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Education
www.amc-music.com/join/links.htm
Community Bands (add your group here)
Music Organizations in the US and abroad such as
AMC - American Music Conference,
ACB Association of Concert Bands
You can find ideas and resources for music lessons at
PracticeSpot.com
Information about Music Education in our Schools can be found at
S.E. District Mass Music Educators,
SEMSBA,
MENC,
MMEA and
NEMA
Other music support organizations are
SupportMusic.com,
VH-1 Save the Music,
Music for the Love of It
Research and order music/supplies for band, choral, jazz, ensemble, orchestra and instrumental music from
JWPepperMusic,
PendersMusic,
Sheet-Music-Plus,
Chatfield Brass Music Library and
Bagaduce Music Library
Music Subject Movies can be found at
Internet Movie Database
Search under musicals, about music, musicians, composers and
amazon.com for availability
Music Related Magazines & Articles such as
InstrumentalistMagazine.com or a search can be made at
FindArticles.com
Music Media: Television and Radio:
PBS Young People’s Concerts
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Articles about Music Therapy can be found at American Music Therapy Association, Massachusetts Music Therapy Alliance
New therapy for lung ills: Harmonics to the rescue
By Melanie Burney, Associated Press writer
When members of the Better Breathers Club blow on harmonicas, it is more than just music to their ears -- it is therapy for their disease-weakened lungs.
The lung patients at Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, N.J., are learning how to use the tiny wind instruments to perform breathing exercises while playing notes. It is the first time that Deborah has tried musical therapy to help patients...
Read more
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Music is Basic!
Educational Value of Music
Music Contributes to the Development of:
• Language skills - reading, listening and speech
• Math and Science skills
• Overall Academic Achievement
• Imagination- aural and visual imagery
• Creativity- problem solving abilities
Music Fosters Personal Growth
Music Contributes to the Development of:
• Positive self-concept-achievement and recognition
• Self-expression-cathartic value
• Self-discipline- responsibility and perseverance
• Social skills-mutual respect, cooperative behavior, and friendships
• Psychomotor skills-coordination
Music Benefits the Individual and Community
• Provides skills essential for living in today’s society
• Provides enjoyable like-long recreational opportunities provides career opportunities
• Fosters community involvement by participation as a performer or listener
• Enhances the quality of life for both the community and the individual
• Promotes a historical appreciation for our own and other cultural heritages.
Music is Basic.....and It’s for Everyone!
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Why instrumental music in the elementary school?
~J Robitaille and S. O’Neill
“Students [5th graders] who had taken a band instrument for 2 or more years scored 10 percentile points higher in reading and 12 percentile points higher in language than did their non-band peers.” |
The Extra-Musical Advantages of Musical Education.
~A collection of studies compiled by Dr. R. Cutietta, Dr. D. Hamann, and Dr. L. Miller Walker on Self-Esteem / Self-Concept and Music Participation.
“Whether the musical activity involved performance in an instrumental group or choir, whether the students were singing or moving to music, whether the students were from high or low socioeconomic background there appears to be a very strong degree of association between participation in music programs and activities and increasese in student self-esteem/self-image.” |
Don’t give up your music lessons
~Ain’t it the Tooth! Dental Newsletter of
Donald Fisher, D.D.S. Spring 2000:
“Don’t let your daughter play the clarinet, it will make her teeth stick out.” There may be some truth to this ol wives’ tale, but only “some“ truth A recent study indicated that students who played wind instruments (including those with brass mouthpieces) for as little as half an hour a day showed evidence of tooth movement when compared to their percussionist peers.
However, depending on the condition of a child’s bite before taking up and instrument, tooth movement may not be a bad thing. For instance, if a clarinet player had lower teeth that stuck out, practicing on the instrument might push them in over time.
Most importantly, children need to see a dentist regularly so any problems or changes in bite can be noted and tracked. If a referral to an orthodontist is necessary, it can be made.
How playing an instrument affects teeth is less important than the need to be alert to bite problems- whether they’re natural or caused by outside forces. Once a problem is discovered, proper steps can be taken to correct it for a more effective bite and more beautiful music making smile. |
Playing music, dramatics improves student scores
WASHINGTON (AP) - If your teenagers want to be in the high school band or drama club, let them. It may improve their grades. High school students who take music lessons and join theater groups do better in math, reading, history, geography and citizenship, according to a study of Education Department data to be published today.
