Category: Uncategorized

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/prose-indie-rock-writer-embraced-musicality/
Is making music something that is limited to professionals? Hear how one writer embraced his inner musicality and found a passion for creating music. With Marc Schuster. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/prose-indie-rock-writer-embraced-musicality/

Making connections is what transforms music from a solitary joy to collective entertainment – and there are countless ways to make these connections.

We look at connecting to rich rhythmic traditions through the use of polyrhythms, interview the music social network Vampr’s Head of Growth to understand how the app connects musicians, explore the social and emotional benefits of learning and playing music, and interview the man who radically improved a school’s academic results by implementing an engaging, communal music program.

Parsing Polyrhythm

It’s no secret: Western music loves 4/4 time. Particularly, genres like techno and rock ‘n’ roll worship at the altar of repetitive, predictable beats that are easy to groove to.

In other musical traditions, this rhythmic sensibility is eschewed completely, in favour of complex, layered rhythms with a unique groove and a whole lot of feeling – think traditional African drumming and very danceable Latin music.

These are called polyrhythms, and occur when two or more conflicting rhythms are played simultaneously, causing your ear to perceive them as one.

Learn how to understand, count out, and play polyrhythms with Polyrhythm for Beginners. We’ll look at some simple examples of polyrhythm, arm you with a few tools for counting them out, and give you a starting point for using them in your own music.

How exactly can you notate musical creations that contain polyrhythms? A popular tool to use for notation is Muse Score, and luckily, they have a function that makes incorporating polyrhythm into your scores a breeze.

As we learned, polyrhythm likely originated from African drumming. Learning more about the indigenous music of Africa is a great way to not only get a feel for polyrhythms, but also to increase your appreciation for a fascinating musical tradition. Check out All Around This World’s introductory lesson!

The groove of polyrhythms can feel a bit strange at times. Like it doesn’t quite make sense. So, what better way to practice your playing than with some examples inspired by the hit Netflix show “Stranger Things” put together by Ray from Revolution Harmony?

Music Education Done Right

As time goes on, more and more schools are recognizing the value of investing in a music program.

But what if rather than adding music as an afterthought, it was inserted into the curriculum as a core subject that was treated with the same seriousness as math and science?

On this week’s interview episode of the Musicality Podcast, we interview a man who created a music program that turned one underperforming school into one of the nation’s top institutions. In Transforming Education through Music, with Jimmy Rotheram, Jimmy discusses how he integrated the principles of Kodály – an engaging and kinesthetic way to learn music – into a curriculum that emphasizes each child’s inner musicality and makes music class an interactive, engaging experience, and how this experience translated to the students’ improved academic performance.

Teaching primary school can be challenging, especially for music teachers. However, it’s important to find teaching solutions – there are so many great benefits to starting music lessons at this age that will impact every aspect of the child’s education! Dabbledoo Music has some excellent tips on getting past these challenges.

We all want to share our love of music with the young children in our lives, but aren’t always sure how to best approach this. The team at Solfegio has 10 tips for teaching children music to get you inspired.

Instrumental musicians and vocalists typically learn to read music in different ways. If you come from an instrumental background, you may want to take a moment to appreciate how young singers are introduced to music notation. Jen from Music Teacher Mumma gives a short lesson on the topic.

Jimmy mentioned that Kodály games are always a big hit with his students and really enhanced their understanding of the music. Incorporate some fun into your Kodály education with a song suggestion from Mrs. Miracle’s Music Room.

Another aspect to Kodály education is that hand signs are often used in lieu of written notation. Amy from Music ala Abbott shares a creative game that she uses to teach the low “La” hand sign to her students. Let the games begin!

A Musical Network

So, you’ve got the chops, an incredible song repertoire, and the desire to bring your music to the masses.

But you need a drummer, or a publicist, or a producer. And you don’t know any.

How do you find a trustworthy collaborator who is on the same musical page, without spending hours and hours of time scrolling through Craigslist ads and putting up flyers?

Enter Vampr, a musical networking app that facilitates connection and collaboration through a very simple premise: create a profile with your projects and goals, swipe through potential collaborators, and immediately start a chat with users you’d be interested in working with.

Furthermore, the app’s impressive (and growing!) user base of musicians, producers, songwriters, and established industry figures gives you the opportunity to work with people you may otherwise never meet – and make your music pipe dreams a reality!

Want to learn more? Read our interview with Vampr’s Head of Growth Kevin Clobes over at Making Musical Connections, with Vampr.

