School Music Programs ROCK!

By Nathan Pulse

Hi everyone! First off, I'd like to share just how excited I am to join all of you out here in Western Washington. Although born in Iowa, I actually lived in Bremerton, Washington from kindergarten right through high school so this move feels almost like a homecoming of sorts.

I started playing the trumpet in elementary school but didn't really start to take it seriously until high school. Everyone who plays an orchestra or band instrument has that moment where they have to decide if they will continue playing in school music ensembles once they reach high school, and I am very glad that I continued on. The great thing about those school music ensembles is that they teach you so much more than just how to play music. They help you think critically, they teach you leadership skills, and they have you constantly working in a team setting.

Hopefully by now it's clear that this blog entry is all about getting the most out of your school's music program. If your school has the option for you to join a concert, jazz, orchestra, mariachi, or marching band then please, please, please take advantage of them. Very few other times in life will you have the chance to play in a musical ensemble five days out of the week, and the education is invaluable. There are always more classes than just band though. I really believe that singing in choir helped my breathing for trumpet playing. Choir also gets you comfortable performing in front of people without being able to hide behind an instrument. If you can sing front of crowd then you can definitely play the trumpet in front of one! Music appreciation is a class that often gets taken for an "easy A", but it can offer much more than that. Learning some basic music theory and history in an appreciation class can help you write your own music in a way that others can read, expose you to music from different cultures across the world, and even show you how music and musical groups have changed the world around them.

Whether your school offers all of these great programs, or only has one or two, always go out of your way to participate in them. You may only have a few chances in life to be exposed to so much music. Take advantage of it while you can.

Music Education & Brain Growth in Childhood

By John Hart

The study of how music affects the human brain is fascinating! Recent studies show that musical training does more than simply increase ones musical ability—it provides tremendous benefits to children’s emotional and behavior maturation, aides in language development, increases their ability to solve multi-step problems, increases IQ, and in some cases helps a children do better on standardized tests!

A study by the University of Vermont College of Medicine found that even those who never made it past nursery rhyme songs received some major developmental benefits just from playing. Providing children with high-quality music education as early as possible is one of the most effective ways to ensure their success in life.  "What we found was the more a child trained on an instrument, it accelerated cortical organization in attention skill, anxiety management and emotional control."  (Music.Mic)

It makes sense to involve our children in musical training when they are young, even if they choose not to continue studying music in their adult years.  "Music training in childhood fundamentally alters the nervous system such that neural changes persist in adulthood after auditory training has ceased. "  (Music Advocacy Groundswell)  “Studies have shown that assiduous instrument training from an early age can help the brain to process sounds better, making it easier to stay focused when absorbing other subjects, from literature to tensor calculus."  Scientific American (2010)

Studying music actually stimulates the language center of the left brain, which aides in language development.  Other research shows that music studies may even help increase IQ.  Studies from the University of Toronto in 2004 show that children who studied music averaged 3 IQ points higher in a one year period than the control group of those who did not.  It is believed that the reason for this is that musicians tend to use more of their brain while involved with music.  The brain images of musicians show changes in the brain networks, especially those involving spatial-temporal skills—the same skills used to solve multi-step problems, such as those encounter in architecture, engineering, math, art, and computers.  In 2007, Christopher Johnson, Professor of Music Education and Music Therapy completed a study which included that students who studied music scored 22% higher on standardized tests in English, and 20% higher on standardized math tests.

Getting Over The Wall

By Destin Smith

Greetings! Firstly, I wanted to express how excited I am to join the AWSOM family. I look forward to the wonderful things that are in store for the future of AWSOM!

Have you ever sat down to write a paper for a school assignment and feel your mind go to mush? Have you ever played on a sports team and feel like you are not able to make any progress? This same phenomena happens all of the time in the world of music. I remember playing drums for the jazz band in high school and feeling like I was able to play what was “required” but felt restricted in my ability. I could play the styles, but I almost felt like a robot (insert drum fill here). I know throughout my musical career I have ran into walls in terms of my playing and instead of going over them, or around them even, I would bang my head against them or just lay on the ground for a while…metaphorically speaking of course. As overwhelming as it can feel, the solution for me has been simple, LISTEN TO MUSIC.