“If young Americans are to succeed and to contribute to what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan describes as our ‘economy of ideas,’ they will need an education that develops imaginative, flexible and tough-minded thinking,” Education Secretary Richard Riley said in a message accompanying the study. “The art powerfully nurture the ability to think in this manner.”
Press - October 2001 |
Making Music Strikes the Right Note with American Families
(NAPSI) - If music is the great love in your household, you have lots of company. One out of every two American families has at least on budding musician.
To keep the search for a musical instrument harmonious, many families have discovered that shopping online is a good prelude to getting the best buy. Here are some tips from experts that should play well with parents.
• Do your research offline. That way, before you sit down at the computer, you’ll have the instrument’s make / model.
• Check past prices. Make sure you know what the instrument you like typically sells for. For example, you can go to a site such as eBay, and search completed auction to see how much other people have paid for similar instruments.
• Buy from a trusted seller. On most auction Web sites, sellers are rated by previous buyers. Check their feedback and read the comments. Look for x amt of days money back guarantees if not satisfied.
• Finally, pay with a credit card. This will protect you if the instrument you bought is damaged or never arrives.
It’s also noteworthy to point out that there are benefits to studying and playing music, beyond what’s in the score. It’s been shown that music students generally outperform non-music students on achievement test in reading and math. This also strikes a responsive chord with colleges. Some universities recruit students who played in the school orchestra or band. At Stanford University, for example, professors feel that students with a musical background are more apt at handling a full academic load.
Hometown News Mar. 20-27, 2003 (NAPSI) |
Poll: Most Americans want music students to play on
by Linda Lyons for AP Newsfeatures, 5/31/2003
With bagpipes playing and jazz trumpets blaring, a crown of 500 arts supporters delivered a strong and creative message to the doorway of the New Jersey Senate Budget Committee last week as they began hearings to eliminate millions of dollars in arts education programs- the arts are important to Americans.
And indeed they are. According to a recent Gallup Poll conducted for NAMM, the International Music Products Association, 95% of Americans consider music to be part of a well-rounded education, and 93% feel that schools should offer music education as part of the regualr curriculum.
Nearly four in five (79%) even say that music education should be mandated for every student in school.
During times of econimic difficulty, the arts, including music, are often among the first public education programs targeted for cuts.
Now is one of those times. Nearly all state budgets are in fiscal crisis- five states have budget gaps of $1 billion or more- and education budgets will likely be hit hard with cuts in programs. According to the poll, the possibility of these cuts does not bode well for future musicians- 30% of all respondents (age 12 and older) who play a musical instrument told Gallup that they first learned to play by taking lessons in school, and another 9% said their first encounter with playing music was in a school band or orchestra. Roughly a quarter (26%) said they first learned through private lessons.
Who plays musical Instruments?
Overall, 37% of the respondents to this survey said they play a musical instrument. Although there are no differences between the percentages of men and women who play, it is interesting to note that twice as many women as men first learned to play through private lessons (35% vs 17%) , but that nearly three times as many men taught themselves to play, 33% vs 12%.
While 82% of Americans who play an instrument began their musical training between the ages of 5 and 14, the joy of music endures long after the last school bell rings. In fact, 42% of those between the ages of 35 and 50 who learned to play an instrument still play, as well as 20% of people age 50 and older. For some people, it’s a lifelong pursuit. At 70, the great jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong was going strong. He told his doctor just a few months before he died, “My whole life, my whole soul, my whole spirit is to blow that horn.”
Social benefits of music
Certainly the benefits of music go beyond pure auditory delight. According to the poll, 85% of Americans believe that participating in a school music program correlates with better grades, and 80% feel that playing an instrument makes people smarter.
Fifty-four percent of Americans believe children should be exposed to music before their first birthday.
Bottom Line
It is clear that music is a valuable tool that brings joy to nearly all Americans. Now the U.S. Dept. of Education has given music ( and art in general) its due.
