“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
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Meritocracy: how to fix the problems
Tag: early childhood development
Should All Music Students Learn to Read Music? As a music teacher, I’m often asked about reading music. Some parents want to know,”Will my child learn to read music?” These are usually parents who have had musical training and see the benefits of being able to read music from the last 1000 years of music […]
Music lessons for special needs children? If you ask the average music teacher about special needs children as students, you may get a blank stare. There isn’t much literature focused on this. Children with special needs may include those with learning disabilities, developmental issues, as well as those on the Autism spectrum. At Park Slope Music Lessons, […]
There has been a lot of attention towards the affects of music instruction on brain development. But I think this is the first time I’ve seen actual scans of the brains of young children. Studies have already shown that learning music can be beneficial to children with brain development disorders like autism. Researchers from the […]
Our preschool piano lessons are virtually unmatched. Most teachers will not accept a student until 7 or 8 years old. Why is that? There is a gap in most music curriculums that do not cover the pre-literate preschool aged child. The curriculum we use with our young preschool students is what makes us stand out. […]
I’m looking forward to our upcoming Spring Music Recital on June 7 at 2pm. It will be in our usual location, the auditorium of the Park Slope branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. We have a great program of diverse music from folk classics to Suzuki standards to pop songs from Katy Perry, Imagine […]
This past Sunday, there was a NY Times Article on the importance of music education in everyone’s life. I feel like it was written specifically for music teachers! The author interviewed some of the top performers in numerous and diverse industries and has found a surprising number had deep musical training from Condoleeza Rice to […]
By Andrew Ingkavet With all of my students, I stress the importance of memorizing their pieces, especially for performance at a recital. Here’s some of the reasons why. Repetition is the Mother of Skill How many times did Tiger Woods hit a golf ball before ever entering a competition? Apparently he was already golfing at […]
I’ve started making videos of songs I’m teaching my students as so many of them are visual learners and have the technology to view this at home. This video is not meant to be a step by step instruction but a reinforcement/memory aid for after the lesson when practicing at home.
It seems every year there’s a new study that confirms the positive benefits of music lessons in early childhood. This one has some great findings: From the NY Times Well Blog: By PERRI KLASS, M.D. When children learn to play a musical instrument, they strengthen a range of auditory skills. Recent studies suggest that these benefits extend […]
Talent is not inherited. The first month in a nightingale’s life determines its fate…I had always thought that a nightingale’s incomparable song was instinctive or inherited. But it is not so. Nightingales to be used as pets are taken as fledglings from nest of wild birds in the spring. As soon as they lose their fear and accept food, a “master bird” is borrowed that daily sings its lovely song, and the infant bird listens for a period of a about a month. In this way the little wild bird is trained by the master bird…It is not a matter of being born a good singer or a bad singer…the life force has a wonderful power to adapt to environment.
As a teacher of music, this is a common question I hear. Every child is unique and while there is no one right answer, I can offer a few guidelines. ABCs One of the first “games” I play with my younger students is to have them order the letters of the alphabet. This is a […]
My goal with my beginning music students is to Ignite the passion, fun and excitement of music within Introduce the names of the notes Connect those notes to their location on their instrument Connect those notes to standard written notation Through achievements, build their sense of self confidence and self worth. Have fun To go […]