I know that seems obvious and you may say, “yeah I have heard that before” but it is so true! It is very important as a musician to expose yourself to all sorts of music. Even in the same genres of music the styles of musicians are different. Have you ever heard somebody pick out an instrumentalist without seeing who it was? It’s easy to get locked in to listening to top 40 pop on the radio or put your favorite Arianna Grande album on repeat as you dance alone singing into your hairbrush….I have never done that by the way. Your music, your artistic expression, is your own unique voice. If you think about it in the terms of visual art, if you are a painter you are always looking at the things around you to be inspired, or looking at the works of others to gain ideas. Music should be the same way. Give your brain more material to draw from and you will see it get you up, up, up and over the wall.

-Destin

Motivating Children to Practice

By John Hart

So you signed up for music lessons, but at least one of your children is not intrinsically motivated to practice. What should you do?  Here are some suggestions that may help:

1.  Give your children the opportunity to hear other musicians perform. Arrange to have them meet the performers and get a taste of their passion for music.  (Be sure to make the link between their ability to perform with the amount of self-discipline it took to get there.)

2. Give your children small prizes for accomplishing small goals, such as mastering a short piece, and larger rewards for finishing a book or performing in a recital.

3. Give ample opportunities for your children to perform on their instrument every week or two. Children have an in-built desire for attention. When you smile and clap for their sincere attempts to please you, that feeds their motivation to continue their musical studies.

4. Discuss other reward ideas with your children's music teacher. (Sometimes a reward from the teacher is very appealing. ). You may even want to consider a small reward or added privilege for the completion of a given number of practice sessions.

5. Before you begin giving rewards, consider what the child currently considers a desirable prize. With young children, this can be as simple as adding a star to a chart or a sticker to a sticker book.  Some like something tasty to eat, others prefer things they can play with, while still others prefer privileges.

Whatever motivators you choose, be sure they are always positive.  Removing privileges for not practicing is a sure-fire way of extinguishing any intrinsic motivation your child may have acquired.  Use extrinsic rewards as a temporary "crutch".  Add privileges and give tangible rewards when necessary and, in time, your children will develop the character of diligence that is in itself a great reward.

Practice Routines to Prevent and Manage Pain

By Travis Fisher

As I was practicing a piece some years ago, I suddenly lost strength and dexterity in my right hand pinky. It was a subtle change, but playing the piano requires rather subtle motions and it's not hard to tell if something is off. The pain continued subtly and gradually over weeks and months to spread to my arm and shoulder and back and eventually seemingly throughout my whole body. "Whyyyyyy!" I would moan, with narrowed brows and a sad face, massaging the tension in my arm and neck after having to stop playing piano.

Well, the pain persists to an extent and while I still don't have a perfect answer to why, I feel I may have arrived, through reading and experimenting, at some techniques for dealing with it that work for me. These suggestions may be of interest to those already experiencing pain, but also as preventative measures for those who are relatively pain-free and wish to remain so. I encourage students of all ages, whether in pain or not, to implement the following into their practice routines:

1) Stretch Before:
Stretching before playing loosens the muscles and prevents strain. Ideally one should get their blood flowing a bit before stretching. Do some jumping-jacks or run up and down the stairs! Flail around and wiggle even! Once your blood is flowing start stretching out your fingers, wrists, arms, shoulders, even your hamstrings if you've got time. (Stretches are basic stretches that apply to all sorts of activities so resources abound!)

2) Prepare Mentally and Physically
When we are out of tune with our bodies, it is easier to slip into awkward positions that might cause strain. Before playing, sit with your instrument in silence and feel your body. Now play (or sing, if the voice is your instrument!) just one note. How does your body feel? Play two notes. Try three, or five. How do those notes feel? Try to be aware of your body as a whole and beautiful music-making organism. Feel the connection between the tip of your finger to your elbow, to your shoulder. Approaching practice with this mindset feels better not only physically, but the quality and effectiveness of practice tends to improve greatly also.

3) Stretch Afterward
Stretching afterward is equally as important as stretching before! Make sure to give yourself at least a few minutes to loosen up those music-making muscles and tendons.