Learning to play with others is an important part of becoming a well-rounded musician, and using a tool like Vampr gives you some amazing opportunities to collaborate. Gerald from the Musician’s Way knows all about what it takes to become a confident musician, and shares these four cornerstones to musical collaboration.

After you get a group of musicians together and start working through some material, it may be useful to consider how to communicate with each other during a performance. You may be surprised by how much you are able to convey without saying a word – by using non-verbal cues! Acoustic Guitar Lessons London discusses how to brush up on your musical knowledge to become a master communicator in a band setting.

Collaboration should never stop, no matter what level of success you achieve. Even after several albums, the band Leveret continues to work with other musicians. Get some insight into how the band is able to continue challenging themselves to create fantastic new music in an inspiring interview.

Music and Your Well-being

A trending area of research is the hidden benefits that music has on your body and mind – and for good reason.

In About the Non-Musical Benefits of Music, we take you through some of the ways music improves your quality of life in indirect ways – everything from improving mental health and acuity, to expanding your social network and improving your self-esteem.

If you think you’re too old to start learning music, you’ll definitely want to tune into this podcast episode – as you’ll learn, countless benefits of leading a musical life really start to pay off in later life.

Looking for even more reasons to start playing music, or more affirmation that it changes lives for the better? Natalie from Musical Advisors has compiled six reasons to learn to play an instrument. Just think: you’re not only practicing, but improving aspects of your wellbeing while doing it.

Music therapists have long explored the benefits that playing music can have on one’s mind. That’s why many recommend that people begin playing an instrument, even if they are already past retirement age. Take a look at Music Notes’ animated infographic to learn all the ways that a musical routine can deliver these benefits.

The benefits of music are not restricted to just playing – listening is hugely beneficial also! The team at Connect Hearing discusses the mental and emotional benefits to actively listening to music.

Music – the Social Way

If there’s one takeaway from all this, it’s that music is a holistic activity – one that positively affects body, mind, and community.

In this age, there is nothing to stop you from creating and sharing music, with apps like Vampr just waiting to connect you with future collaborators. Meanwhile, as music educators like Jimmy Rotheram are helping push for better music education in schools, we are seeing that music is gaining influence in our lives as people are discovering the incredible benefits it yields – especially when done as a group activity.

There are infinite ways to take your music practice from an individual hobby to an interpersonal activity involving your family, friends, and community. How will you share your music?

The post Parsing Polyrhythm, Music Education Done Right, A Musical Network, Music and Your Well-being appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/disco-karaoke/
Glittering disco balls and bouffants may be passé, but disco music still lives on today. If you’re planning a night of jamming, you can’t go wrong with a disco karaoke party — as long as you have these tracks in your lineup. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/disco-karaoke/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-be-an-effective-bandleader/
Of all the roles in any band, the bandleader plays the biggest part in a band’s success. Here, you’ll learn the characteristics of a strong bandleader and how to develop them. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-be-an-effective-bandleader/

There’s a slew of obvious and not-so-obvious benefits of playing music. From boosting your self-esteem to improving your brain’s ability to multitask, music is the gift that keeps on giving – whether you’re a child starting piano lessons, a college student joining the school choir, or someone picking up an instrument in retirement.

Listen to the episode:

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Links and Resources

• Interview with Jimmy Rotheram
• Infographic: The Benefits of a Music Education
• 20 Important Benefits of Music in our Schools
• 9 Ways Learning an Instrument Strengthens Your Brain
• Benefits of Learning a Musical Instrument After 50
• Fighting Dementia with Music
• Singing Their Way through Retirement
• Why Retirement Can Be an Excellent Time to Learn to Play an Instrument
• Why You Should Learn a Musical Instrument as an Adult

Transcript

If you listened to our recent interview with Jimmy Rotheram of Feversham Primary Academy I’m sure that you, like me, went away feeling freshly inspired about how wonderful music can be and all the things that learning music can do for you, even beyond the core enjoyment of music learning itself.

So I wanted to use this episode to talk a bit about those benefits of learning music. Now this is well-trodden ground. If you look around you will find no shortage of scientific research and reports about the benefits of learning music – all the facts and figures about what’s enhanced, improved and extended. Everything from social confidence to reading ability to mental acuity to collaboration skills. You name it, there’s probably a study showing that learning music helps you do it better!

And as a listener to this podcast the chances are you’re already learning music, maybe you have been for years. Or perhaps you’re just considering it, and listening to this podcast is encouraging you to think you might be more musical than you’d assumed. Either way, you probably don’t need convincing that learning music is a good thing!

