Two days from now, on November 11, we will celebrate Veterans Day, which honors US veterans past and present. We salute them and thank them for their service. Like cities and towns across America, New York will hold its own parade – the largest celebration of veterans in the country. Every year since 1919, when the 369th Infantry – just back from fighting in WWI – proudly marched up Fifth Avenue, thousands of veterans and other participants re-trace the same route.

This year’s parade will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the 25th anniversary of Desert Shield. We think one of the best ways to remember the sacrifices of our veterans is to look back at the music that accompanied them into the battlefield. From the bugles, pipes, and drums of the Civil War to the protest songs of the Vietnam era, the music has been an important part of American history.

Songs of glory

At 239 years, America is a relatively young nation. The first armed conflict it engaged in was the one that actually served to lay the cornerstone of our country – the American Revolutionary War, which lasted from 1775 to 1783. Of course, there are no original recordings of any pieces of music from that era (or until WWI, for that matter), but we do know that one of the most popular songs at that time was “Ballad of the Green Mountain Boys.” During the Civil War (1861 – 1865), the only other battle that was fought on American soil, “The Liberty Song,” originally written in 1768 by Founding Father John Dickinson, was popular, as was “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” And then there was the famous Confederate tune “I Wish I Was In Dixie Land.” By the end of the 19th century, there was another conflict involving the United States – Spanish American War. Even though short-lived (from April to August 1898), it produced patriotic music by John Philip Sousa, such as “Hands Across the Sea.” In the next century, WWI spawned a number of songs, several of which were written by George M. Cohan, including “Over There.” During WWII, Big Band music got the civilian population dancing, but the soldiers fighting overseas were not forgotten. “Remember Pearl Harbor” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” were big hits. Unfortunately, WWII was not the last conflict of the 20th century. The Korean War of the 1950s sparked songs like Jimmie Osborne’s “Victory in Korea” and Wilif Carter’s “Good-bye Maria, I'm Off to Korea.” “Ballad of the Green Berets” was released at the height of Vietnam War in 1966, followed, three decades later, by “God Bless the USA” during the years of the first Gulf War.

Patriotic spirit right in your home

The above-mentioned songs are just a few of many written and performed during various wars. We can only hope that these tunes had provided moral support and some pleasure to our soldiers. You too can learn to play or sing any of these songs. Just get in touch and one of our teachers will march right into your Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale home or office to give you lessons.

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Did you know that today, November 5, is the National Stress Awareness Day? You’ll probably tell us that you are too…stressed out to remember to put such events on your agenda, but that’s precisely a good reason why you should! After all, stress is like a nagging back pain – we all suffer from it from time to time (some of us more often that others), but we don’t really do much about it. However, there are some proven ways to ease both your backache and the stress.

Today, however, we’d like to focus on stress reduction only (since we are not licensed back healers), and talk about how music can relieve many of the symptoms of anxiety.

Down to a science

There’s lots of evidence to suggest that, aside from many other health benefits, music is a very effective stress management tool. For instance, in one study carried out at Monash University in Australia, college students made a presentation before a group with either Pachaelbel’s Canon or no music in the background. Those who were accompanied by music felt less anxiety, and also had lower heart rate and blood pressure than students who presented without music. This finding is not really a surprise to us because we’ve always known that listening to music relaxes our minds and bodies, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones. Singing, by the way, is also a great way to release tension.

“Soul” music

You may be a heavy metal aficionado, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you have a lot of stress in your life, soothing music will be more effective in taming your inner chaos. In one study conducted by a British university, researchers were looking at which types of music relieved anxiety the most. They determined – not surprisingly – that the most calming sounds were harmonious. “The most common labels for the relaxing tracks were, ‘peaceful,’ ‘serenity,’ ‘sadness’ and ‘joy,’” the researchers noted. So what should you listen to when you are stressed? Actually, there’s a wide variety of tunes, ranging from the above-mentioned Canon in D Major, to Louis Armstrong’s wonderfully uplifting “It’s A Wonderful World.” There are also sounds that will thoroughly relax you from inside out. And these tunes are supposedly scientifically proven to calm you down. You can’t argue with science!

Cool, calm, and collected

So now you know what kind of music will soothe your soul, but there is even more good news from the world of science. Researchers found that playing a musical instrument can switch off the so-called “stress response,” which, in turn, promotes inner peace and emotional balance. And this is where our teachers can help. They will give you or a family member music lessons right in the comfort of your Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale home or office, eliminating the stress of commuting to and from. And that’s definitely something to be happy about!

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It happens every year: come September, school is back in session! We do hope you took our advice and kept up your music lessons during the summer, so that your skills have not gotten rusty. But if you (or your child) are just starting your music training – welcome! We are happy to have you on board and will do our best to make your musical journey as fun and exciting as possible.

But before we start, there are some things you should know: our excellent teachers  love excellent students! What we mean is this: if you (or your child) are disinterested, indifferent, or unmotivated, then you will probably not enjoy your music lessons (of course, there is always a chance that, given time, music will grow on you). Ask yourself: do you or your child have what it takes to be a good student? Obviously, we hope the answer is a resounding “YES!” You may think that in order to master an instrument or sing beautifully you have to be musically gifted. Talent is nice, of course, but that is not the most important requirement. So what makes a good music student? Let’s have a look.

Our wish list

We realize that there are no “perfect” students. That’s fine. But we love pupils who are as close to “ideal” as humanely possible (again, we are not talking about talent here. It’s more about the attitude!)

