MARCH 2010 NEWSLETTER
JOYFUL SOUNDS CONTACT INFO:
PHONE OR TEXTING: 910-3992
E-MAIL: joyfulsounds@eoni.com
WEBSITE: Joyfulsounds88.com
DRUM TEACHER: TIM HOKE - contact the studio for more information
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MUSIC LEARNING COMMUNITY
"Students who study music . . . score higher on the verbal and math portions of SAT than students with no course work or experience in the arts."
"The very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley are, nearly without exception, practicing musicians."
"Two research projects have found that music training--specifically piano instruction--can dramatically enhance children's spatial-temporal reasoning skills, the skills crucial for greater success in subjects like math and science."
-quote from musiclearningcommunity.com
Many students have been having fun playing music theory games and starting in March, one student per month will be receiving a $2 gift certificate to Baskin Robbins. This will be the student who is the most active on the website. There will be a different winner each month, so if the most active has already won, it will go to the next most active for the month.
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PERFECT OR NEARLY PERFECT
This contest starts March 1st and runs through April 30th.You will need to play your song with no
mistakes—maybe 1 or 2 mistakes if the song is over 1 page long.
The song can be anything you are currently working on—NOT songs that you have played before.
There will be 4-5 age groups and a prize for the winner in each age group.
The prize will be a $10 gift certificate. Let the studio know if you haven’t signed up yet.
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BOOKS AND MATERIALS FEE
Starting in March you will notice a “books and materials fee” of $1 added to each student’s invoice. This will cover a number of things:
Each student will be able to purchase one piece of sheet music per year (value $2.50-3.95).
The “missing assignment book” fee of .30 per time will be eliminated.
Copying of music and theory pages.
4. Allows all students to use the games website 24/7.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%WORLD VISION FUNDRAISER
Thank you to all students who helped to raise money for the Haiti fundraiser through World Vision.
We were able to raise $28 which has been sent in to help in the relief efforts.
We will continue to collect money and piano dollars to help in this effort and when $25 or 50 piano dollars have been raised, we will send in more money.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""SPRING RECITAL
It is once again time to think about the next recital.
This is not confirmed yet, but the dates will most likely be
May 18th and 19th—a Tuesday and Wednesday evening, both recitals being at the Grande Ronde Retirement Center. Next month you will have a chance to sign up for your preferred date.
Students, be thinking about 2-3 songs to play for the recital.
Also, I would like a student to volunteer to design a cover for the program. It would be 5 1/2 X 8 1/2.
Let me know if you want to do this and it would need to be turned in by May 1st.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""MARCH 30TH GOALS
Last September students filled out a goal sheet for what they want to accomplish this year.
Check your goal sheet and let me know—you will be in the next
newsletter.
Remember that there is a special prize for everyone who completes all their
goals this year.
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES
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DRUM AND GUITAR LESSONS NOW OFFERED
The studio is proud to present Tim Hoke as a drum and guitar
(including bass) instructor. Tim has been playing the drums for
about 14 years and the guitar for at least 7 years. He has played for
several bands locally. Tim enjoys music of various
genres and brings his love of music to the studio.
Lessons will be offered Monday-Friday evenings and
10 a.m. –12 p.m. on Saturday mornings.
Please call or e-mail the studio for more information
or to get in touch with the teacher. You may contact Tim at 541-805-5167
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PERFORMANCE AWARD
Get rewarded for playing at the recitalsor any event with more than 5 people.
Play (perform) for 200 people. You do not have
to do this all at one time. We will keep track
of how many people you perform for at each event.
When the total reaches 200 people, you receive the award.
Have a parent or any adult fill out a piece of paper
with your name, the date of the event, the name of the
event and how many people were there, then bring this
to the studio. This will be entered in your assignment
book on the events page.
The award is 5 piano dollars and a medal.
DONATIONS GLADLY ACCEPTED
The studio store is in need of some new items.
Please bring in new or used items such as small
or medium toys, candy, stationary, books, knick
knacks, etc. Call the studio if you have questions.
Students receive a piano dollar for their donation.
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DIFFICULT O-METER
I recently read an article about a “gadget”
called a DOM (short for Difficult –O-Meter).
This “gadget” tells you how difficult something
is and assigns that activity on a scale of 1-10.
I would sure like to get my hands on one of these
—that way I could know before I try something if
it would be too difficult for me. There’s just one problem
—IT HASN’T BEEN INVENTED YET. But—if there
WAS such a thing, we could ask it to rate a musical
activity, for example, playing a song and learning
the RH notes. The DOM would probably give it a
“not too difficult” rating. But if we asked it to play
BOTH hands right away, add the pedal plus dynamics
and phrasing, the DOM rating would go off the chart.
So if the DOM realizes this is too difficult—to do all
these things at once—why do WE try to do them all
at the same time?
I have had students who do this. They start learning
a new song and begin doing multiple activities at once,
especially hands together and without even looking at
the music and analyzing it before hand...without looking
at the beginning hand position or key signature. The
problem—it sounds bad and is very difficult to play,
and also very frustrating for the person playing the song.
So the solution—if we ask the DOM—would be to take
things 1 at a time. The difficulty rating would be much
less. Musicians can argue that it takes too much time
—but what is better? A little extra time or a piece of
music that is not enjoyable to listen to or to play.
So the next time we have a new piece to play, let’s take
it one step at a time.
Remember that anything that is worthwhile is worth
doing well.
Here are steps to consider:
Analyze - look at the music—what is the time
signature, key, etc. Find similar measures, or lines.
Rhythm—listen to a recording or just tap out the rhythm
Hands Separate—Play 1 hand at a time,
focusing on notes and fingering
Hands Together
Dynamics
Phrasing
Pedal
DAFFYNITIONS—taken from Clavier Magazine
Adagio: (a slow rate of speed)
Daffynition: "In the Baroque Era this meant "ad agio" or "at ease". Current definition is "molt mortuary, quase funeralis" (or in English, "deathly serious"
Baby Grand piano: An oxymoron
Fermata: ( term meaning to hold a note longer than its value)
Daffy-nition - "Health or tourist inquiry. ("What's fermata with you? You fermata town?)
Molto: (much)
Daffy-nition - "Extreme milkshake"
Rests: ( a measure of silence)
Daffy-nition - "Ignored by students. Only known cure: Hold music over student's head and say, "You're under a rest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you play will be used against you."
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“learning to play the piano has enriched the lives of our household"