MTMS is closed on Monday for the holiday. Have a great day and let the music today be about play. Private lessons scheduled today are available to make up.
Category: MTMS Blog Posts
Summer Preschool Classes
One of the fun things I remember about summer with preschoolers was taking them to music classes. Did you know we have them here at MTMS? Sadly my kids think they’ve aged out of that, so if you have a three to five year old with an interest in music – consider this a summer adventure idea.
Our classes are in Gahanna on Saturday 10-10:50am and Polaris on Wednesdays 3-3:50pm. During class, expect to sing, use rhythm sticks, piano, and occasionally drums. There will be quiet time to explore music through listening, coloring, and craft activities, and dancing for that time when energy is strongest. There will also be a chance to play boomwhackers, recorders, guitars, violins, or bells. We enjoy preschoolers finding what music makes them happy.
Counterpoint
In the Music Lab this month: We’re learning Counterpoint in the Composition Station!
Melody is a single line of notes that can be played by itself or with another
line of notes. Harmony is a single line of notes that is played with another line of notes. Counterpoint is the relationship between two or more melody lines that are played at the same time, creating harmony.
In learning about counterpoints, our students are finding both melodies and harmonies. A choir ensemble can have up to 12 harmonies, and an orchestra may have as many as 36! Some instruments can play only one line (clarinet, flute, trumpet), while others can play many at the same time (piano).
Summer Music Lessons
Are you looking for an enriching activity for your kids this summer? Try music lessons. Summer is a great time for learning and practicing a new instrument or tackling a new technique or style on a current instrument. Invest in your child’s future as well as the present – music education provides many benefits that help in school and in life.
Choose music lessons for your child’s summer because there’s more time to practice and integrate it into your schedule. Learn discipline and dedication through an intellectually, physically, and artistically demanding pursuit of playing an instrument. Practice and acquire the skills for performance, which helps boost confidence. Music lessons help develop communication of feelings and emotions as well as musical concepts. Kids also increase their creativity and their left-brain functions of language and reasoning.
We can’t wait to be part of your summer! We are ready to do lessons in person and/or online. Share this great opportunity with your friends, too. See you soon!
Flute: The First Instrument
There is some debate about the beginning of music. The oldest instrument is recognized to be a flute, and while we may never know how old the very oldest of the flutes may be, carbon dating has taken a couple examples with at least 35,000 years ago from ivory, and about 60,000 years ago for a Neanderthal version.
Many of the earliest flutes could have non-durable materials. Animal skins, bone, wood, and other materials that degrade over time have also been used to create instruments like flutes.
While we may never know when exactly the first flute was created, this is the beginning of our musical journey. Over the last several thousand years, we’ve created so many different instruments out of a wide range of materials. Knowing where we began, where do you think we’re going to go from here?
Check out these pictures of old flutes:
https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/behavior/art-music/musical-instruments/ancient-flute