Let’s talk about plants. (Yes, you heard it right – we did say PLANTS!) Tomorrow is the first day of spring, so it is a good time to turn our thoughts to the vegetation that will soon be budding around us.

For most of us living in NYC, our indoor ficuses, philodendrons, African violets, and other potted plants are often the only greenery we have.

We know that plants need water and, in some cases, sunshine to thrive. You may have also heard that talking to your plants in a soft and soothing voice helps them grow. This is based more on anecdotal rather than scientific evidence, but who are we to dispute it? By the same token, there seems to be a body of information suggesting that plants respond positively to certain kinds of music. See, there IS a good reason for us to talk about plants!

“Leafing” through music

Some time ago, a researcher named Dorothy Retallack conducted an experiment at the Colorado Women’s College in which she subjected different groups of plants to various types of music, sounds, and artists. She included classical composers (Claude Debussy), jazz performers (Louis Armstrong), and Indian music (Ravi Shankar).

All the plants exposed to these sounds grew large, strong, and healthy, and many of them actually leaned towards the radio in the same way they’d bend towards sunlight.

However, when Retallack put on heavy metal and hard / acid rock music, the plants didn’t like those sounds at all – they drooped, withered, and generally reacted negatively to loud, harsh, and dissonant sounds.

A skeptic may argue that a plant has no central nervous system so it is not capable of hearing. However, a few years ago South Korean scientists reported that plants do have genes that enable them to “hear” and grow faster when music is played.

Make of this what you will, but we choose to believe that plants – like all living things – respond to beautiful music.

Finding strength in music

This brings us to a pertinent question – what music is best for your household plants?

According to the above-mentioned South Korean researchers, the soothing sounds of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata made their “study subjects” grow faster.

And, as suggested by Retallack, Debussy’s music has a positive effect as well, so we are thinking that you can’t go wrong with his “Clair de Lune” .

As for another plant favorite, Shankar, the relaxing sounds of his sitar might also help your indoor garden bloom where it is planted!

As a matter of fact, any instruments that emit soft and soothing sounds – violin, piano, guitar, flute, and many others – will be growth boosters.

A “growing” experience

We are not telling you that our music teachers are botany experts – they are not. (In fact, some of them may not even have a green thumb!)

But we will say this: if you are looking for an excellent teacher to give you or your child music lessons in the privacy of your Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale home or office, we have a…. whole crop of them!

They will not help your plants get taller, but, with their exceptional patience, dedication and kindness, they will help you grow your musical ability!

Photo by unknown, available under Creative Commons License

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What’s in a name? A lot, actually. Whether it’s old-fashioned and traditional or unusual and funky, each one reflects who you are – or, in the very least, your parents’ taste at the time of your birth.

Often, newborns are named after a member of the family but at other times, names are figments of their parents’ imagination and creativity – maybe derived from places they had lived in, like Brooklyn, or cities they visited, such as Rio or Paris (we don’t know of anyone named Cincinnati, do you?)

Of course, you can end up with a name that lands you in trouble , or, even worse, with no name at all!

Speaking of unusual names, we like – which should come as no surprise to anyone – the ones that derive from music. Let’s look at some of them.

Not just Tom, Dick and Harry

One of the more popular music-related names for baby girl is Melody. It needs no explanation – it sounds soft and…melodious.

Then there is Allegra, which, in musical terms means a brisk movement. So it is easy to imagine that a girl named Allegra would be active and happy. And you may be interested to know that this name has become more popular in the United States in the past few years.

Another one we really like is Aria. It’s easy to imagine that any female lucky enough to have this name has a beautiful singing voice. And even if she doesn’t, it still sounds light and sweet.

Then there is Octavia. In music, an octave is the interval between one pitch and another, so we are guessing that an Octavia would have a strong voice. What about Viola? It comes from Latin and means “violet.” We really like this one too.

Let’s go to boys’ names. There is Rock, Piper, and Reed, all of which impart strength of character (at least in our interpretation). And, believe it or not, Banjo is also a real name – actress Rachel Griffiths gave it her son.

Do you want to see more music-related names? You might be surprised to see how many there are.

We are a household name

Musical-themed names are great fun, but even if you were given the most ordinary name, you can still have an extraordinary ear for music. After all, who knew from day one that a boy named Wolfgang Amadeus would become a musical genius, as had Johann Sebastian, Ludwig, and scores of others.