• First and foremost, we like students who are enthusiastic – about music in general and their instrument of choice in particular. It doesn’t matter whether they choose the guitar, piano, voice training, or even the tiny harmonica . What counts is that they play that instrument with passion.
• As we said, we like the students who play their instruments – not hooky! This means you have to stick to a regular lesson and practice  schedule. Don’t cancel and miss your sessions unless you really must. If that’s the case, reschedule as soon as possible to keep the momentum going.
• Stay focused during lessons! We know – it is sometimes difficult to concentrate on just one task when your brain is going in all directions. But if you are not going to be mentally present and attentive, then what’s the point of having a lesson?

To sum up, we’d love our students to be enthusiastic, disciplined, and focused. Hey, it’s not too much to ask for, is it?

We solemnly swear…

Now that you know what we are looking for in a student, you may be wondering what to expect of our teachers. When a teacher of ours comes to your Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale home or office, he or she will:

• Help you develop your skills and improve the mastery of your instrument.
• Teach you the right playing technique  by making sure you handle the instrument correctly, have a good posture, etc.
• Ensure that you make steady progress.
• Inspire and motivate you to stay on course!

If you keep to your checklist and we keep to ours, we will make such beautiful music together!

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You may not have realized it (unless you are a history buff), but 2014 marked the centenary of the beginning of the Great War, aka World War I (1914 – 1918).

Why are we talking about this historical event in a music blog? That’s because we just came across a very interesting article published by the National Public Radio (NPR) that talks, very compellingly, about the music created during that time, and how it reflects the moods of musicians caught up in this devastating conflict.

As the article notes, “The extraordinary level of destruction inspired them in myriad ways. Some composers captured the war’s violence while others seemed to counteract it by writing music that soothed.”

We’d like to share with you some of the music composed during and after this terrible war (which, unfortunately, wasn’t the last one).

Music from the trenches

Ravel’s “Le tombeau de Couperin” During the war, the French composer drove a truck near the front at Verdun. The six-movement “Le tombeau de Couperin” is dedicated to Ravel’s six friends killed in the war.

Welsh lyricist and composer Ivor Novello wrote a heart-tugging song, “Keep the Homes Fires Burning (Till the Boys Come Home”) in 1915. Irish tenor John McCormack recorded the song in 1917.

Perhaps the best known WWI song on this side of the Big Pond was composed by New Yorker George M. Cohan, whose statue graces the Times Square. “Over There” “Over There” was written two days after President Wilson declared war on Germany; according to the NPR article, it was “a morale booster, an incentive for men to enlist and the first in a string of patriotic hits that later earned Cohan a Congressional Gold Medal.”

These and other songs, though from another era, beautifully express the emotions and perspectives of those who participated in the war or observed it first-hand.

And even many decades after the war ended, composers continued to commemorate this event, which forever re-shaped the landscape of Europe. One such example is the 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, Silent Night by Kevin Puts.

We come to you in peace!

Obviously, our Hey Joe Guitar teachers are much too young to remember the wars our country had fought in, but they can certainly relate to heart-felt music, whether written during the war(s) or in peacetime.

What is most important to you is that our Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale teachers can relay their love of music to each student, so that your child will have the best instruction possible – no matter what instrument he or she plays.

Photo by The Happy Rower

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Have you ever heard of a New York resident named Bill Wasik? Those in the know will recognize him as a senior editor of Wired Magazine and former senior editor at Harper’s Magazine.

By now you might be wondering what a journalist has to do with the topic we cover in these blogs, which is music. Actually, Wasik does have an indirect role in bringing music to people all over the world: he is the creator of a 21st century phenomenon known as a flash mob, which he started in 2003 as a social experiment of sorts. Even though the first one he organized that year at Macy’s on Herald Square was a flop, since then the trend has grown, gained popularity, and gone
viral.

In a nutshell, a flash mob is a sudden gathering of a group of people in a public place to perform some act of artistic expression, to the surprise of unsuspecting onlookers and passersby. The flash mobs we love most are the ones that feature music. We would like to share with you some of our favorite ones and hope you will find them as uplifting as we do!

Causing a scene (but it’s all good!)

What is so cool about this phenomenon is that it started in NYC (as so many cool things do) and, in the past 10 years, has spread around the world like wildfire. Just look at these examples:

Spain: We really love this rendition of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from his Ninth Symphony, which is one of the most famous works in the history of classical music:

Canada: You don’t expect to hear Handel’s “Messiah” at a mall food court, do you? It just shows you that you should always keep an open mind:

Mexico: An even more unlikely venue for a rousing chorus is a public library, where total silence is de rigueur. This, however, is one instance where a librarian didn’t hush the crowd:

Great Britain: What a joyful scene at the arrivals terminal at London’s Heathrow airport. Wouldn’t you like to be welcomed like this?

Belgium: We really like this spunky dance-and-song flash mob at a train station:

New York: Of course, we can’t bring you flash mobs from around the world and neglect to mention ones from our own fair city. This particular one at a Queens grocery store is off-the-wall, which is why we like it so much:

The power of music

What is so special about these flash mobs? We think the answer is pretty obvious. Just watch how the spectators react to these performances: the delight, pleasure, and sheer enjoyment are written all over their faces. This response shows that music has a positive impact on people’s moods and emotions – wherever in the world they live.

At Hey Joe Guitar music school, we consider ourselves lucky to share our love of music with our students. We can’t promise that our teachers will perform a flash mob or create a new social phenomenon at your Manhattan, Brooklyn or Riverdale (Bronx) home or office (in fact, we are certain they won’t), but they will give you …phenomenal music lessons nevertheless!

Photo: Ray Tyler Images

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