Category: MTMS Blog Posts

Composition: New Year, New Lab Stations! We will be focusing on video games! Listen to some of your favorite video game soundtracks and try to make some of your own! If you have any questions please feel free to ask a lab attendant.

Music History: Let’s learn about video game music! It’s some of the most famous music of all time! Listen to some famous music and read about the history! If you have any questions, please ask a lab attendant!

For our young students: This month, there are brand new coloring pages for our young students! We also have a fun and colorful new game, Blob Opera, where students can drag blobs to make different notes! This teaches them about harmonies and how notes interact.

It’s 2022. It’s all right if you haven’t completely settled on your goals for the year. There are all kind of people and all kinds of resolutions – so feel free to get a bit creative with the process.

The new year is one of the most common times to create and attempt change through resolutions. Whether you’re setting intentions to be better or resolutions for the entire year or simply lining up goals for a month or two, it is good to write them down. Be proactive in your goal-tracking.

What? I track my goals. I set reminders. I use every tool at my disposal to help me remember the things that I am attempting to change, though in my case you’ll also see daily reminders to go drop off and pick up my kids from school. I’m also picking up my guitar again, and maybe my daughter’s violin.

If you need more reasons to have more music in your life, here they are:
It feels amazing to be able to play music.
Learning music increases concentration.
Stress relief and building confidence happen when you learn to play music.
Music brings people together, and it is a lot of fun.

So whether you’ve played an instrument for years and you’d like to pick up a new one, or if you’ve never tried it but you’re curious – let this be your year! MTMS can’t wait to help you reach new musical goals.

Surprised they have a place in music and speech?

I was reminded of a phrase in a song this morning, “Around the rugged rock, the ragged rascal ran,” as well as the Dr. Seuss book Fox in Sox.

When we recite those tongue twisters, we get a rhythm to it. Singers use these to learn articulators (tongue, teeth, lips, and jaw) so their words are crisp and clear. When my daughter was tiny, we read Fox in Sox a lot, and that book now has a rhythm when I read it, because I learned to read it better with that rhythmic speech – meaning many, many fewer mistakes.

Looking for a few tongue twisters to try out?

Five effective tongue twisters for singers (ewabeachmusicacademy.com)

tongue-twisters-poster-full.jpg (3509×2480) (busyteacher.org)

Tongue Twisters For Singers – Successful Singing

This December, the young students get to use another note-naming game that helps to learn the notes of the staff! We also have some brand new winter coloring pages that teach students music while getting into the holiday spirit!

Composition: It’s that time of year again. You are probably sick and tired of the same old holiday songs on the radio so why don’t you try making your own! The composition station has plenty of examples and ideas to get started. If you have any questions feel free to ask a Lab Attendant!

Music History: Matching our composition station, music history is also all about the holidays. Listen and read about some famous holiday songs and learn the background to the songs that are everywhere this time of year. If you have any questions, please ask a Lab Attendant!

Traditional Christmas carols started somewhere between 1350 and 1550. Before that the holiday music would have been used in traditional liturgy for the season. There’s belief that music started becoming part of the holiday in 4th century Rome.

The earliest ones are from bible verses like “What Child is This?” and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Over time, the holiday and the music with it have changed.

In the 1600s to 1800s, more songs we recognize become popular. “Joy to the World” and “12 Days of Christmas” and “O Christmas Tree” appeared.

There was a time of Puritan Prohibition in England. In 1645 Christmas was legally abolished and singing carols was a crime. In the 1660s the Stuarts brought back Christmas and the music.

Radio helped Christmas music gain traction, and soon we had popular music creating new styles of songs. Once we had to wait until after Thanksgiving, but there’s been a Christmas holiday creeo to bring music out as early as October 1st in places. The extended shopping season also makes for an extended music season.

With all of the music pouring into the holiday, it’s no wonder modern artists have put their own spin on the holiday. Here are a couple of the popular ones for you to enjoy.

12 New Days Of An Australian Christmas – YouTube

Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas Is You (Make My Wish Come True Edition) – YouTube

Bing Crosby – White Christmas (1942) Original Version – YouTube