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Enjoy hearing some of our fabulous new music theatre students... Abigail, Jonathan, Amy and Anna. In the rock section Tim and James are making some amazing noises. Joanne Bowers joins the elite Grade 8 club, along with Ruth Harding and Christian Prior -Jazz Piano (distinction). Tim's first (charity) CD 'Roll with Me' has sold out! Mel's new CD 'Valley of the Ice Flowers' is released on I-tunes and selling in South Korea? more details on classycool music news page.
Check out our new video page from YouTube |
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The One-2-Five music theory tutor
The London College of Music have included the following article in the Spring 2008 issue of 'Forte' magazine on page 6. (pictures not included below)
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Details of the next concert will be posted here meanwhile (below) some clips from our old newsletter 'TIME IN' and articles of interest to pupils and parents If you are a member of JAM'S and would like to write an article for the online magazine please let us know. Non-members Email here Quick Links below Music Addicts | Key-Bored? | Theory Notes | Mozart Effect | Neumes | Links |
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A commonly held view is that if enough time is spent working away at a piece it will come right in the end. This will not necessarily happen. Because we are so keen to progress as quickly as possible then we tend to rush ahead and overlook many important technical problems. Our impatience often leads us to practise mistakes over and over assuming they will eventually go away. Even when we overcome these errors they often creep back into our performance when we least appreciate it - usually during a concert or exam when the pressure is on. If we follow certain principles we can build sound technique and therefore be more confident in our public performance. If you are learning the piano, always begin hands separately and overcome problems one at a time. Many problems are created by faulty fingering, don’t avoid using weaker fingers ( this is why they are weaker) Often, we can create an exercise to get over a problem and scales and arpeggios are vital practise (sorry but it’s true). Ask yourself whether the problem is the notes, fingering or the timing or any other element. A good teacher will devise a strategy to help you improve various areas of technique. Try to work on problem areas rather than enjoying playing the nice easy bits all the time and you will soon start to enjoy a real sense of achievement. Different elements should be focussed on individually. For instance try singing the melody lines and clapping the rhythm patterns. When I started learning the piano I had to practise on a table with the keys marked out. Eventually we had a ‘real’ piano, but the experience helped me appreciate the sensual feeling of the touch and movement of individual fingers and of course ‘hearing’ the music inside my head. Try practising your tricky phrase on a ‘non-active’ surface yourself occasionally. Also, listen to a tape-recording of yourself and you will certainly find yourself focussing on mistakes. Piano music is often quite complex and being more aware of the different layers and shapes can help us bring out the depth and beauty. Don’t think that the untrained ear of an average audience can’t tell the difference. This is often not true. Just listen to the applause for the one who gets it right! More on practise in next issue.
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Music Addicts Page 1 of Issue 1 (Time’in) July 2000 Unfortunately, good habit's are not easily cultivated. On the other hand, we can become rapidly addicted to all sorts of damaging and unhealthy substances like drugs, drink, gambling, computer games T.V., junk food etc. Fortunately, some good and healthy pursuits can be slightly addictive but without harmful side effects and sometimes leads to positive benefits. Being addicted to gardening, cooking, D.I.Y. has led some mildly talented people with pleasant personalities to TV. celebrity status, and in the case of Carol Vorderman millions of dosh for her initial talent of doing her sums well. So why not spend a little more time practising and become a MUSIC junky! Fame and fortune are however, not a guarantee, but inestimable hours of pleasure and a lifetime of fulfilment are. Special thanks to Bamaby for use of the word 'DOSH' |
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During the last year or so we have noticed a slight dip in practise and performance levels, and also alarmingly, exam results too are not as consistent as they once were. The main areas for concern are scales, technical studies and sight-reading and we will be spending more lesson time in future on these disciplines. We recognise that children have added pressure these days to achieve in as many subjects and sphere's of activity as possible and of course many share in after school sports training and attend youth clubs. We have recently issued forms for pupils to fill in to help us assess whether individuals feel they are making progress or slipping back a little and how we can help make lessons more interesting and enjoyable. If you find practising hard to fit in at present please have a word with us and we will try and make some helpful suggestions, or maybe help you to draw up an achievable schedule. We now have an award scheme which rewards special effort and most improved pupil's over a period and we presented many of the awards at the last concert to the delight of the recipients!
Younger pupil's especially, often make dramatic progress when a parent sits with them during practise or gives similar support.
