write the definitions to complete English sentences. All the students were split into two teams and whichever team finished all their sentences first won a Free Travel Pass. One of my older students who has attended lots of group classes and played lots of games remarked that this was one of her favorite games! Here’s a list of the Mixed Messages we used (with an obvious Italian travel theme):
And for your convenience, here’s a handy list of the same messages with the Italian terms translated into English. Of course, these are not necessarily the Italian words you would actually use in that context; I just tried to stick with ones that my students would be somewhat familiar with from their music studies.
I have a student that is a very avid reader (girl, 7th grade, homeschooled). Her mother asked me to compile a list of good biographies or books of composers/music. She thought that this would help her practicing since she might be more interested in the composer or subject matter.
One of my all-time favorite collection of composer biographies is Ben Lansing’s The Bigwigs of Classical Music (Your student might be interested to know that Ben was homeschooled, too! You can read an interview I did with him here.). A couple of the books I mentioned last week (My Life with the Great Pianists and Lang Lang’s biography) might be of interest as well.
Also, these aren’t books, but the In Search of Beethoven and In Search of Mozart films are very well done and I think would be of interest to a middle school and/or high school student. I also really like and occasionally reference the book Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers by Patrick Kavanaugh. It includes interesting stories, well-written historical information, and a highlight on a character quality exemplified by the featured composers. Honestly, I haven’t read many other biographies of composers or musicians that come to mind, so I’m hoping some others can chime in with suggestions!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Last night was our third Travel Tour of the year, going along with our theme: An Italian Intrigue. For the first time ever we included a couple of my out-of-state students via Skype. It worked wonderfully! Here’s a brief video recap from the occasion:
Activities for the group class included:
Mixed Messages – students had to translate Italian musical terms to complete English sentences. The winning team members each won a Free Travel Pass!
Board Patrol – as each student performed, the others were placed in pairs and given a board labeled with one of the following: Dynamics Board, Tempo Board, Articulation Board, and Mood Board. They had to listen and write on the board as many elements as they could come up with that they heard in the performance.
Key Signature Lesson and Scramble – Thanks to the Teach Piano Today blog for the inspiration for this activity!
A daily calendar that I have in my studio had this wonderful quote by John R. Mott yesterday,
“Difficulties are not without their advantages. They are not to unnerve us. They are not to be regarded simply as subjects for discussion nor as grounds for skepticism and pessimism. They are not to cause inaction, but rather to intensify activity. They were made to be overcome. Above all they are to create profound distrust in human plans and energy, and to drive us to God.”
This perspective became especially relevant when I was talking with one of my students yesterday about her composition efforts. She is a gifted composer, but has been focusing on other things lately in her music studies, so it’s been over a year since she turned out a full composition. She grew frustrated this past week while trying to pull together some ideas and told me how she finally had to just take a break and spend some time praying and give it over to God. Her story reminded me of the quote, so I read it to her.
It was a huge encouragement for her to know that she’s on the right track and should press on to overcome the difficulty she’s experiencing in composing (and of course this can relate to lots of other areas of musical study as well!). It will be exciting to see if anything comes together for her by her next lesson!
If you watched the Studio Compilation video from Monday’s post you got a glimpse of Zach, a wonderful little guy that just started lessons with me last fall (he’s the fourth one in the video). Right off the bat, I could tell that he was serious about lessons. Of course, I should have known – he’s been coming to the studio sporadically since he was two with his older siblings (one of my long-time studio families) and giving me brief renditions of his latest accomplishments (usually played from one of his story books 
). He has been a very conscientious and disciplined student with an obvious musical gift.
Sadly, I received word just after the first of the year that Zach has been diagnosed with Leukemia. This came as a complete shock to everyone, especially his family who just welcomed a new little one into the world only a few weeks before. Zach has started undergoing chemo therapy and is doing remarkably well. We are all hoping and praying for a full recovery, but it will be a long road. Zach will be continuing with piano lessons via Skype as much as possible until he is able to make it back to the studio.
I know that many of you were interested in a copy of the Book of Musical Scales and Keys, so I’ve decided to offer a special $5 discount code that will be valid through the end of January. In addition to that, the entire proceeds of all books purchased between now and the end of the month will be donated to Zach and his family to help cover the cost of his treatments. Just checkout using this discount code: O68233H4.
If you would like me to include a note of encouragement and/or your name when I present the gift to Zach, just leave a comment when you checkout or send me an e-mail. Thank you so much for your support and prayers for Zach and his family during this difficult time.
Michael Griffin, of Music Education World, has written an interesting article on the benefits of background music in the classroom. He kindly agreed to let me publish it here as a guest post, along with a special giveaway opportunity at the end:
Do teachers use background music in classrooms in your school?
Background music is used extensively throughout society, particularly in marketing, retail industry and medicine. It is used to reduce stress, create an illusion, manipulate perception, alter people’s emotional state, and to enhance well-being.