What we are saying is this: your name defines your identity, not your affinity for music. After all, our school is called Hey Joe Guitar, and not Hey Rock or Hey Banjo.

The same goes for our teachers: some of them have quirky names and others don’t. But you can be certain of this: the one who shows up at your Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale doorstep deserves to have his or her name in lights!

Photo by unknown, available under a Creative Commons License.

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Thanksgiving – a time for good food and great company. It is also an opportune moment to ask this question: if you could invite any classical composer to your Thanksgiving dinner, who would that be?

You may have favorite composers, but would you want to sit at the table with someone – no matter how famous and gifted – who is not a good conversationalist or, for that matter, ill-mannered?

Miles Hoffman, music commentator at National Public Radio (NPR) weighed in on this topic and came up with a list of composers who, in his opinion, would be terrific dinner guests.

Have a look and see whether you agree:

A VIP Thanksgiving

Are you a fan of Beethoven’s music? As talented as he was, the great composer would likely not make a good guest. As Hoffman noted, Beethoven had “a little too much tendency to be rude and crabby.”

What about Mozart? “He would be fun,” Hoffman says. But he points out that the composer’s “off color” sense of humor might not be to everyone’s liking. So there is no clear opinion on the, um, Mozart effect at the dinner table.

Does this mean you’d have to miss out on having these two geniuses over for Thanksgiving? Not at all! “I’d invite them for lunch instead,” Hoffman says. “Turkey sandwiches on the weekend after.”

What about musical greats who would be the life of the party?

The first on Hoffman’s list is Johann Sebastian Bach – “he drank a lot of beer, so I think that probably he was pretty jolly.”

Then there is Felix Mendelssohn, who Hoffman would place next to Bach “because he was almost single-handedly responsible for the revival of interest in Bach’s music.” But that’s not all. Mendelssohn “was generally brilliant, extremely well-read, and incredibly nice guy. Plus, he spoke English.”

Next would be Hector Berlioz – “a fascinating man in every way, clever, witty, and filled with passion and personality.”

The American contingent would include Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, and Ernest Bloch – the founding director of the Cleveland Institute of Music and first director of San Francisco Conservatory.

Gobble up!

We are thinking that any person – including a composer – who loves food is bound to be a decent party guest. Even if he is not socially adept, jovial, or a masterful conversationalist, in the very least he will be a good eater. According to the website of BBC Music Magazine, these are some of “foodie” composers:

Gioachino Rossini, whose love of food, the magazine claims, “was evidenced not just by his ever-expanding waistline, but also the number of dishes named after him, including Tournedos Rossini and Eggs Rossini.”

Richard Wagner. His wife, Cosima, reportedly said that the composer was “a vegetarian in principle but in practice, neither his health nor the orders of his physician allowed him to be.”

Frederic Chopin was a fan of “zrazy,” a Polish dish made of thin slices of chopped beef and stuffed with vegetables and eggs. Not exactly your typical Thanksgiving meal, but anyone who can eat “zrazy” will probably not be averse to the turkey either!

After dinner, stretch your fingers!

While you are thinking about which composers you’d like to have at YOUR Thanksgiving celebration, consider inviting someone else into your home – one of our teachers.

We are not talking about Thanksgiving dinner per se, but about all-season, year-round music lessons in your Manhattan, Brooklyn or Riverdale home or office.

Whatever instrument you’d like to play – small ones like the flute, violin or guitar, or larger ones such as the piano, cello, or base – please contact us to get started.

Thanksgiving comes but once a year, but the joy of music is timeless!

Photo by unknown, available under a Creative Commons License.

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“Musical form is close to mathematics – not perhaps to mathematics itself, but certainly to something like mathematical thinking and relationship.”
~Igor Stravinsky

You probably know that learning to play an instrument is not exactly rocket science. We think of music as an artistic, rather than scientific, endeavor, one that “plays on” our senses.

Math, on the other hand, does not involve emotions; it is all about logic, as well as analytical and abstract reasoning. So the two fields are totally incompatible, right?

Actually, that’s not a correct assumption. In fact, the two fields are connected to each other in fundamental ways. That’s because music depends on numerical relationships, arithmetic, geometry, and symmetry.

Does this mean that if you are a gifted musician you are also good at calculus, algebra, and arithmetic (and vice-versa?) No. You could be a mathematical genius and not be into music at all, but if you play an instrument, you are also a mathematician of sorts, even though you probably don’t think of yourself as one.

Setting numbers to music

The connection between music and math is not a new discovery. Ancient Greeks were aware of it, and classical composers used mathematical structures in their music.