But maybe you’re a parent, or a teacher – and you want to help persuade your school to increase its music education provision, like Jimmy’s school has shown can be so effective. Or you want to help persuade your children, siblings, parents or friends to give music a try – and just telling them how great it will be isn’t doing the trick!

Or maybe you’re learning music yourself but the day-to-day practice is causing frustration and you could use a fresh reminder of all of the non-musical reasons to persist and get you through this temporary lull in musical enthusiasm.

Whatever the case may be, you might need a bit of ammunition to support your claims that “learning music is so beneficial”! And rather than me reeling off a list of the dozens of specific benefits music has I thought I’d pick out a few online resources that do this well and just share a few highlights to give you a taste.

So I’m going to discuss one infographic about music education for young people, one article about brain benefits of learning an instrument and a blogpost about learning music after the age of 50. I’ll put links to the full posts in the shownotes where you can find all the facts and figures in detail.

We’ll start with an epic infographic put together by the University of Florida about the many benefits of music education.

You can check the full post which we’ll link in the shownotes for all the figures and references but in short it covers everything from improved reading skills, stronger brain activity for spoken language, increased vocabulary and verbal intelligence, enhanced fine motor skills, increased self-esteem, improved attention, higher test scores in maths, English and science, higher SAT scores, higher GPA, higher likelihood of attending college and graduating.

I love that it also points out that all the evidence suggests music education could be a powerful way to help low-income students and close the achievement gap – which of course matches up well with the transformation demonstrated at Feversham Primary Academy in the UK.

And if this infographic wasn’t enough I’m also going to link to a great post from the National Association for Music Education in the US which lists 20 important benefits of music in schools.

So there’s little doubt that adding music to a child’s education has a wide array of powerful benefits. What about adults?

Playing An Instrument Reduces Stress and Depression

This one won’t be a surprise to anyone who’s come home at the end of a long day and just delighted in picking up their instrument and spending some time in music-making.

There are plenty of studies showing that playing – or even just listening to – music can have a big positive effect on mood and our ability to combat the stress of modern life.

Musical Training Strengthens The Brain’s Executive Function

Your brain relies on the “executive function” for a variety of critical tasks, including processing and retaining information, controlling behavior, making appropriate choices, problem-solving, and more.

This means that if you strengthen your executive function, you increase your ability to live productively, and research has shown that musical training improves and strengthens executive functioning in both children and adults.

So that cliché of the lazy musical artist struggling with the practicalities of daily life is nonsense. Musicians are more effective in how they interact with the world than those without musical training.

Trained Musicians Can Process Multiple Things At Once

Anyone who’s learned to play an instrument from written music will know: you need to learn to process visual information as you look at the music, auditory information as you hear the sounds you’re making, physical information as you play the instrument, and more.

This leads to superior multisensory skills, meaning the ability to process multiple sensory experiences at once.

Although the study mentioned here was specifically about sensory information I think it’s worth also noting the more general point that music helps you mentally juggle a variety of things simultaneously. For example, playing two independent parts with your two hands on piano and hearing how they relate, or staying aware of the other musical parts in a band or a choir. Even the simple act of tapping your foot to the beat while playing a rhythm requires a kind of coordinated multitasking.

Music Later in Life

The third post I wanted to share with you is one from the website sixtyandme.com about the benefits of learning a musical instrument after 50.

Now pretty much all the benefits of music we’re talking about apply throughout life. But there were a couple of points in this one specifically about the impact of music to adults later in life which I thought were interesting.

Music is a great way to make friends

This is often mentioned when talking about the benefits of music later in life, and with good reason. Isolation can be a real risk for people when they retire and leave the working world. And frankly, even for someone like myself in my 30s I’ve seen how it becomes increasingly harder to meet new people, and make new friends.

Music gives you an excuse and an avenue to meet a whole crowd of new people. By joining a choir or a ukulele group, or even just taking solo instrument lessons and connecting with the teacher’s other adult students, there are plenty of opportunities to get out, get to know your fellow musicians and form new bonds.

Of course if you’re new to music that might be intimidating – but that leads on to the other benefit I wanted to pick up on from this article.

Music builds self esteem

The article points out that learning an instrument is something you can begin doing from the comfort of your own home, making it very low pressure to get started. This was something I was really conscious of when developing our SingTrue app, for example. People who think they can’t sing are so self-conscious about the act of even trying to sing, it was essential we find a way for them to take those first steps without anyone judging them or any risk of embarrassment. If you have a friendly and supportive instrument teacher or you make a start by teaching yourself some basics with online resources you can get that same no-pressure environment to start from.

