February Webinar – Walking the Music Parenting Tightrope
This month meet Amy Nathan, author of The Music Parents’ Survival Guide, A Parent-to-Parent...
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Category: Beginning Music Parents
Brochure — Guide to Safe Listening Earphones
Noise is everywhere. How much is too much? This guide will help parents choose safe-listening earphones for children. The first step in preventing hearing damage is understanding the risks of various types of earphones, including stock earbuds that come with portable players. Presented by Etymotic Research, Inc.
Read MoreArticle — Dedham School of Music–An age-by-age guide to-music-education
The benefits of playing a musical instrument are proven. This guide gives you ideas to engage your child in music from birth through children already playing an instrument. Gabrielle Sanna, 2011
Read MoreArticle — Insights Gained Into Arts and Smarts
Findings released after three years of studies by neuroscientists and psychologists at seven universities help amplify scientists’ understanding of how training in the arts might contribute to improving the general thinking skills of children and adults. Debra Viadero, 2008
Read MoreArticle — How Arts Training Improves Attention and Cognition
If there were a surefire way to improve your brain would you try it? Recent research offers a possibility with much better, science-based support: that focused training in the arts strengthens the brain’s attention system, which in turn can improve cognition more generally. Michael I. Posner, Ph.D., and Brenda Patoine, 2009
Read MoreArticle — “Mom, how do I play a G#?” A Parent’s Guide for the Young Musician’s Practice Experience
Many parents want to help their child learn to play an instrument, but have never had any musical training themselves and do not know where to begin. Marc Whitlock, band director for Discovery Middle School and formerly a band director with the award winning Plymouth Canton Educational Park, MI and Marian Catholic H.S., gives parents detailed guidelines for home practice to help their child succeed.
Read MoreConcert Etiquette
A concert is a formal event, even if held in the school’s gymnasium. A lot of preparation is involved by the teachers and students to make it enjoyable for the audience and performers. Please see the documents below to help make each concert a memorable and rewarding experience for your child. There is even a fun quiz, provided by MENC, to pass out at your next concert to help educate others.
Read MoreThe NAMM Foundation: Best Communities for Music Education
The NAMM Foundation acknowledges schools and districts across the U.S. for their commitment to and support for music education as part of the core curriculum in schools. Congratulations to those communities who have Achieved this prestigious designation.
Read MoreWhat is a Metronome?
Want to make your practice more effective? Practice with a metronome. A metronome is a device that can be set to make a ticking sound at different rates of speed used to set the tempo for playing a musical piece. For example, if you set the metronome to 60, you will hear 60 ticks(beats) every minute. If you set the metronome to 120, you will hear 120 ticks(beats) in every minute. So a setting of 120 is twice as fast as a setting of 60. The higher the number the faster the tempo.
Read MorePractice Information Links
Online links that can help you and your child achieve!
Read MoreGuidelines for Effective Practicing
To learn a musical instrument you must learn to master many physical skills. Your brain is reading notes on a page, while your fingers are contemplating which keys to press, all while your lungs are taking a big breath to blow through your instrument to create a sound. A music student’s job is to exercise those skills, remember what you’ve learned, and have fun in the process!
Read MoreFeatured Article — “I Made It” Lesson Plan
This lesson plan accompanies a new, innovative education tool for primary school students designed to teach respect and admiration for creators, inventors and their works. The animated short video is a part of the project and can be seen here. Published with the permission of the Music Publishers Association.
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