Summer’s gone and a lot of people are suffering from a condition known as “seasonal affective disorder” (SAD) – a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons. But if you are a New Yorker, there is no need to feel sad (or SAD) at the passing of summer. That’s because there are plenty of events going on around the city and adjoining areas this month that are sure to lift your spirits and improve your mood.

For music lovers, the choice of offerings is huge, from excellent Broadway musicals to classical concerts. This may also be a good occasion to remind you that a pre-eminent New York institution, the Carnegie Hall, is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year with an exciting new project. But that’s not all: there are also a number of pop, rock, jazz, and other performances taking place around the city. Let’s have a look at some of them.

Music, music everywhere!

From now until December 17, New York’s own Billy Joel will be performing with the help of his revolving piano at Madison Square Garden. And in case you didn’t know, to date, Billy has set a record for most performances at Madison Square Garden! And if you a fan of Stevie Wonder, hurry up and get tickets for his October 14th performance at Prudential Center in Newark. The Who will perform at the same venue on October 25th – a good reason to hightail it to Newark not once but twice! The above performances are just “teasers” intended to whet your appetite. There are so many more musical events taking place this month in our area!

Music as a cure

We hope you agree with us that as New Yorkers, we are really lucky to have so many opportunities to hear great music all year round. Another thing to be grateful for is the possibility to take music lessons right in your own home or office, whether in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale. We are not making this up: there is scientific evidence to prove that music is a real mood booster, regardless of what instrument you are playing – the guitar, violin, or anything else. So contact us and we’ll send you an upbeat teacher who’ll stop any SAD-ness in the tracks!

Photo by unknown, available under Creative Commons License

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“I would love to learn to play an instrument but I don’t have what it takes.”

We have heard this kind of statement plenty of times and we are always surprised by this defeatist attitude. While playing any instrument does require certain skills, it is – pun intended – within the grasp of most people!

True, most of us are not Mozarts (or Einsteins, for that matter), but that shouldn’t stop us from taking – and enjoying – music lessons.

How do you know you “don’t have what it takes” if you haven’t given it a fair chance?

Skills within your reach

Let’s start with the basics: mental skills that will help you learn to play (we’ll talk about physical skills in a minute). Basically, these skills are the same as the ones needed for any kind of learning, and not just music.

For instance:

Setting realistic goals: We underline “realistic” because that’s the key to success. If you decide to learn to play so you can become a virtuoso and perform in the most famous concert halls, well, it may happen. But more likely than not, you will not rise to the top ranks, at least not immediately. In order not to become frustrated and disappointed (and want to give up your lessons altogether), set realistic goals for yourself, such as becoming as skilled as you can in your particular instrument, or mastering a certain piece of music. Realistic goals are more reachable and, therefore, more satisfying in the end.

Patience and perseverance: Rome, as the saying goes, was not built in a day, and mastering an instrument takes time too. Also, progress will sometimes be quick and at other times slow – and that is totally normal when you are learning something new – so you have to be prepared for those peaks and valleys and not be tempted to quit each time you hit a bump in the road.

Good practice habits: If you don’t practice in between your lessons, you will not make much progress – need we even say that? Practice is important because it reinforces what you had learned with your teacher, gives you a chance to correct whatever passages / pieces / techniques pose a problem for you, and prepares you for your next lesson.

Yes, you can!

Johann Sebastian Bach famously noted that “it’s easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will pay itself.”

We must tell you that, as much as we adore Bach, your piano, guitar, trumpet, or double bass will NOT play itself! Besides the above-mentioned mental skills, you also need physical abilities to get a musical sound out of your instrument – such as dexterity, correct posture, and right breathing techniques.

The good news is that a good music teacher can help you develop all of the above techniques so that you not only sit (or stand) pretty with your instrument, but also avoid aches, soreness, and shortness of breath. Yes, it’s a process, but a process worth learning!

We can assure you that our music teachers are trained and experienced in helping students master all of the above skills – both mental and physical. During a lesson in your Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale home or office, the teacher will help you with whatever hurdles you thought prevented you from learning to play music. Now, isn’t this worth a try?

Photo by unknown, available under Creative Commons License

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Roses are red, violets are blue, I like poetry and you do too.

Okay, we know we won’t win any literary prizes for this little ditty, but this is just a way to let you know that the Academy of American Poets has designated April as National Poetry Month.

Not only does this event highlight “poetry’s vital place in our culture,” but it also encourages private and public readings as a way for people of all ages and walks of life to get to know this art form.

We love this initiative, especially considering the very close relationship between poetry and music. What could be more poetic than this?

