Music and the Brain

Chopin's Etudes, Visualized

These Hands...

My favorite: Rachmaninoff. Most creative: egg beaters. The fonts are a nice touch.

The Room (Inside An Instrument)

Fantasy world. This reminds me of I Spy books, with their enchanting rooms of shadows and beams of light.

Macro Shots Taken Inside Instruments

Syrian Pianist: Songs of Defiance

A Syrian pianist, husband, father... a refugee from the ISIS holocaust. As with all episodes of horror, this time is not without its music.

These men are leaving their families behind on the brink of "the deepest circle of hell." They may be lost at sea. They must find a safer escape route for their families. And winter is coming, when the sea will be more cruel.

You can help Syrian refugees through many relief charities. Here is one, led by Billy Graham's son:
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/?s=syria

I happened to glance at Facebook's trending headlines, and as God would have it, this caught my eye. How inspiring and how sobering. I'm glad the world is seeing the crisis in the Middle East, and if it takes being a musician to move people to action, I say the more, the better.


First of all, I'm praying. Second, I want to learn this man's music, start a band, and spread his message.

 For now, I'm sharing his story.

Ornette Coleman Passes

Jazz legend Ornette Coleman, the visionary saxophonist who pioneered “free jazz” and won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007, has died. Read more 

So you hate counting?

What if you had to memorize this instead?

Exiles Know Freedom

Posted by a friend, Alan Eason:

I love this emotional rendition of "The Stars and Stripes Forever," conducted by then-National-Symphony conductor Mstislav Rostropovich on his return to his homeland of Russia in 1990. He had been stripped of his citizenship under the Soviets for sheltering and defending Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who also took refuge in the United States. Rostropovich loved his homeland of Russia, and his return concert, held in the Bolshoi Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, drew half of the intelligentsia of Moscow and was televised on Russian TV nationwide. After a mournful rendition of (his mentor as a youth) Shostakovich's #5 symphony, which depicted Stalinism and its terrors, he brought the audience to its feet with "The Stars and Stripes Forever" as a finale.

Heard an Interview with George Gershwin

Go check out this article and hear "a rare, brief interview that George Gershwin had done on Rudy Vallee’s hyper-popular radio show in 1933."

Wow.

Just a little networking post: Follow my blog with Bloglovin 

Musical Boomwhackers

Bach sounds amazing even with boomwhackers. Fascinating to watch, especially if you're a musician thinking how they thought this out.

"You really have to commit to an instrument to master it."

“Schools have really shifted their focus to testing, and music has really become more of an extracurricular activity. It’s almost treated like a sport. My class used to last almost an hour. Now it’s down to thirty minutes. By the time the kids get seated and settled, we’re almost out of time. It’s a shame, because music helps to teach focus and discipline. You really have to commit to an instrument to master it. There seems to be more of a ‘popcorn mentality’ among students today. As soon as something gets difficult, they’re onto something else...

Posted by Humans of New York on Thursday, April 23, 2015

- Humans of New York 

https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/photos/a.102107073196735.4429.102099916530784/957028817704552/?type=1&fref=nf

Thought$

And now it makes sense...

Should You Be Practicing Right Now?

Composition Helpers

I enjoyed the tips from this site: http://learn2writesongs.hubpages.com/hub/Learn-How-To-Write-Songs

Here are the charts they posted.  Also see their instruction video on how to use the progression chart: 

Read Mozart (Not Just His Notes)

A biography to be reckoned with by a historian who rivals the best. I have enjoyed Johnson's work before, so this book will be on my reading list!

Quick review by Doug Wilson, one of my favorite cultural commentators:

"This was a quick and enjoyable read. Mozart was a phenomenal genius, and this short book -- short just like Mozart's life -- gives a marvelous sense of that genius. For those who don't know much about Mozart's life, and don't know whether or not he was a founding member of the Dave Clark Five, this is the book for you. If you know enough about Mozart to think that joke wasn't funny, this is also a book for you."