By chance, a friend forwarded a video clip (below) of world-renowned musician Bobby McFerrin “playing the audience” at an event.  The clip is terrific, but more on that later.  The event was the World Science Festival, held in June 2009, and the event, called Notes and Neurons, was an entire session devoted to music’s impact on the brain.  What a great feeling it is to have your life’s work and passion discussed at such a premier event!

I have watched the entire session online, and there was so much great information that I am going to devote a series of posts to it.  One of the principal points made during the session was that music creates community. According to the scientists on the panel, music is embedded in our culture.  Before there was language, music was a way to communicate and form social ties with others.

How did early humans use music to communicate and bond with one another?  Some of the earliest attempts at language and communication were actually dance and mimicry–of animal sounds, of other humans, of events, and of the gods.  These attempts later evolved into what we know as music.

For these early humans, this music was entirely participatory.  People made music together because it helped them to form emotional bonds to each other.  The idea of sitting passively and watching someone else “perform” music is not natural to human evolution.  Here is a case in point, as Bobby McFerrin, one of the panelists at this event, made music with the audience:

Bobby McFerrin Plays the Pentatonic Scale Using the Audience at the World Science Festival (video) | The Stimulist

(Posted using ShareThis)

More to come later.  Have a great week!

Calling all amateur directors and singers!

Kindermusik International is making a music video of The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and is asking for your help.  Make a video of someone in your life singing this favorite song, and submit it to Kindermusik International.  You don’t have to be currently enrolled in a Kindermusik class to enter.  Everyone who submits a video will be entered in a drawing to win a free semester of Kindermusik classes!

Be sure to click here to get all the details.  Good Luck!

Many of us use music to make the more mundane things in our lives more fun.  These folks at a subway station in Stockholm found a creative way to take this to a whole new level (no pun intended)!  Watch this, and see if it would make you take the stairs more often.

My favorite part is the very brief shot of the couple who appear to be playing Chopsticks à la Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia from the movie “Big.”  I would want to do the same thing myself if I were there!

Have a great week!

It’s time for Halloween Week 2009 with Julie’s Music Brioso!  During next week’s classes, feel free to come to class in costume.  Miss Julie will be dressed up, too!  We’ll take some pictures and do some fun Halloween-related activities during class.

For more Halloween fun, click here and check out Miss Julie’s Monster Mash-Up video.  You can make your own video as well!

Finally, click on my pumpkin above and you’ll be taken to a site where you can carve your own jack-o-lantern.

Have fun, and Happy Halloween!

I have written several blog posts about the benefits of music playing, listening, and education for young children.  This wonderful video sums it up better than I ever could.  Enjoy it, and congratulations for giving your child the gift of music!

Many thanks to Christa Sigman, who turned me on to this video. Have a great week!

Some of you may be old enough to remember that Tom Jones had a TV variety show in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  I have it on authority from my parents and older cousins that I used to stand in front of the TV (with a jump rope as my “microphone”) and dance and sing along with his show.  My parents have no pictures or videos of this, but even if they did, I’m sure it wouldn’t hold a candle to this little guy.  Take a look:

Have a great week!

Here is yet another source that sings the praises of music education in young children.  New Jersey Family Magazine recently posted an article on their website entitled “7 Surprising Benefits of Music Education.”  In a nutshell, the article states what Kindermusik educators have known for years.  Music aids in memory, literacy, math, social, physical, and creative skills. Part of the article is reprinted below:

Listen to the singing, the laughing, and the shouting; the jumping, stomping, and clapping; the exuberant thumping of drums, the rhythmic rattling of maracas, and the festive jingling of bells. Listen to children making music, and it’s easy to hear they’re having fun.

What’s not so obvious is that while children are singing and clapping, jumping and wiggling, and shaking and tapping on instruments, there’s a whole lot of learning—and growing—going on.

Children, unlike adults, learn primarily through sound. They naturally focus attention more easily on sound than on visual stimuli. The rhythmic sound of music, in particular, captures and holds children’s attention like nothing else, and makes it a valuable learning tool.

Music education increases children’s intelligence, academic success, social skills, and even physical fitness, in ways that may surprise you.  Click here to read the rest of the article…

Have a great week!