From there, each step forwards can be a real self esteem booster. We’ve seen this in MU where we have lots of older members and people coming to music for the first time in retirement. Discovering they can actually develop their ear for music after decades of thinking it was beyond them can be a huge confidence booster and open fresh optimism about what the future might hold.

One other benefit mentioned in this article is the benefit of learning music for brain health – and I’m going to link in the shownotes to a dedicated article from Age UK about the specific benefits of music on those suffering from dementia. That’s moving into the whole fascinating area of music therapy rather than simply learning music but I wanted to mention it because it is such an important part of how music education activities can be of such benefit later in life.

So that was a quick whirlwind tour of some of the non-musical benefits of music education. I hope that the next time your musical enthusiasm is at a lull, or you’re talking to someone and want some facts and figures to back up what you’re saying about how wonderful music is, this episode will point you to some resources that will help.

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Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it!

The post About the Non-Musical Benefits of Music appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/what-is-the-circle-of-fifths/
What is the Circle of Fifths? It’s a powerful tool from music theory. A way of thinking about the relationship between notes and chords that go together in music. Learning the Circle of Fifths helps you to more easily play by ear or improvise, by understanding the musical connections between notes and the chords. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/what-is-the-circle-of-fifths/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/seven-reasons-to-learn-a-new-instrument/
Why learn a new instrument? Although it might seem too soon if you haven’t yet mastered your first instrument, in fact there are a range of benefits which come from learning a second (or third!) instrument. Here are seven good reasons to learn a new instrument. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/seven-reasons-to-learn-a-new-instrument/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/male-female-duets/
Duets have become a staple of modern music. Here are some of the best Male-Female duets for the next karaoke night or to add to your repertoire! https://www.musical-u.com/learn/male-female-duets/

Where do you find the good bassists? How can you meet a producer who’s on your wavelength? Is it even  possible to find a backup singer who has the right vocal range and a workable schedule?

Enter Vampr, the missing link between you and your perfect musical collaborator. Simply set up a profile with links to your work, start browsing through potential collaborators, swipe right on those you’d like to work with, and let the magic happen!

The comparisons with Tinder will be aplenty – except this app isn’t a hopeful shot in the dark at a successful match. Vampr easily allows you to specify what you’re working on, who you want to collaborate with, and what your musical goals are. It also eliminates the issue of distance, by enabling you to connect with musicians that aren’t in your immediate circle, or don’t even live in your town – making it that much easier to find the perfect musical co-conspirator.

We spoke with Kevin Clobes, Vampr’s Head of Growth, to find out more about how the app works, the incredible connections it helps its users foster, and what’s next in store for this musical social network…

Co-founders Baz Palmer (lead writer and guitarist of 12x platinum band Hunters & Collectors) and Josh met back in 2011 when Baz was scouting for talent to sign to his then-indie record label. He offered Josh his first ever recording deal and break. Both of them worked together in that capacity for over two years, releasing an album that went on to have millions of streams and touring for another two years. Following the album cycle, they launched Vampr, becoming business partners and deciding to embark on that journey together.

Both Josh and Baz understood the pain of getting started in the music industry and wanted to address it with urgency.

Additionally, they have experienced the benefits a network of like-minded and influential individuals can bring to one’s artistic endeavours. It is their own personal experiences that inform the app, and their credibility in the space that gives them a genuine voice.

I would say there are two main and equally daunting problems faced by musicians today.

The first is the barrier to making connections. A majority of musicians out there do not know where to begin and do not know others with the experience needed to help them explore their passion.

The second issue is location. Even if a musician has said connections, a lot of the time, they live in areas where they cannot properly network or access those connections.

With Vampr, we are bridging these gaps by allowing our users to network with other musicians they would not otherwise be able to meet. We are making location and lack of connections irrelevant by immediately allowing musicians to contact those they need to right from their phone or tablet.

There will never be a technological solution to the creative process.

Even with those producing strictly in a DAW, we often find that we cannot get those drums sounding just right or are having trouble composing a bassline. Collaborating will always be beneficial in these situations because it adds another creative influence to the project.

Generally speaking, a collaborator may bring a whole different outlook or perspective to your project that you might not have conceived on your own. In addition, your collaborator might just have the connection you are lacking to get your music or project off the ground, and into the right hands.

Also let’s not forget, the days of being in a band are not over, and often, people are still looking for other drummers, singers, guitarists, and other instrumentalists.