There are two reasons teachers will experiment with using background music in classrooms.
1. To improve classroom behaviour and atmosphere
2. To improve the quality and/or quantity of workAppropriately chosen music can address the demands of objective number 1, which in turn improves learning outcomes. As a general rule though, the more complex the learning task, the more distracting background music becomes.
Most students like having background music in the classroom. I have researched and spoken about this in many schools, and students report to me the following positive benefits of using background music:
• It shuts out distractions
• I get immersed in my own world and become more productive
• It puts me in a positive frame of mind and a better mood
• It gives me a general feeling of well being
• It calms me before a large task and I stay focused for longer
• It makes time go by fast
• It helps me work quicker
• It’s good for repetitive homework tasks
• It helps me reflect
• It helps my creativity (Einstein is well known for associating music and creativity)
• It makes studying more enjoyableAnd let’s not forget the associated benefits for the teacher. Knowing when to turn the music on or off will come with teacher experience, but there are some fundamental principles that apply when selecting background music for general school classrooms.
1. Do not let the students select the music. This is not about entertainment, but about establishing an environment to improve learning arousal.
2. Use instrumental music only. There are some exceptions such as Latin text in Renaissance choral. Students listen and even sing with lyrics, detracting from their cognitive attention. My research, including a master’s study found that the most distracting background music is fast, familiar vocal music chosen and liked by the student. I refer back to point 1.
3. The volume level must be low. Research shows that the physiological and psychological effects of music listening occur whether or not people are deliberately attentive to it. Volume preference is highly individualistic, but people are less tolerant of loud music rather than soft music. The louder the music, the more distracting it becomes.
4. The volume level must be consistent. Most playlist compilations source tracks from several sources, so there is discrepancy in volume levels. Most computer based mp3 players such as iTunes and Win-amp have built in devices or plug-ins designed to iron out and condense dynamic variation. In iTunes go to Edit/Preferences/Playback/Sound check and
a consistent volume level will be applied to a playlist. Furthermore, shuffle the playlist to keep it fresh.
5. Expect a settling in period. The introduction of background music in classes often requires a period of adjustment. Students might complain about the style of music, and also offer their preferences as a substitute. Most research on this subject has found an adjustment period of up to 2-weeks, so do not give in. Within this time frame grumblings will subside and listeners will be comfortable with this new addition to the environment. Then the positive effects of this music can work its magic in transforming your classroom.How is music chosen to achieve different goals?
Listening to music is mainly a gestalt experience, but certain components have more effect on our mood and physiology than others. In particular, tonality, tempo, pitch and texture all play an important role in affecting our mood. For example music of a major tonality is recognised to be happier and more positive than minor music. Faster tempi raise the heartbeat and music with lyrics demand more cognitive processing resources. It is musical constituents such as these that should determine playlist selections.
The most important factor is the choice of music, and this is where I can help you get started. I have provided playlists for schools from Australia to Luxembourg, and I have compiled a new 8 hour playlist for the classroom. For this, contact me at griffin@musiceducationworld.com. The product can be sent to you on a CD data disc, or downloaded as a zip file from a link. A fee applies. My selections will give you the confidence to occasionally ‘top up’, or in the fullness of time you can contact me again to request a booster pack. If you would like to read my masters dissertation, you can download at http://www.musiceducationworld.com/files/MG_Masters_Background_Music_in_Education.pdf. I have presented workshops on the psychology of music listening in school classrooms and during homework in around 25 countries. Navigate to ‘Study, Stress and Music’ on this page:
http://www.musiceducationworld.com/workshopsforstudents
Michael Griffin
M.Ed Studies, B.Ed (Music), A.Mus.A
www.musiceducationworld.com
Michael Griffin has graciously offered to giveaway an 8-hour playlist of the background music he’s compiled! Just leave a comment below to be entered in the drawing. A winner will be selected using a random number generator at noon (CST) on Thursday, 26, 2012.
I’ve been looking into buying a tablet or something similar to use in my studio. I would like to be able to record video and watch it back right away, and then later upload to YouTube. Would the iPod Touch work well for that?
At this point I pretty much feel like the iPod Touch can do anything, including transport you into the galaxy. I use my iPod Touch almost every day to do video recording in the studio. Here are a couple recent videos I’ve shot in the studio using the iPod Touch exclusively:
This is a short compilation I put together using the free Splice app.
This narrated video was done using the free Videolicious app.
Here’s a simple, straight from the device, rendition of What a Friend We Have in Jesus that I recorded in preparation for the Christmas Recital. It’s as easy as finishing the recording and then selecting the option to upload it directly to your YouTube channel. The iPod Touch does all the work of connecting and uploading while you can move onto something else. Within minutes, the video is live and accessible to the world!
I’ve done lots of video recording over the years and this is by far the simplest and most efficient approach I’ve found!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!