What’s the “common ground” between the two fields? Both are based on patterns, structures, and numbers. For instance, a musician will “measure” notes (determine the number of beats) and fit them into the sequence where they belong; a mathematician will do the same calculation when figuring out equations. In other words, behind the sound of the notes you hear are both simple and complex mathematical concepts.

Here’s a good example of how music and math overlap: musical rhythms are also mathematical equations, such as 4/4 or 2/4 time. When you play, sing, or write music, you are also crunching numbers – you are wondering, “how many more beats do I need?”

Any part of music you can think of – harmony, chords, scales pitch, and tone – has a mathematical component in it.

The sound of numbers

As mentioned above, classical composers were no strangers to math – for instance, they used fractions to divide a musical whole note into parts (halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths).

You may already have affinity for math and not even know it: research has shown that people are more attracted to music that has clear mathematical structure. One notable example is Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Bach’s works like Canonic Variations also show the composer’s fascination with numbers.

What about modern music? You may not be a fan of hip-hop lyrics, but the music’s stylized rhythms have a clear mathematical pattern. As a matter of fact, some school teachers use (appropriately worded) rap songs to help their students learn algebra.

“Count” on us!

We won’t tell you that all our teachers are math geniuses – they are not. But they certainly can put two and two together and know everything that pertains to an instrument of your choice. So in the end it all…adds up.

Please contact us to set up a music lesson in your Manhattan, Brooklyn or Riverdale home or office. It really is as simple as 1,2,3!

Photo by unknown, available under a Creative Commons License.

The post When it Comes to Music, NYC Guitar School Does the Math appeared first on Hey Joe Guitar.

“All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten.”

Yes, you can argue that this famous quote and book title by minister and author Robert Fulghum is flawed. After all, advanced calculus or quantum physics are not your typical topics five year olds routinely master.

However, for the purpose of this blog, let’s not be such purists. The general idea here is that young children are naturally curious, creative, and motivated to learn new things – a great time to expose them to music.

While there is no guarantee that this early start will turn them into prodigies or even lifetime music aficionados (though we can certainly hope this will happen), the immediate effects of music training are well documented: sharper learning skills, improved motor coordination, and better emotional stability.

Those are compelling reasons to strike while the iron is hot (in the manner of speaking, of course) – certainly before your sweet child turns into a burly and defiant teenager, for whom “music” means harsh-sounding, ear-shattering sounds of heavy metal, not the soft and mellow tunes.

True, all you, as a parent, can do is guide and encourage them while they still listen (and maybe even look up) to you.

From the mouths (and fingers) of babes

So many of the most prominent musicians and composers started to “dabble” in music at a very young age and had become masters of their art.

The best known, perhaps, is the ultimate “child prodigy,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who famously started learning the keyboard instrument called the clavier at the age of three, and by five he was composing minuets.

Ludwig van Beethoven too was an early starter: he played the piano at the age of five, gave his first public performance at seven, and composed his first piece of music at 11. In both Mozart’s and Beethoven’s cases, parental guidance was crucial: Wolfgang’s father, Leopold, and Ludwig’s dad, Johann, were driving forces behind their sons’ musical training. We don’t know whether these two youngsters had to cajoled into playing, but the result was truly amazing!

There were others, too. Frederic Chopin began to play the piano at five. Violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin started music lessons at four, playing his first concert at seven. The list is truly endless.

Better late than never

What if you didn’t start your music training in childhood? Is it ever too late to begin? We can’t say this empathically enough: when it comes to music (or learning in general), there is no such thing as “missing the boat.” Music training is one boat you can easily catch midstream.

Just ask Andrea Bocelli . The world-renowned Italian tenor started his opera career at 34, even though some “experts” warned him that it was too late to begin.

We are here to tell you otherwise – that there is no such thing as the “wrong” time to start playing an instrument or taking voice lessons, and don’t let any so-called “experts” or other naysayers dissuade you.

Fact is, adults of any age can derive many benefits from music, just as children do. As Greek philosopher Plato put it, “Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.”

Who can argue with that?

Not for kids only

Now, we can’t promise you that your child will become another Mozart (or Einstein, for that matter), but with our Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Riverdale in-home music lessons, he or she will be able to learn to play an instrument in the comfort of your own home.

As we stated above, playing music is a wonderful activity for people of all ages – whether you are a late bloomer, a baby boomer, or just a “regular” adult. Remember: the oldest violins make the sweetest music.