For the first time, the arts have been included as “core academic subject” in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
That is good news for the long term, once the current budget crisis has passed. Now that the arts have been established as an equal contender with other subjects, music classes will be eligible for many federally funded programs earmarked for core curricula only.
With adequate funding, music will remain an essential ingredient in every child’s education for generations to come.
Plato, for one, would be thrilled to hear that 88% of Americans say that music is a very important part of their lives. More than 2,000 years ago, he recognized music’s value. “Music is a moral law,” he said, “It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything.”
Findings are based on telephone interviews with 1,005 U.S. respondents, 12 yrs of age or older, conducted between Feb. 4 and March 8 2003. |
Schools failing in art, music
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Nearly one American school in five fails to offer music or art classes--even once a week---according to an Education Department study.
“In this age of information and when our economy is increasingly buily on generating ideas, it is a serious mistake ot shortchange our children’s instruction in the arts,” Education Secretary Richard W. Riley said in a statement.
A 1997 study of eigth graders found that “most American children are infrequently or never given serious instruction or performance opportunities in music, the arts or theater-- that’s wrong,” Riley said.
“Arts education can be a creative way of connecting young people into education. The arts help them learn to solve problems, think creatively and develop mental discipline,” Riley said.
Many schools, especially those in cash-strapped big-city districts, have had to cut back spening on arts classes as their tax bases have shrunk, and a spending on areas like computer and special education have taken up larger parts of their budgets.
Music was the most commonly offered arts classes: 81 percent of schools say it is taught at least once a week. Just 9 percent of schools offered no music courses at all.
Visual arts were taught at least once a week a 77 percent of schools, and 17 percent offered no such classes. Weekly theater arts classes wer offered at 17 percent of schools, with that subject unavailable at 74 percent of schools.
And dance was offered at least once a week at 7 percent of schools, while it was unavailable at 80 percent.
Even at schools where the courses are offered, not everyone takes part. For example, only one in four eighth graders reported being asked to sing or play a music instrument at least once a week.
Not surprisingly, when students were tested for their knowledge and skills in the arts, those with frequent instruction did better than those who had fewer classes, according to results of the first National Assessment of Educational Progress in the arts.
For example, when asked to sing, create music and perform dances, students who had instruction at least once a week scored and average of 53 points, compared to 27 for students who didn’t study music. The NAEP study was done in 1997 on a representative sample of students across the nation attending both public and private schools. |
Classical Music for Children
The BBC news reported recently that in a nationwide survey of 600 children aged between 6 and 14, only 11% could name a classical performer and only 35% could name a single classical composer.
Some named Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson as classical composers.
This is a disaster, especially when we consider that there is a general decline in interest in classical music even in the adult population. People now feed on factory-produced food and factory-made pop music.
So you love classical music, and you've got children. How can we ensure that they don't miss out on the some of the greatest musical creations of western civilisation?
Here are our suggestions:
• Make classical music a natural part of daily life
• Never force classical music on children
• Never ban other forms of music
(however, watch for obscene or disturbing lyrics)
• Mix classical with other forms of music through the day
• Let children choose their own separate collection of classical CDs
• Encourage your children to learn a musical instrument
The idea is that they will grow up regarding all forms of music as normal, hopefully develop eclectic tastes and they wont be frightened to death on hearing a symphony in later life.
Recommended Classical CDs for Children
• Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
• Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals
• Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
The most famous and most common children's classical coupling, the charming story of Peter and the Wolf brought to life by Prokofiev's beautiful music, Saint-Saens' “zoological fantasy” and Benjamin Britten's description of how an orchestra works, this CD is a delight for children of all ages.
www.good-music-guide.com |
Can't Play a Note, But Want to Get Your Kids Into Music? AMC and Top Experts Are There with Advice
by Jodi Burack and Rob Walker, Oct. 23 2003
TV's Bob McGrath, Prof. Linda Neelly and Author Amy Nathan Weigh In With Tips
www.amc-music.com/news/pressreleases/non-musical.htm |
Music in the Schools
by Dr. Jim Fox
"Music will not only help us understand how we think, reason, and create, but will enable us to learn how to bring each child's potential to its highest level."
www.ibowtie.com/articlesmonth/schoolmusic.html |
Get on board: Music education is a must
By Frappa Stout USA Weekend Magazine
1/24-26/2003 USA Weekend Magazine
A studio on wheels hits the highway to inspire students. And Justin Timberlake's foundation has the same goal. How can you show your support?
