A New Study on the Benefits of Music Education

My next student is due any minute, so this is a short but sweet link. A friend sent me this article on the benefits of music study. It's stuff any music teacher will tell you - that music improves brain development and memory (among other things).


(c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Encyclopedia of Music in Canada

Things have been rather hectic these past few days - reorganizing everything from the studio to the house and from my budget to ARMTA portfolios.

This week's useful link is the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. You can find out about Canadian classical, pop, jazz, rock music and more.

(c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Making the Most of Music Practicing

"My head's exploding!" said one of my students as she walked into her lesson today. September is so exciting and hectic for students and their families. Back to school and back to their extracurricular activities. Homework and limited playtime. With any activity, establishing a regular routine is critical to ensure steady progress, growth and a sense of accomplishment. Set up a regular practice time in your child (or your own) schedule. Goal oriented practicing works well for many students, more than punching the clock, although general guidelines for practice times do exist. Do remember to warm-up, cool down and reflect upon what worked well in your session, what still needs work, what you enjoyed (or didn't) and what you need to ask the teacher at the next lesson.

Here a pretty good article on how to set up a good practice routine at home A Guide to Great Home Music Practice.

(c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Musings at Musespeak's 100th post

Happy first birthday to Musings. I can't believe that I've made 100 posts since setting up this blog. Maestro is all set for the students. He's upstairs waiting to see if anyone is going to show up today. However, I'm not quite ready for them. I still have to go shopping for some new music (The Music Tree and My First Piano Adventure to name a few), prizes and supplies. I'm really excited about trying these two books. I've heard wonderful things about The Music Tree series and I think most teachers have been eagerly anticipating Faber & Faber's release of My First Piano Adventure for over a year. The CD accompaniment is very catchy.

Some students have been moving around to different time slots. I have to finish sorting that out. Then, I really need to book a church for the recitals, clean up my office again and my computer. That's not so bad.

As you can tell, it wasn't a complete week off - but I knew that going in. I've been good though - work a bit, play a bit, sleep a lot. It's all good.

(c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Summertime Music Musings

The double whammy wedding gig weekend is behind me. The first one went quite well. I had a lot of fun improvising on Canon in D. Everything was timed very well. I like it when that happens. The "rock music" wedding was interesting. I was shaky in a few spots and kept getting stuck in one part of "Another One Bites the Dust".

look inside

Classic Rock - Creative Piano Solo By Various. Piano Solo Songbook. Classic Rock, Rock. Softcover. 96 pages. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.138517).

However, I just plowed through. Sometimes, I really "faked it", but it turned out ok. The groom got a little teary eyed saying his vows, which was quite touching.

Today, I returned to the place I temped at last month. I'm filling in for two admin assistants, one week in each department. My primary function will be to keep their seats warm, so I'm bringing my lesson planning binder with me and I anticipate that I will complete the year plans for my 40 students while on my assignment. Granted, it will be done in between answering the odd call, scheduling a handful of meetings and filing, but I'll have time to complete it. Maybe, just maybe, I'll have a chance to score study my intermediate students' repertoire while I'm there too.

During my last temping assignment there, I completed an article on rhythm and flow in music and Iaido for The Iaido Journal. I'm not sure when it will be published, but you could check the link regularly.

I got promoted to First Vice President for the local branch of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers' Association. At first, I was a little leery but now, I'm excited at the idea of completing my time on the Board one year early. I'm trying to wrap up my work on the Governance Committee this month so that come September, I will just focus on the Website Committee and the behemouth project known as the Honours Recital. I have to get caught up on the latter this weekend and call a committee meeting...on my week off.

On a completely different note (but just as exciting), the Calgary Iaido Club, where I train, got the green light to host its first national Open Iaido Tournament. We'll have seminars in other disciplines as well. Our planning meetings have been a welcome change from some of the Board meetings I've attended. Has anyone else ever noticed that when there are mostly men at a meeting, it goes far more quickly than when there's mostly women?

Alas, I've mused long enough. It's time to get back to putting together my music card games for the students.(c) 2006 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.