=============================================================== Click here to try our theory quiz page♫THEORY NOTES♫ In 'Theory notes' in the last issue I covered LCM's plans for their new theory syllabus. The new 'handbooks' are now available from £5.50 and are much improved, covering modal scales and making harmony more accessible in earlier grades. I'm sure the new format will prove to be popular. Workbooks from grades 1-6 are currently available and 7/8 will hopefully arrive in a few weeks. If you are not currently working on theory at the moment and would like to start or restart please have a chat with us at the next lesson. By the way, if I haven't already mentioned it, theory students who enjoy working on computers can download a free notation software programme from http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad
A note from a reader I n the last edition of our newsletter we tried to highlight the importance and benefits of theory knowledge and this prompted the following letter.
In reply to 'Theory Notes' In the last edition of Time-in' I read about theory homework. I agree with Mel as I think theory is an important part of progressing with music as it helps you recap what you've learnt in previous grades and also improves your practical knowledge since it includes things such as, time and key signatures, scales, Italian music terms and more! Theory is an achievement some people overlook as they concentrate more on their practical abilities. However without theory grade 5 you can't complete grade 8 practical and with as little as 15mins a day spent on it, it's worth it! I say to anyone who is thinking about starting theory or are wondering whether to enter an exam -Go for it!! Rebecca Tarn Thank you Rebecca for writing to us (our First and only letter) As you have since passed your Theory grade 5 exam you have obviously put your brain where your pencil is .... (does that make sense?) ED |
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By Paul Kendall (technical correspondent Daily Mail)A SCIENTIST believes he has discovered why listening to Mozart can boost children's powers of intelligence.
He says it is all down to sound waves. And apparently Mozart is not the only composer to stimulate brain power. Listening to J.S. Bach. J.C. Bach and even a modern 'New Age' musician, the Greek-born Yanni, can have the same effect, according to John Jenkins, emeritus professor at the University of London.
He believes all their music shares the same characteristics -sound waves repeated regularly in a particular pattern but not close together. The patterns were thrown up by computer analysis of Mozart's sonata for two pianos in D major - called K448.
The claim that his music has hidden value was first made eight years ago by American psychologists. They said that listening to the composers work for just ten minutes increased children's IQ scores by eight or nine points.
Mozart was shown to boost spatial reasoning powers -associated with reading a map, understanding directions, hand and eye co-ordination and other 'visual' activities. After listening to his compositions for ten minutes, volunteers improved their ability to cut and fold paper.
Later it was discovered that rats negotiated a maze more quickly after hearing Mozart than rats that could hear nothing at all or were played other music.
In another study, children who were taught the piano for six months did better at the kind of spatial reasoning that makes good chess players and mathematicians than youngsters who spend time on computers.
The claims although dismissed by some experts, led to pregnant women buying Mozart CDs to play to their babies in the womb. Some parents forced their children to listen to hours of music in the hope that it would turn them into genius's.
Last year, even the Education Department urged teachers to encourage pupils to listen to the 18th. century Austrian composer. Officials said his music could help reduce social problems such as teenage pregnancies and drug abuse.
Staff at one Yorkshire comprehensive said they had found that classical music increased concentration and reduced chatter.
Now professor Jenkins, writhing in the latest edition of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, concludes that the phenomenon has merit and is worth investigating further.
'Benefits for epileptics’ He believes Mozart could also have benefits for epileptics. In an experiment, That patterns of the brain that produce seizures decreased after participants listened to Sonata K448.
Scans have shown that the brain uses a wide distribution of areas to listen to music. The left side tends to process rhythm and pitch and the right looks after timbre and melody. Some of the areas are also used by the brain for spatial reasoning.
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'northern echo' BURNING QUESTIONS BY DAVID SIMPSON Q When and how did the printed language of music develop and become universal? - RJ Job. ThirskA musical notation can be traced back to ancient Egypt around 300 BC, but the form we know today has its roots in ancient Greece. The earliest symbols of musical notation are called neumes and are thought to have developed from symbols in the Greek language which indicated pitch and inflection.Neumes, in music were used throughout Europe by the Sixth Century, but examples can only be traced to the Eighth Century. These neumes were formed by different shaped squiggles and were little more than guides for Gregorian chanters. Singers were expected to know chants by ear and neumes formed a generalised representation of highs and lows. In the 11th. Century, a grid of four (and later five), horizontal lines called the staff was developed by an Italian monk called Guido D' Arezzo. He also introduced symbols at the beginning of each stave which developed into what we know as clefs. At around the same tune, neumes were also redesigned to give a more precise indication of duration which enabled greater control over rhythm. By the 12th. Century. thick black dots developed into black, diamond shaped dots with stalks. These new, flag-like symbols were called ligatures and were an early form of musical note. In the 13th. Century, some developed names like minim, breve and semi-breve. By the 16th. Century. the diamond shaped ligatures were rounded like modern musical notes and musical notation was much the same as today.
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LONDON COLLEGE OF MUSIC (Exams)
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Scientist finds sound logic in Mozart effect on youngsters
