Director Stanny Shiu and Teachers played four mini-concerts Monday for Old Town Academy students: to introduce them to the violin, viola, and cello. Two of their current students joined them for the demonstration and over 50 OTA children in grades K-8 expressed interest in joining the MASD classes to “Learn with the best!”
By JOANNE LIPMAN
CONDOLEEZZA RICE trained to be a concert pianist. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, was a professional clarinet and saxophone player. The hedge fund billionaire Bruce Kovner is a pianist who took classes at Juilliard.
Multiple studies link music study to academic achievement. But what is it about serious music training that seems to correlate with outsize success in other fields?
The connection isn’t a coincidence. I know because I asked. I put the question to top-flight professionals in industries from tech to finance to media, all of whom had serious (if often little-known) past lives as musicians. Almost all made a connection between their music training and their professional achievements.
The phenomenon extends beyond the math-music association. Strikingly, many high achievers told me music opened up the pathways to creative thinking. And their experiences suggest that music training sharpens other qualities: Collaboration. The ability to listen. A way of thinking that weaves together disparate ideas. The power to focus on the present and the future simultaneously
Mr. Nettles’s 6th Grade “Orchestra Experience” Class Plays (5th, 7th, & 8th also performed)
*Video: 6th Grade “Orchestra Experience” Class Concert:
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At OTA all students learn piano in the piano lab and then move on to violin, but Orchestra gives students a choice to move on to other instruments. Some day we will add these instruments. In the meantime, think about…. What Instrument do you want to play?
*** Violin ***
More great music has been written for the violin than any other school instrument. Whether you want to harmonize with the orchestra or solo stage center, violin will take you where you want to go
*** Viola ***
The beautiful tone of the viola has attracted students for hundreds of years. It is slightly bigger than the violin but with a richer, deeper sound. Viola is a great choice.
*** Cello ***
The Cello makes the room shake and your bones vibrate! The great cellist Yo Yo Ma, performs for audiences all over the world and plays on soundtracks for movies (including the Last Samurai and Shrek). He started playing cello at age 4.
*** Bass ***
Bass rocks! Did you low that the bass is the most versatile instrument? You can play the bass in the orchestra, a jazz band, and a rock band. Also string bass is the heart of the orchestra and you can’t live without your heart!
We had our third lunchtime concert last Thursday — and the first with student performers, Asia Major and Isabel Stout, from the fifth grade. The girls chose their playlist, taught themselves new songs, practiced, and found an accompanist (Mr Misha Borisovsky). The results speak for themselves, enjoy!
“They learn how to be really good at something,” Mr. Headley said. “We believe that then translates into everything else.”
In an era of dwindling attention to the arts in public schools, Voice is now in its seventh year. Mr. Headley founded the school after learning that music and movement might improve language acquisition, he said, a concept he came across while he was studying at a principal training program called New Leaders. Voice started with kindergarten and has added one new grade each year; it expects to reach its full complement of kindergarten through eighth grade in the fall.
Today, the school has just shy of 600 students spread between two buildings in Long Island City; one of them used to be a Catholic school. Bells from St. Rita’s Roman Catholic Church, right next door, chime throughout the day. Seventy percent of the students qualified for free lunch last year, according to city data. Like other New York charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, it admits students through a lottery. No one auditions.
Academically, students at Voice did significantly better than the city average on New York State math exams last year, with 70 percent of its students passing, compared with 39 percent citywide. Their English performance was less impressive, but with 39 percent passing, it still beat the citywide average of 30 percent.
Four Criteria for Deciding if and which shoulder rest you should use.
via ▶ Stance & Violin Position: Should I Use a Shoulder Rest? – YouTube.
Plan your “Virtuous Moments” (3 minutes timed focus) every day.
If you play for fun
If you want to be a professional
These are minimums – The actual time depends on you. This is NET (NO EXCUSES TOLERATED) practice time…. Getting a drink, answering the phone, etc. does not count.
More on how to do Virtuous Practice: Continue reading
via ▶ Sassmannshaus on Practice, How and Why – YouTube.
*Sample Virtuous Moments- Violin- Basics Home Practice Tracker
Sassmannshaus Virtuous Moments Violin Basics_BLANK Practice Sheet
How to Learn a new Song on the Violin: Layer by Layer (step by step):
ALWAYS one LAYER at a TIME
High up on the neck, you must use your arm to create vibrato
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