Quick barre chord tips. Remember, it's about focused pressure on the strings that actually need to be depressed. -Matt
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This is a good one for those of you interested in neurologic music therapy or neurological rehabilitation. Music therapy is effective in treating many symptoms of stroke. Music therapists might address motor and gait issues, grief and other emotional issues, and communicative disabilities such as aphasia and apraxia. As you will hear in this news bit, music is processed in many areas of the brain, providing alternate neurological pathways through which one may process and express language. Enjoy! -Matt
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The Story Two posts in one day?! Must be Christmas! This is an excellent article about providing instrument lessons to students with disabilities. Others may have a different name for these lessons, or perhaps there is no difference in title at all, but many facilities/practices call them "adaptive lessons". Teaching styles, and often the instruments themselves, are adapted to meet the needs of the clients. Adaptive lessons differ from music therapy, although the skills learned in music therapy training programs are certainly valuable to adaptive lessons teachers. One of the…
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Emmanuel Jal was child soldier in Sudan, and he shares his story in this talk. He states that music was his therapy, and this clip includes a poem reading and a performance. As I was watching this, I thought about other refugees and former child soldiers, and how they may be great candidates for music therapy. I speculate that many suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder. Because of their age, I also speculate that music is very important to them, and might be an ideal path…
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Watch this video for tips on keeping your guitar playing well through the winter months. Humidify your guitar to prevent irreversible damage from cracking and drying out! And watch this video to learn how to make your own humidifier with inexpensive materials that you already have in your home! If you're not looking to make your own, check these three options out. Any of them will protect your instrument: Oasis OH1 Guitar Humidifier With OH-2 Digital Hygrometer Humicase Compact Electronic Hygro-Thermometer Planet Waves Guitar and Violin Humidifier
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The Story This is a great article for advocating for music therapy in the pediatric medical setting. It clearly demonstrates the non-musical benefits of therapy, and has an excellent quote from an MD: "Emotional and spiritual healing contributes to physical healing," said Dr. Karen Gauvain, pediatric oncologist at Cardinal Glennon. "Music therapy is creative way for our patients to express their thoughts and feelings and allow for healing of the whole person." Kudos to Tracie Heuring for representing the field so well and educating the public, and kudos to stltoday.com…
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This intriguing video begs the question, "how do you listen?" Evelyn Glennie suggests that listening has to do with much more than just one's ears. The entire body is involved in listening, and Glennie demonstrates this with her world-class percussion abilities. This video made me think hard about how I perceive music, and also about how others perceive music I create. Glennie focuses on the entire sound experience, rather than just the notes that appear on a written piece of music. Also discussed is the perception of sound by those…
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The Power of Music Another example of great professional advocacy in the news.
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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njaz9vJHEho This is my YouTube debut. I hope you find this lesson to be beneficial! -Matt
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This is a fairly short talk, but very interesting nonetheless. Julian Treasure observes how sound affects us physiologically, psychologically, cognitively, and behaviorally. This week, observe how environmental sounds influence these different areas. How might one respond if he or she has no control over these sounds? Walking away is not an option, and making a change in the environment is equally impossible. Some specific populations come to mind when I think about inadvertent, yet deleterious, environmental sounds. Neonatal Intensive Care is the first to come to my mind, likely due…
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