With the release of the remastered Beatles collection, as well as the Rock Band game, I was feeling a little nostalgic this past week.  Luckily a whole new generation can now discover the true genius of these unassuming men from Liverpool.  Here are the Castillo Kids, a very talented trio of siblings, doing a cover of Help!

Enjoy, and have a great week!

A couple of years ago, the Washington Post conducted an experiment at a busy D.C. metro station during morning rush hour.  They asked Joshua Bell, one of the finest classical violinists in the world, to play his violin at the station and see what would happen.  Bell was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a baseball cap, and stood against a wall with his violin case open for donations.  (If you would like to read the entire article and see some video footage of this experiment, click here.)

Here’s the upshot: Bell played for nearly 45 minutes, during which nearly 1,100 people rushed by.  Only 7 people actually stopped to listen for any length of time, and Bell earned all of $32.17.  (Joshua Bell normally sells out concert halls and earns thousands of dollars per performance.)

Of course, the big question is why didn’t people stop and listen to this gifted musician play (and for free, I might add)?  The article offers all kinds of ideas.  People are too busy to stop and appreciate beauty; they are too insensitive to pay attention to street musicians; they are too culturally unaware to know any better.

There is probably some validity to all of these ideas.  I recently read another which really struck a chord with me (no pun intended).  We have become such a culture of music consumers, rather than music makers, that we no longer trust ourselves to recognize beautiful music when we hear it.  We need someone, some expert, to tell us when we are hearing something worth listening to.  Otherwise, we might be branded as unsophisticated or lacking in cultural sensitivity.  In other words, we’ve stopped trusting our gut instincts when it comes to music.

If you read the article and watch the footage of the Post’s experiment, there is one demographic group who clearly didn’t have this problem: children.  Time after time, children tried to stop and listen to Joshua Bell, but the accompanying adults pulled them away.  Perhaps we are born with an intrinsic appreciation of music, but life causes us to ignore or downplay those feelings.  Instead of being taught how to recognize beauty in all its forms, we are often taught to criticize others’ efforts in order to prove our own superior knowledge.

Let’s work together to change this now.  Don’t be afraid to admit that you listen to certain music just because you like it.  I’ll start.  I love listening to If I had $1,000,000 and Be My Yoko Ono by the Barenaked Ladies.  Why?  Because they’re fun!  I grew up admiring the music of Barry Manilow and Air Supply.  Is their music sometimes overly schmaltzy?  Yes, but the songs also have beautiful melodies and speak to the human need for love.

My favorite pop artist of all time is Billy Joel.  I’ll never forget the day I was playing The Stranger in my car, and my younger son Nicholas, then 4, said, “That is the coolest song ever.”   So, don’t be afraid to pay attention to children’s cues when it comes to music.  After all, they know something beautiful when they hear it!

With Fall classes starting and cooler weather approaching, viruses such as H1N1 (swine flu) have a much larger chance of spreading.  Here is what I’m doing to keep my classroom Healthy & Happy:

Before & After Class:

• Clean toys, books, instruments or scarves with Clorox wipes or bleach-free disinfectant (like Lysol).

During Class:

• Each adult and child must apply hand sanitizer before and after class. (Typically a dime-sized drop will wet a child’s hand thoroughly with sanitizer.)  I will have an alocohol-free sanitizer available for infants and anyone else who wants this alternative.
• Teach proper cough and sneeze etiquette (Covering nose and mouth with arm or hand; then sanitize if possible).
• Acknowledge healthy behavior.
• Throw all tissues away after one use.
• Remind children to avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth.

Need-to-Know Flu Facts
How does a flu virus spread? From person to person by coughing or sneezing. Also by touching something with flu viruses on it, then touching your own mouth or nose.
How long can the flu virus remain viable on toys, books, or doorknobs? Up to 2-8 hours.
What are H1N1 symptoms in children? As with seasonal flu: fever, body aches, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea (same as in adults).
How long is someone contagious with the H1N1 flu virus? People may be contagious from 1 day before they develop symptoms to up to 7 days after they get sick.  Children, especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer periods.

Let’s make this a Happy and Healthy Fall.  Have a great week!