Justin Timberlake was born with raw talent, but he needed music lessons to hone his skills. Because his school didn't have a good music program and his family didn't have a lot of money, his career could have been nothing but a pipe dream.
"If I hadn't urged my mom to take me to [private] voice and guitar lessons, I wouldn't be here," says the 21-year-old, whose family scraped together the cash for his classes. At age 11, he appeared...
Read more |
The biology of perfect pitch
Name That Tone:
Can your child learn some of Mozart’s magic?
by Michael Abrams, Discover Magazine, Dec 2001
The psychology annex building at the University of California at San Diego has no elevator, but it has something even better: a singing stairwell. “It’s a low F, I think,” Diana Deutsch says, pausing on the top step to listen to the wind’s howl. Deutsch has a face as round and sprightly as a sixteenth note, a red bob of hair, and a doctorate in psychology. She also has perfect pitch.
“I realized I had it when I began taking piano lessons at the age of 4,” she says. “It was a great surprise to me that...
Read more
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Articles of general interest:
Over the River and Through the Wood
History of the popular song and its composer Lydia Marie Child.
Nov. 2003 Guideposts Magazine
www.medford.org/History/book/index.htm |
One Man Band - When he heard that boom boxes were replacing buglers at military burials, vet Tom Day issued a clarion call...
5/06/02 People Magazine
The first time Tom Day played “Taps” at a military funeral he was a 10 yr old with an adult size case of nerves. “I messed up, but nobody seemed to mind, “ says Day, now 62, who performed the solemn ritual for the family of a neighbor who had died in the Korean War. “they were moved that there was a live bugler, I never forgot that.”
Last year, when Day learned that a shortage of buglers--only 500 to cover the roughly 1,700 veterans who die daily--was forcing the Department of Defense to use recorded music at most burials, he took action. Day created Bugle Across America, a nonprofit association he runs out of his Berwyn, Ill., bungalow using his own funds. So far he has recruited 450 buglers in 47 states, and funeral directors around the U.S. know to call him or check his Web site for volunteers. “Vets are heroes,” says Day, a sales rep for the Illinois State Lottery. “They deserve better than a boom box. “
Day’s troops share his dedication. “I’m a saxophone player, but I’m learning the bugle to help out.” says Jacklyn Raymer, 15, the youngest volunteer. “ I feel it’s my duty.”
Day began his miltary career at Taft High School in Chicago, where he joined the Army ROTC. He went on to become a Marine sergeant and later served as a public information officer for the Navey and a bugler for the Coast Guard. Wed to second wife Donna, now 49, since 1978, he has two grown children.
No armchair recruiter, Day has ushered more than 550 of his fellow vets into the hereafter. Those left behind appreciate the special attention. Says Corinne Aultman, 53, whose uncle, a WW2 vet, recently died: “When Tom played ‘Taps,’ it was so beautiful it made me cry.”
For more information visit Tom Days web site at:
www.Buglesacrossamerica.org |
Before Bob Dylan found his own voice, he had to go...
Knockin’ on Woody’s Door
by Howard Sounes from “Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan” excerpt from Reader’s Digest Dec. 2001
www.findarticles.com/dylan |
Stradivari’s Secret -
Biochemist Joseph Nagyvary’s research on violin-making.
July 2000 Discover Magazine.
www.findarticles.com/secret |
Joining Hands -
Research on Sound Synchronization...
For all its sound and fury, a crowd that claps in unison is not so different from a chorus of chirping crickets.
July 2000 Discover Magazine
www.findarticles.com/joinhands |
Roll Over, Segovia -
Research on guitar design
June 2000 Discover Magazine
www.findarticles.com/roll |
Postmortem With Strings -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is subject of University of Maryland Medical School historical clinical pathology conference.
June 2000 Discover Magazine
www.findarticles.com/strings |
The Sax Doctor is In -
Emilio Lyons is more than a repairman to the Jazz stars.