Common ground

If you think that there is no correlation between the two art forms, we beg to disagree. They are tightly intertwined, like a close-knit family, and not only because both are creative and inspirational forms of expression.

One might be communicated through words and the other through sounds, but music and poetry both rely on the same elements: flow, rhythm, expression, and emotion. And speaking of emotion, there is actually a British study, which demonstrated that listening to music and reading poetry produce the same strong, shiver-in-the-spine sensations, thoughts, and imagery.

As the 17th century English historian Thomas Fuller said, “Poetry is music in words and music is poetry in sound.” We couldn’t have put it better – or more poetically – ourselves!

Songs inspired by poems

There are quite a few songs whose lyrics had been inspired by poems. For instance, “My love is like a red, red, rose,” and “Auld Lang Syne” are based on poems by the 18th century Scottish poet Robert Browning.

“Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by our own Emily Dickinson was also set to music , as were some of her other poems, such as “If You Were Coming In The Fall” and “Hope.”

Many of William Shakespeare’s poems provided lyrics for songs as well, among them “Under the Greenwood Tree,” and “Double Trouble” from the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban soundtrack.

There are many more examples: lyrics to “Hail to the Chief,” came from a poem, “The Lady of the Lake,” written by Sir Walter Scott. And the words to “America the Beautiful” are from a poem of the same title by Katharine Lee Bates.

We’ll stop here, but there are numerous other examples of poems that were set to music, proving that the two art forms seamlessly converge.

Artistic expression

Now, our music teachers are not poets in the traditional sense of the word, but their music lessons are poetry in motion.

We don’t mean to wax poetic, but when one of our music teachers shows up at your Manhattan, Brooklyn or Riverdale home or office, he or she will make sure your fingers perfectly strum the strings of the guitar or flutter gracefully over the piano’s keys.

Photo by unknown, available under Creative Commons License

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Are you ready to celebrate the 4th of July, joining Americans in our city and country in commemorating the Independence Day? So are we at Manhattan Music Lessons!

Because no matter where we came from and what our ethnic, cultural or religious background is, we are all united in commemorating July 4,1776, the day Americans declared their independence from the British.

Today, the 4th of July is a day of cheerful celebration, with picnics, parades, and fireworks displays taking places all over the country. But have you ever wondered how the very first Independence Day was celebrated?

Birth of the nation

According to historic accounts, Declaration of Independence’s full text was first published in The Philadelphia Evening Post on July 6, 1776 and publicly read in Philadelphia, Easton PA, and Trenton NJ two days later. As the announcement was made, cheerful shouts and firing of muskets greeted the proclamation. And as the news spread across the 13 original states (at that time called “colonies”), the newly independent Americans rang bells and lit bonfires, removing all signs of the British monarchy.

The following year, on July 4, 1777, ships in the Philadelphia harbor were decorated in red, white and blue, and cannons shot 13-gun salutes in honor of each state.

What about the fireworks? They didn’t become part of the celebrations until 1816, when America’s technological advances made the colorful displays possible.

Oh say can you see?

Marching bands or other musical groups perform so many patriotic songs during the July 4th celebrations, but way back in 1776, there were actually very few such melodies.

Two notable exceptions are “The Liberty Song,” released during the American Revolutionary War in 1768, and “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” first sung sometime between 1754 and 1763. Interestingly enough, “Yankee” was originally composed by British soldiers to make fun of the disheveled colonial Yankees with whom they served during the Seven Year War between the British and French North America – today’s USA and Quebec in Canada. Most people who sing “Yankee Doodle Dandy” today have no clue that this popular song was actually intended to mock our soldiers!

The songs we think of as patriotic today, such as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” “America the Beautiful,” “Stars and Stripes Forever,” and the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner” were actually composed in the 1800s. Other popular tunes, like “God Bless and America” and “This Land is Your Land,” were written in the 20th century.

On 4th of July, life’s a picnic!

NYC has plenty of Independence Day activities planned, including parades, fireworks, and concerts.

And what about the songs for your picnics and backyard barbeques, something newer (but no less patriotic) than the standard 4th of July fare listed above?

May we suggest these “gotta-love-them” tunes:

• “America” by Neil Diamond

• “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen

• “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” by John Mellencamp

• “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by Toby Keith

• “Surfin’ USA” by the Beach Boys

Red-white-and blue music

Would you like to learn to play or sing these and other patriotic tunes (or any kind of music for that matter?)

You can, with Manhattan music lessons. Please contact us so we can match you (or your family member) with an excellent music teacher who will come to your home or office. You’ll have a great experience – even without the fireworks!

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Photo Credit: Vinoth Chandar

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