We all know that music education offers a lot benefits. That’s a fact. Another fact is that when it comes to music training, regularity is very important: weekly lessons and practice – even in small increments – will ensure steady improvement. That’s because for a musician, progress is all about familiarity and repetition.

And yet, when it comes to NOT practicing, kids come up with most convoluted excuses. We compiled, for your enjoyment, a partial list, though it obviously doesn’t cover all the clever fibs that are hatched in children’s minds.

Seriously?

One of the most brilliant people in history, Albert Einstein, once said, “Every child is born a genius.” He probably didn’t intend it to mean that very often kids use their ingenuity to say the darndest things. These are real excuses that music teachers have had from their young students. Be ready to be amused! “I couldn’t practice because: We moved to new a house and I couldn’t find the piano. My dog gets sick whenever I play the clarinet. Some aliens from outer space abducted my guitar. My mom put the washing machine on top of the piano. I was kidnapped by terrorists and they only just let me go, so I didn’t have time to play the cello. My house is being fumigated and I don’t want to go in there and suffocate just to get my violin. I put the flute in the safe, but lost the combination. I got soap in my eyes and was blinded for the rest of the day. I dropped my flute in the toilet accidentally and it got flushed. I had radon poisoning. A big bird flew in the window, stole my violin, and flew away. My dad told me I didn’t have to practice because I’d never be another Mozart. My little sister used my sheet music to line the canary’s cage. As we said, this list is just a drop in the bucket of sneaky excuses. But really, you have to love the kids for their creativity!

No excuses – please!

Okay, let’s get serious for a moment: despite the often-used saying, practice won’t make your children perfect. But it will more than likely make them better musicians, even if they do not end up in Carnegie Hall! We recommend between 30 and 60 minutes of practice each week, which can be broken into short daily sessions. Even the busiest of kids or parents can spare 10 minutes a day to play their instrument! And our lessons are tailored to your and the children’s schedule. We make it easy and convenient because we come right to your Manhattan, Brooklyn or Riverdale home or office, so your child doesn’t have to waste valuable time commuting to meet the teacher. Our teachers make no silly excuses – and neither should your kids!

The post Manhattan Music School to Students: “Make No Excuses!” appeared first on Hey Joe Guitar.

Recently we came across a fascinating article, which shows how truly smart whales are.

As the article states, they have learned to target the boats of black cod fishermen and swipe their catch off their lines. The whales are alerted to the fact that fishing is taking place from several miles away by the sound of boat engines shifting gear. There is actually footage showing how one sneaky creature’s long jaw creates tension on the line, which, in turn, snaps fish off the hooks.

What sparked our interest in this article is not just the sheer spunkiness and undeniable intelligence of these mammals, but also the fact that they, along with many other aquatic creatures, know how to sing!

A rousing chorus

Okay, let us clarify: we don’t mean “sing” in human terms. But the fact is that deep under the ocean’s surface, there is an aquatic orchestra of different sounds.

The underwater environment is very noisy: heavy rain, volcanic activity, toadfish calls, burbles, grunts, croaks, buzzes, clicks,
and other sounds emanating from the sea can be so loud as to be audible to a human ear. According to a New York Times article, the sea reverberates with “fish barks, chatter, groans, drones, and cries.”

Do these disparate sounds fall under the category of “music?” Certainly not the kind we are used to hearing on dry land. But one definition we found describes music as “a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.”

Perhaps we humans are not able to relate to this cacophony of noises, but who is to say that these sounds are not beautiful, harmonious, or emotional to the creatures that emit them?

The seas are alive with the sound of music

Let’s start with the aforementioned whale songs. Interestingly, a song helps a humpback male explore the seas around him and adjust to the new neighborhood: when he moves to a new place, he literally changes his tune to fit in with other nearby whales.

Then there are mating calls – songs to attract female whales. Either way, we find these haunting sounds really beautiful.

Now, let’s talk about dolphins. These friendly creatures can also belt out a tune .
They do this with their mouths open, and songs express their mood – happiness, sadness or anger (though it’s difficult to imagine a dolphin angry, they always seem to be cheerful and good natured).

What about the manatees? These creatures also communicate their feelings through squeaks, chirps, or grunts: however you want to call these sounds , it’s music to their ears!

Neither fish nor fowl

Needless to say, when our voice teachers come to your Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale home or office, they won’t teach you to squeak, chirp, grunt, or groan. While they are nature lovers and appreciate a good whale or dolphin song, you can rest assured that they will train you in HUMAN voice only.

The same goes for learning to play any instrument – the teachers will put all their “people” skills into the lessons!

Photo by unknown, available under Creative Commons License

The post A Different Kind of Tune: Manhattan Guitar School “Dives” Into Underwater Sounds appeared first on Hey Joe Guitar.

Music is good for human beings –it makes us calmer, smarter, more emotionally balanced, and happier. We are not exactly reinventing the wheel here because the beneficial effects of music are well known.

But wait – let’s take this one step farther. Did you also know that non-humans enjoy playing music as well? This news comes from an unlikely (at least in this context) institution – Smithsonian’s National ZOO in Washington D.C, which has its animals playing various musical instruments.

Now, this may sound like monkey business, but the zoo’s management explained in a statement that musical activities “allow animals to demonstrate their species-typical behavior, to allow them to exercise control or choice over their environment, and to enhance their well-being.” The zoo concedes that while animals wouldn’t necessarily encounter a keyboard or the harmonica in the wild, “the activity engages their sight, touch and hearing senses.”

What this means is that ALL creatures large and small, and not just humans, draw benefit from music.

The zoo is alive with the sound of music

In all fairness, the zoo doesn’t claim that its animals are virtuoso musicians. As these videos demonstrate, at very best they could be categorized as beginners, but they should certainly get applauded for being curious and enthusiastic – the very same qualities that human musicians should have.

Having said that, otters could very well be an exception. The zoo gave them a keyboard and reports that the mammals have mastered the music of “Chopsticks” (also known as – even more appropriately – “The Flea Waltz”) and advanced “to something bolder, more expressive and individualistic”.

Here are more “awww” moments: an orangutan playing the xylophone and a bear blowing into the harmonica . We are not quite sure what melody the bear cub is playing but we’d like to think it is, fittingly enough,  “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

Not a dog and pony show

At Hey Joe Guitar, we are animal lovers. However, we will not give music lessons to your pets – whether you own a dog, cat, zebra, or an orangutan. Our teachers are well trained and highly qualified, but their experience is limited to humans (we are not saying animals can’t be taught to play, but we are not the ones to teach them!)  Just like a leopard can’t change his spots, we can’t make a horse play the guitar either!

But if you, your child, or another (two-legged) family member would like to learn an instrument, we’ll come to your Manhattan, Brooklyn or Riverdale (Bronx) home or office to give you lessons. We won’t even mind if your animal sits in on the lesson – talk about the proverbial elephant in the room!

Photo by Christina Quinn

The post A NYC Music School That’s Not For the Birds appeared first on Hey Joe Guitar.