4) Practice Away from the Instrument
Finally, an excellent way to prevent and/or manage pain is to practice away from the instrument. Allowing yourself a quiet space in which to lay and practice mentally can be just as effective as physically practicing. Mental practice may perhaps be difficult for younger, beginning students so I don't stress it as much, but I do like to mention it and have them be aware of the concept, which I think will become more and more useful the longer they pursue their studies. The ability to practice away from the instrument is a special technique that requires practice itself, and will be discussed in further detail in a future post. For now, think about how the mere thought of biting into a lemon can make your mouth salivate! Mind-power! The same power can be applied to mental practice.

So, some techniques for preventing and managing pain: Stretch before, prepare physically and mentally, stretch after, and practice away from the instrument

Learning Piano Improvisation

By John Hart

There are basically two main ways to play the piano, and BOTH are very important:  sight-reading and improvisation. Sight-reading is the skill that the majority of teachers (and schools) emphasize because it enables the student to reproduce the music of the masters. Like learning to read, sight-reading music requires many years of diligent practice to achieve competency.  Unlike sight-reading, improvisation skill can be developed quickly--overnight in comparison!  A student can get started knowing only the first 7 letters of the alphabet and where these are on the piano.  After that is accomplished, here are the steps that I teach:

1. Learn to play a scale.  (We also start with C major because it uses only the white keys.)
2. Learn the 7 triads of C major (in and out of order).  Note:  Their hands must be strong enough to play 3 notes at once.
3. Learn to add a single bass note with the left hand (the root) while playing a triad with the right.
4. Learn to play simple progressions with 2 hands in root position (i.e. I, IV, V, I)
5. Learn to play the inversions of the primary chords (I, IV, V) of C major. (This means playing the notes of each triad in a different order:  CEG, EGC, GCE)
6. Learn to play from one inversion of a triad to the next in “close position”, which makes the music sound more beautiful because chords are now more localized and continuous with each other.
7. Learn to play all the triad position of the scale in “close position” along with a single note bass.

These same steps are then repeated for all major and minor keys going around the circle of 5ths:  C, G, D, A, E, etc.  I believe anyone who learns music at the keyboard in this way will soon be able to play a chord chart or make up their own music, even if they are not yet very good at sight-reading.

Near Ancestors of the Guitar: The Lute and the Oud

By Michaud Savage

As I discussed last month, there is a lot of history involved with the guitar. This month, I've chosen to look at some of the near ancestors of the guitar, focusing mainly on the lute and oud. The lute is an instrument still used today, but is mainly used for recreating medieval and Renaissance music. The oud is considered to me a much older instrument, with some of it's documentation going back 3,500 years ago in ancient Persia. Both the lute and the oud existed with popularity from the Medieval through the Renaissance eras, although they were more largely embraced by different regions of Europe and the Mediterranean.

Now, if you say “oud” aloud and the say “lute” aloud, what do you hear? Take a moment to try this a few times and name a couple of key differences between the two words. Also, describe the biggest similarity you find. During the Medieval times, the oud was brought to to Europe by Crusaders, where Europeans adopted the instrument and began to develop the bracing system of the instrument. The oud continued to flourish in Arabic culture, whereas the lute has only begun to return to popularity since the coinage and codification of Early Music in the Twentieth-century.

During the renaissance era, an instrument called the “vihuela” or “viola da mano” emerged, which as you may have guessed, is a near ancestor of the violin, viola, bass and cello family! This instrument was built similarly to a lute, but had extra strings added, totaling 6 and had a tuning similar to how it is tuned today. However, the vihuela didn't last very long, as soon after it's development came the baroque guitar, the first guitar-like instrument to be identified with the name “guitar.”

There's a little history lesson for you, now go play some music!!!

Happy First Anniversary!

By Andrew White

Well, today is February 8th and AWSOM is officially a one year old business! What an amazing first year it has been, with so many great things to look back on, great reviews from students, some fantastic stories, and multiple outstanding recitals! And with all the wonderfulness, we have also learned some great lessons that will help AWSOM continue to grow and thrive in its second year.

