Center Stage

Since the start of school, many students (especially 3rd and 4th graders) will be choosing a new instrument to learn. Many of my own students have been discussing what they could potentially learn and I’ve been explaining the difficulties of each instrument, or instrument family. This really applies to anyone who wants to learn a…

Last week we explored a few significant musicians of the 1990s. This week we continue with another list of noteworthy 90s artists! 1. Nirvana: It wouldn’t be a well-rounded 90s article without the mention of the grunge rock band, Nirvana. Grunge started in the late 80s in Seattle, Washington but truly matured and was brought…

While most of these blogs focus on all aspects of music, this one will focus on key lifestyle differences between the 90s and today’s decade. When learning a piece of music that is from a different time period (whether it’s 200 years ago, or just 25) it’s important to hone in on that time’s culture…

he 1990s were a golden age for all different genres of music. (Some may even consider it the last golden age of contemporary music!) We will explore the different styles that evolved during the decade, as well as some of the key musicians that made a significant impact. The end of the 1980s was rife…

Have you ever wondered what type of instruments our ancient ancestors played? Or perhaps wondered how their music sounded? Thanks to archeological findings we can piece together a somewhat blurry picture of ancient music. Here are a few ancient cultures and their musical instruments! Ancient Egypt: This is one of the oldest civilizations from which…

This August we celebrate the birthdays of two of the great jazz legends, saxophonist, Charlie Parker (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955) and pianist, Bill Evans (August 16, 1929, September 15, 1980). Both instrumentalists were virtuosos and pioneers of their respective styles, forever changing the jazz soundscape. Charlie Parker, commonly known as “Bird”, was…

From having a lot of experience as a music teacher, there are a couple of things I’ve noticed that separate the successful music students from the not so successful. Here are a couple of ways on how you can make the most of you music lessons. 1. Practice: This could go without saying, but despite…

Synesthesia is a rare neurological occurrence that associates colors with other senses. For example, when a person with synesthesia hears or sees the number “6” they may associate that number with the color blue, for no apparent reason. When a person associates musical pitches with specific colors; this is known as chromesthesia or sound-to-color synesthesia.(1)…

Depending on where you study music, you will come across different solfege systems. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages, as further explained. Moveable “Do”: This type of solfege assigns the note “do” to the 1st scale degree of whatever key you are playing in. In other words, if your piece is in A major,…

This July seems to have a dearth of what would be considered the more popular of classical composers. We’re going to switch gears a little bit and discuss a great musician of another genre, Beck Hansen (better known by just his first name). Born July 8, 1970, Beck has permeated genres such as pop, rock,…