Oct 2002 Down Beat Magazine
www.findarticles.com/sax |
Ella Fitzgerald
Gale Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
www.findarticles.com/ella |
For Branford Marsalis, Art Changed His Tune.
Boston Globe 12/21/2003
www.boston.com |
Scanning a Brain That's Out of Tune.
Science News, Nov 23, 2002 Science Service Group 2002
Consider a man who was such a bad piano student as a child that his teacher returned the lesson fees. By scanning this man's neural activity, researchers have now shown that his brain doesn't react normally to music.
A small but uncertain percentage of people have trouble recognizing melodies or playing music, a condition some researchers call dysmusia or amusia and liken to the reading disability dyslexia (SN: 11/25/00, p. 344).
To ascertain whether the brains of people with dysmusia differ from those of people with normal musical aptitude, Catherine L. Reed of the University of Denver and her colleagues studied a healthy 63-year-old man. Despite growing up with intensive musical training--he can read music, for example--the man "cannot perceive music at all," says Reed. Tellingly, he refers to music as "structured noise," she adds.
After documenting his unmelodic bent, the researchers used a magnetic resonance imaging machine to scan the man's brain while he took various tests of language and music perception. His brain responded normally to noise, speech, and various aspects of language. When exposed to music, however, he had low-level neural activity throughout the brain, rather than higher activity focused in brain regions traditionally associated with music perception, says Reed. This suggests that the man's brain doesn't process music correctly.--J.T |
War, Music, and Evolution.
Critical Essay by Susan Bury
Skeptical Inquirer July August 2003
www.findarticles.com/essay |
Music: brain.
Science World, Feb 7, 2003 Scholastic In. 2003
Wonder why you can tell when a singer is off-key? Researchers at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., have found one brain area responsible: rostromedial prefrontal cortex, located just behind the forehead.
"People have long suspected the brain maintains a map of musical keys," says neuroscientist Peter Janata. He explains that everything in nature--whether a snowflake or music--has an underlying shape. And the structure of Western music, with its 24 major and minor keys, can be mapped in a mathematical model in the shape of a donut, or torus. Keys with similar notes and chords are spaced closer together on the donut.
"You can't see it, but music moves around this geometric space," says Janata. "And our brain learns to perceive how music should move within this space, and how different keys and patterns relate to each other [and to detect a sour note!], simply through a lifetime of passive listening." But since this musical shape mirrors a psychological space, "I wanted to know where the brain does it."
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (body-function scanning technology), Janata's team followed the brain activity of eight people as they listened to a piece of music specially composed to move through all 24 keys. Subjects were instructed to pick out specific notes and instrument sounds, which were strategically hidden in the music to track key changes. Researchers also followed the music's key changes with a computerized model of the torus. Their result: While many parts of the brain responded to the music, the rostromedial prefrontal cortex was the only part to accurately keep up with the musical donut. Besides processing music, scientists have found this brain region is also involved in processing emotion. "This might explain why music makes you feel like dancing," adds Janata. |
Your Child's Brain
A baby's brain is a work in progress, trillions of neutrons waiting to be wired into a mind. The experiences of childhood, pioneering research shows, help form the brain's circuits -- for music and math, language and emotion.
By Sharon Begley, Newsweek, 2/19/96
www.frenchforfun.com/ |
Just Put Your Lips Together and Blow
A joyful look at the art of whistling
by Ann Gerhart, Washington Post, Reader’s Digest, Jan 2003
Excerpt from the Washington Post, May 16, 2002 article:
Puckered Out
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2
www.happywhistler.com/articles.html |
OTHER SITES OF INTEREST
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC)
www.rmhcbayarea.com
NAMM – International Music Products Association
www.namm.com
American Music Therapy Association
www.musictherapy.org
Guitar Center
www.guitarcenter.com
Sam Ash Music
www.samash.com
TKL - World Class Cases
www.tkl.com
BMI - Broadcast Music, Inc.
www.bmi.com
Manuscript Originals
www.manuscriptoriginals.com
Wherehouse Music
www.wherehouse.com
Stores For Music
www.storesformusic.com |
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