Our first year saw us teach just shy of 5,000 lessons, an incredible feat! This coming year, we have plans to teach 8,500 lessons by increasing our teachers from 3 to 6. Our first year saw lessons being offered on piano and guitar with John Hart and Michaud Savage joining our school as Seattle’s best teachers. This coming year, we have plans to introduce violin and trumpet lessons to our growing mix of instruments. Also in the plans are many exciting competitions, a new Youtube channel with music tutorials, a growing online lesson program and much more!

One thing that we don’t plan on changing though is our commitment to excellent teaching in the comfort of your home. We hear from families every day, astounded that there is a music school that will come to their home to offer lessons, and all for a reasonable price. While the year ahead will see continued growth for AWSOM, we don’t plan on changing our small family like style to the way we run it. We want you to know as always that if you have any questions or concerns, you are more than welcome to contact your teacher, Andrew, or Kim in the office at any time.

We are thankful to each of you who are currently learning with AWSOM, you have all truly made this a fun filled first year for our music school. There’s many music teachers in the Seattle area, and it is an immense privilege that you have chosen us to learn music with. Thank you.

Here’s to a very exciting year ahead together!

Andrew White and The AWSOM Team

A Brief History Of The Guitar

By Michaud Savage

I've been fascinated with the guitar for a long time, and my interest with it's most recent history most greatly engages my curiosity.

The guitar has been around in it's current conception, of fixed frets and 6 strings, reaches back to an ancestor in the 13thcentury, the the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) and the so-called guitarra moresca (Moorish guitar). There were continued developments in the construction and bracing of the guitar as time progressed, and so also developed it's role in performing groups, orchestras, and also smaller ensembles.

During this time, pianos as we know them today did not exist in the same way, and the only comparable chordal instruments at the time were harpsichords- which were extremely delicate, temperamental machines difficult to transport and required frequent maintenance. Technology in the guitar was developing in such a way that it became the common practice for soloists to travel with a guitarrist as an accompanist during the 13th century into the 18th century. Today, this is very seldom the case, as pianofortes (commonly called 'pianos'), have also evolved to say in tune more reliably.

However, do make note that pipe organs were a common feature in most cities much before the guitarra latina existed, but was exclusively used for religious music. Due to the portability of the guitar, there is a very different history behind it- arguably, a much more recreational and sea-faring one.....just to start a list...

More history next month!

Memorizing with Imagination

When I was eleven years old, my mother gave me a very interesting book to read entitled, The Memory Book, by Harry Lorraine and Jerry Lucas.  I learned there are memory experts who have discovered ways of memorizing anything, including people’s names, faces, and even long lists of numbers, using mnemonics.  (A mnemonic is a way of coding meaningless information so it becomes meaningful in your own mind.)  One key element of using mnemonics is humor. Memory experts say that we tend to remember things better if they are funny, absurd, or grossly exaggerated.

Here’s how we can apply this principle to learning the names of the piano keys.  Make each note come alive—to turn it into a “concrete” object-- and even better yet, turn it into a story!  Here’s an example I borrowed from another piano teacher.  Visualize the 2 black keys as a cage and the 3 black keys as a forest:

 “Here is a cage. Inside this cage is a sleeping Dog. Sitting on the side of the cage is a Cat, who is trying to steal the dog’s dinner. The cat is hungry because he has no more food in his Empty bowl on the other side of the cage. A sneaky Fox sneaked out of the forest and stole the cat’s dinner! Next to the fox is a frightened Goat. The goat is tied to an Apple tree. Flying high above the apple tree is a Blackbird. The blackbird is too scared to land in case he is eaten by the hungry cat.”

For memorizing the lines and spaces, I likeusing “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge” for the lines because fudge is more exciting to kids than doing fine.  (The boy in the middle stands on the chair to reach up high to get the fudge.)  For the spaces, F-A-C-E works well, but why leave off “D” and “G”?  I use “Dirty FACE Gross” (dirty for “D”, FACE, then “G” for gross), and I draw a picture of a dirty face just to the right of the staff at the same height as the spaces.

One final note on mnemonics—if the student comes up with an idea that works well, use that!  The best mnemonics are ones that come from your own imagination.