Minds On Music – The Kindermusik Blog
For three generations, Kindermusik has helped millions of children around the world build a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning.
The Blues – one of the first American musical genres – has been with us now for well over a century. It finds its roots in the music of Africa, what ethnomusicologist Gerhard Kubik calls the “cradle of the blues.” Early music made by African slaves used a great deal of call and response form; this is present in early iterations of the blues, Here is an example of call and response from Kenya.
For this mommy re-blog, Jamie Johnson, over at Scary Mommy Blog, shares with us the realities of raising a toddler and what to expect if you are an unexpected guest. The story sounds oh-so-familiar. We even have a black lab!
Continue reading “Mommy Re-Blog: Scary Mommy and Unexpected Visits”
Few people in the western world don’t know who Ed Sheeran is. The 26-year-old English musician is an international superstar, selling out venues everywhere he goes.
In this book review installment, we turn to the first book in the Kate the Great picture book series, written by Wayne Bartholomew and Jaime Garcia. If the rest of the books in the series are as interesting as this one, these are definitely some books to consider adding to your home library as more books in the series are released.
Continue reading “Book Review: Kate the Great and the Middle C Music Shop“
I live a life of music. I’m surrounded by it. In my role as Editor of Minds on Music, I regularly write and read articles about it. I conduct several choirs here in the Pittsburgh area, both at my University and in the city. I travel the country working with groups as a guest conductor with people from 12 to 90. I compose. I sing. Yes, I live a life of music, and I am constantly in awe of music’s power to impact my life and the lives of people around me. We mark the moments of our lives with music, from the simple to the most important.
Katesurf, an American expat living on Australia’s Gold Coast, has some thoughts about why kids tend to misbehave in front of mom but seem like winged angels with dad and others.
Continue reading “Mommy Re-Blog: Why Kids Misbehave Around Mom”
I’ve talked about the unlikely places that music has made an appearance – in concentration camps, in the fields of pre-Civil War plantations, and prisoner of war camps. We, as a species, always find a way to make music. Soldiers at the front during World War I were no different. In the mud and the muck of front line trenches, doughboys made music. They sang and played, and when they didn’t have actual instruments available to them, they made them out of whatever materials they could get their hands on.
For this beak review, we take a look at Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball, written by Vicki Churchill and illustrated by Charles Fugue, the book. This book is one of those golden oldies, the kind of well-worn, much-loved book that stays on the shelf or in the basket of books for a long, long time.
Continue reading “Book Review: Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball“
“Music training can alter both the structure of the brain’s white matter, which transfers signals through the brain, and gray matter, which has most of the brain’s neurons that are active in processing information.”
Continue reading “Science Center Stage: Music Changes the Brain”
A failing school in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England needed to do something. The staff was unsure what to do. Parents were not happy with the progress and success of their children. There were issues with funding. The surrounding area was one of the poorest in the area. What to do…what to do…