We bet you didn’t learn THAT in kindergarten!

Photo by Angel of light

The post Manhattan Guitar Lessons are Always Age-Appropriate appeared first on Hey Joe Guitar.

September is here

And so is fall.
So welcome children,
 welcome all.

I hope vacation 
was real fun

And that you’re glad 
school has begun.

-Anonymous

This little ditty is a dead giveaway about this blog’s topic: it’s back to school time in New York City! We are always a bit sad to say good-bye to the lazy, hazy days of summer but, with any luck, we still have plenty of warm and sunny days ahead.

What about the children? Chances are not all of them are eager to start school (and who can blame them?) Maybe your youngsters have mixed feelings – happy about reconnecting with their old friends(and making new ones) but not so happy about homework and climbing up that tricky rope in gym class.

Of course, as adults who have been there, done that, we know that school and all the extracurricular activities can be fun. We’ll tell you about in a little while. But first, let’s listen to some back-to school songs – many of them may even remind you of your own school days way back when.

Classroom classics

“School Days” – Chuck Berry

“We’re Going to be Friends” – The White Stripes

“Rock & Roll High School” – The Ramones

“To Sir With Love” – Lulu

“Be True to Your School” – The Beach Boys

Let the music play!

As mentioned above, beginning of the academic year is synonymous with all the great after-school activities your child can get involved in. If you think we are going to bring up music lessons just about now, you are right!

There are many compelling reasons why music education is a great and wholesome activity for your son or daughter, many of which we already covered.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, here, in a nutshell, are some of the many benefits children will draw from music lessons: better academic, intellectual, social, and emotional development; improved concentration, language and reasoning skills, as well as boosted creativity.

Once your child shows interest in starting music lessons, there are two things to consider: what instrument will he / she will play and who is best qualified to teach your son or daughter.

We have answers to both these questions.

At your service!

The choice of an instrument depends on factors such as age and size – the child should be able to handle the instrument with ease and feel comfortable holding and playing it. In case of a young child, good options include the recorder, flute, violin, or child-size guitar. Larger and heavier instruments like double bass or tuba may have to wait until your child is able to handle them!

Whatever instrument you pick out, chances are we teach it:
guitar, piano, drums, trumpet, trombone, brass, reeds, saxophone, clarinet flute, violin, viola, cello, strings, accordion, ukulele, banjo, recorder, and mandolin. And, we also give voice lessons.

As for finding awesome teachers for your youngster – no worries! Our Hey Joe Guitar instructors (all of whom are graduates of top music schools and conservatories) are highly experienced in teaching people of all ages, including children. Before we send them out to your Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale home or office, we screen them very carefully to ensure they will patiently teach your kids proper techniques, adapted to their age and level.

So welcome to the brand new school year!

Photo by misst.shs

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Does your child take to music like the proverbial duck to water, or does he / she find an excuse not to take lessons and practice in between – excuses like “the dog ate my flute,” or “a big bird flew in through my window at night and stole my guitar?”

Well, kids will be kids and very often they don’t know what’s good for them. But parents do, and that is why you’ll be interested in these new findings.

A multitude of benefits

This is not the first (and probably not the last) time we are sharing with you scientific discoveries about the benefits of music. A while ago we wrote about studies demonstrating how music training can boost your children’s academic and social skills, and help them develop emotional strength to deal with whatever curveballs life may throw at them.

We also noted how playing an instrument makes you (and the kids) physically fitter.

You’d think these are sufficient arguments in favor of music education and nothing further needs to be said. But wait – there is more good news.

Long-lasting benefits

Recent research published in scientific journal PLOS One shows that children who had regular private music lessons for at least two years showed boosted activity in the areas of the brain associated with executive functions that enable people to process and retain information, solve problems, and regulate behavior.

Not only that, but the study also indicated that the increased brain function lasts throughout the rest of their lives, which means that effects of early music training endure beyond childhood. And it doesn’t matter which instrument is involved – they are all good!

To us, these findings are not surprising – we have been giving private music lessons in New York City for a long time and have seen the impact this training has had on lives of people of all ages.

Of course, not all music lessons are created equal, and not all instructors have the experience or technical ability to be a positive influence on their students.

Benefit from us!

We don’t mean to toot our own trumpet (or maybe we do!) but we believe that our Hey Joe Guitar music teachers are the best in NYC. And don’t take just our word for it – we have (no pun intended) scores of happy customers who (another pun!)