I would also suggest that as the DIY musician transitions from the bedroom to the wider community (i.e., by playing shows and getting exposure on local radio), they will need support from roles such as publicist, graphic designer, manager, roadie, and so on. And that’s where Vampr can be your musical companion right through your career.

Vampr allows the user to search for the exact person they are looking for in the exact area they are looking in.

Let’s say you are visiting Orlando, Florida for a gig and need a bass player to perform with there. You can simply input that you are looking for a bass player in Orlando and you can start swiping through results immediately. If you are looking for a videographer for your next music video in Los Angeles, plug in those details and connect with one straight away. The possibilities are endless when searching in Vampr.

With technology constantly advancing, you no longer need to be in the same location in order to collaborate with others. These days, everything can be done over the computer. Vampr is a place where musicians can establish those connections and start the conversation of possibly working together.

Also, instead of having to go to networking functions and live events to find others (which can be costly and time consuming), it can all be done with a few clicks – or swipes – on your phone or device.

Vampr is significantly more efficient. Rather than scrolling through endless lists and wishing on a star that what you are looking for will have made or responded to a post, you can now narrow it down so you are only looking through options for what you need.

Our solution has been changing lives daily and we are confident we’ve honed in on the right approach to connecting this wildly fragmented ecosystem!

Yes, absolutely.

Our user base includes numerous Grammy Award-winning songwriters and producers, established A&Rs, and record label executives. With our list of established industry figures growing by the day, one’s chance of connecting with someone of this ilk increases.

In fact, our CEO and co-founder Josh Simons recently took a shot in the dark and hopped on Vampr in hopes of advancing his songwriting career, which he is pursuing on the side of developing the app. He ended up connecting with Grammy Award-winning producer Anthony Kilhoffer of the G.O.O.D. Music camp, and subsequently producing a record called “I’m Fine” by Cyhi The Prynce feat. Travis Scott – a record that was also executive produced by Kanye West! Vampr made all of this possible.

Our new website will highlight similar stories from our user base, and we can’t wait to share it with the world.

We have seen collaborations happen all over the world as a result of Vampr. From Philadelphia to Barcelona, we have seen people form bands, get placed on the radio and release songs on major platforms together as a result of Vampr.

Every week, we post about new Vampr collaborations on our Instagram account @vamprapp, and our new website will dig into this further.

The app is also tailored towards music lovers. If you are simply looking to find some refreshing new music to listen to, the app acts as a music discovery tool. There are tons of fresh new artists on Vampr that are waiting to be discovered and our algorithm will suggest new artists based on your existing musical taste. Record labels, managers, and publicists can use this function to find the most relevant upcoming artists. We will be expanding on this in 2018 however it’s incredibly exciting what you can derive in data when you have a user base as large and engaged as Vampr.

We have just surpassed one million connections!

Think about that for a moment. In many of these cases, lives have been changed forever and the seeds of future mini-economies may well have been planted.

That can sound hyperbolic but when you look at the worth of a single valuable connection… take John and Paul for example. Their union went on to create over $50 billion in revenue for industries well past music – film, gaming, etc. It’s profound. We are excited to continue to dig into ways we can help connect this ecosystem and create value for all participants involved.

When a single solid connection is formed, all members of the industry benefit.

Playing Together

Though networking events can be stressful and nerve-wracking, they can work wonders for your career if you play your cards right.

With Vampr, us musicians can enjoy the same benefits – though thankfully, without any of the dress shirts, bad wine, or awkward small talk – in one user-friendly app.

Start expanding your musical network by downloading Vampr on iOS or GooglePlay. With an interface that connects you with musicians with relevant skills and interests, you don’t have to spend time shooting in the dark – you’ll already know whether your musical sensibilities align with those of potential collaborators just by looking at their profile. Best of all, as Kevin illustrated above, you never know who you’ll end up working with – they may be just what you need to take your music project to the stratosphere.

Lastly, be sure to check out their blog – with such a rapidly-expanding music network and exciting things in the works, this is one company to watch. And you won’t want to miss a beat.

The post Making Musical Connections, with Vampr appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/4-things-we-learned-about-teaching-music-from-dylan-welsh/
Musical U Resident Pro Dylan Welsh reveals his his approach to teaching, the key to musical improvisation, and how to make traditionally dry topics such as music theory exciting and engaging. Here are 4 things we learned: https://www.musical-u.com/learn/4-things-we-learned-about-teaching-music-from-dylan-welsh/