#46 – Patty

#8 – Emily

#44 – Kathy

#63 – Valerie

Congratulations to these five readers for winning the Red Leaf Piano Works giveaway! I’ve contacted each of you via e-mail with instructions. Thanks to everyone for participating!

Don’t miss your chance to win one of these exciting new piano books!

What do you get when a group of piano teachers who also double as award-­winning composers get together? The answer is Red Leaf Pianoworks -­an online composers’ collective designed to showcase an outrageous collection of over 300 titles from beginner to advanced covering all genres from solos to quartets. All of their music is available from their easy-­to-­use website http://redleafpianoworks.com where you can sort by level, genre and composer as well as see first pages of scores and listen to sound samples. Readers may remember another Red Leafer – Rebekah Maxner, composer of the timely Titanic piano books for elementary and late intermediate piano. A sampling of other Red Leaf elementary collections is highlighted below:

Creatures Great and Small – by Joanne Bender. Fresh and fun, silly and sweet, these pieces are dedicated to the early pianist with an imagination and a sense of adventure. Fairies and Gnomes, Spooky Spider and Wiggly Worms, Dancing Donkey and Crazy Monkeys are some of the attractive works playable by Introductory to Elementary students. Chromatic and octatonic scales along with swing rhythms are introduced to make this  tonal music interesting and appealing -­ and the front cover artwork is delightful!

Dances, Daydreams & Dinosaurs – by Janet Gieck. Seventeen piano solos to capture the imagination with a variety of styles from jazzy rhythms in Sixty Four Beats and Gameboy to gentle 7th chords in the lovely Outdoor Skating Rink. Find contemporary techniques such as cluster chords in Spring Day, foot stomps in T. S. T-Rex, and aleatoric choices in Tricky Tracks. Boys will be particularly drawn to the dinosaur pieces that allow them to bring out their high energy dramatizations of prehistoric times. This book will lead students to dance, dream and
discover!

If Dogs Could Talk – by Martha Hill Duncan. If you have 5 – 9 year olds who like lyrics and coloring with their music, this set of little dramatic solos will be perfect for them. The composer’s favorites include a talking dog, a cat lurking behind the couch and a little bird who’s fallen from its nest. Great recital gems for the beginning or early reader who’s exploring legato/staccato touches and contrasting dynamics. The companion book Flying Horses, Talking Fish is only slightly more advanced in its keys and features touches of pedal, tapping and clapping effects.

Imagination – by Teresa Richert. Take a ride on a unicorn or meet a frog prince as he charms a fairy princess in this fully illustrated collection of ten solos composed especially for young students. Set sail with fierce pirates aboard a ghost ship in search of sunken treasure or march in a parade of pixies and meet a jolly elf. Imagine yourself as a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, taking control of a magic wand or being really adventurous and waltz with terrible, clumsy ogres. These pieces explore a wide variety of harmonic, melodic and rhythmic resources and include dynamics, articulations, and damper pedal appropriate for students at this level.

Little Hands, Big Pieces – by Susan Griesdale. Fun and imaginative music for little ones to sound big!  Fifteen pieces constructed of major triads that cover a wide variety of style and mood. Discover the delicate Faerie Dust, or the pounding drums of Tribal Dance.  Join the fun with Hero’s March and Space Adventure, or the playful Sneaky and Three Cornered Hats. Cast your own spell with the eerie Magic Spell, or enjoy the sweet harmonies of Tea & Sweets and Cotton Candy.  This collection works well for all ages at the elementary level – easy to learn, easy to teach, but sounds difficult.  What more could a teacher ask for!!

Rags to Riches – by Beverly Porter. Bev Porter’s most famous piece Chromatic Rag (move over Fur Elise) is in this collection. One young fan writes: “Dear Ms. Porter I like your music because of the starting of Chromatic  Rag. I also like the 2nd lines ending because it gets more louder in a fun place. Thats why it’s awsome.” Other  infectious solos featured in this elementary collection are the jazzy Jazzmatazz and Get a Move On along with the  lyrical Rainy Day Song and impressionistic Silently Falls the Snow. Great recital fare!

Each of the above five composers has generously offered to giveaway a copy of one of her books. That means there will be five books total given away! If you’d like to enter to win one of them, just leave a comment below. The drawing will be held using a random number generator at noon (CST) on Thursday, May 10.

Congratulations! You will be the recipient of the book Red by Dror Perl. And for everyone who didn’t win but wants to give the book a try, Music Matters Blog readers can order their own copy for 50% off until next Thursday. Just sign in on the bottom left corner of the SheerPiano website using the password Wickham and the discount will be applied to your order. Thanks to Dror for this generous offer!

Just leave a comment below to be entered in the drawing to win a copy for yourself or a student. The winner will be drawn using a random number generator on Thursday, March 15, at noon (CST).

Congratulations! Jeannie is the winner of a complimentary Chordelia app, thanks to the generosity of EasyEarTraining.com. Stay tuned for another giveaway next Tuesday!

EasyEarTraining.com says, “It has always been our goal to be a valuable online resource that meets the needs of musicians, audio professionals and anybody who is passionate about music.” Their website is choc-full of great articles and resources pertaining to ear-training and many other music topics. Be sure to check out their special free Valentine’s Day rhythm activities that you can download and use with your students!

I am really excited to use this app with my students and even sneak some time in on my own to help improve my recognition of chords by ear! And…if you’d like the chance to win this app for use in your studio, just leave a comment below. A winner will be selected using a random number generator at noon (CST) on Thursday, February 23, 2012.

#4 – Janelle

#11 – Celeste

#12 – Amanda

#15 – Susan

#8 – Diana

But for everyone who didn’t win, you can still get a great deal! Alberti Publishing is offering a 40% discount on all of Lisa Lukas’ compositions if you checkout using the coupon code: NATALIE

Stay tuned for another great giveaway next Tuesday!

Goodnight, Sweet Dreams is one of six compositions by Lisa Donovan Lukas.

To Raise The Wind Horse is an imaginative duet that was premiered at the Daniel Pearl World Music Days concert in California. You can read a little about the inspiration and history of the composition on the Daniel Pearl Music Days website. I can think of several horse-loving students that would love to learn this duet!

Each piece presents fairly advanced rhythmic challenges, but the end results are well worth it! The most accessible of Lisa’s six works is A Song From the Garden. It has a lovely singing melody, and could be handled by a motivated intermediate student.

I think Summer Dance would be an engaging selection for a student looking for a fresh contemporary piece to use for a festival or contest. Waiting is a rich, gorgeous piece that I’m adding to my collection of wedding and prelude music. And A Passing Cloud is a great mood piece if you or a student are looking for something to sink your hands into and let your expressiveness take you away.

I love that you can download samples and listen to full recordings of each piece on the Alberti Publishing website! But I love even more that Lisa has offered to giveaway a copy of each of her compositions to Music Matters Blog readers! Six winners will be given one of her pieces and you can enjoy it yourself and/or use it with a student in your studio. Just leave a comment below and six winners will be chosen using a random number generator at noon (CST) on Thursday, February 9, 2012.

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!

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 work

Appropriately 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 enjoyable

And 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.