With the start of the 2020-21 school year beginning with the vast majority of students starting the year learning online, the large number of SAMA students currently taking lessons online, and the SAMA Virtual Recital coming up, I thought would...
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A musician’s study is guaranteed to have high points and low points. While serious study is, by its nature, challenging, feeling discouraged or “burned out” from the effort is not uncommon. Taking months or even years away from one’s training is a...
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COVID-19 seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. It’s all over the news and is disrupting our favorite activities such as: hanging out with our friends, going to worship services, and even making music. One of the biggest parts of my life is...
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Our most important tool as a musician is our ear. I recently picked up a song book from one of my favorite bands. When I started to learn one of the songs, I noticed a lot of differences between the tab and standard notation. At this point the...
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Music has multiple benefits like discipline, creativity, neuromotor coordination, logical thinking development, etc. However, I would like to explore the benefits of music specific to this challenging time. Music can be a wonderful help in...
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In an ancient Eastern Country, a fearsome warrior was having a drink at a tavern with some fellow combatants. A peasant walked in and accidentally stepped on the warrior’s foot. This was considered a grave offense by the martial code so the...
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Piggybacking off of what was said last month, I do believe it is important to seek out other musicians to play with. Unfortunately, this can be a bit challenging as a guitarist or pianist. Many schools don’t offer many opportunities for these...
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When I began my musical journey at age 10, I was fortunate to be surrounded by friends who were doing the same thing I was. Being a musician can be an extremely isolating lifestyle with little reference to how you are actually growing. Some of...
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In life we often approach a new challenge with two mindsets: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. The fixed mindset believes that your qualities are carved in stone. For example: “I’m not a math person, so it doesn’t matter what I do, I...
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With fall already upon us, many students are already feeling the fatigue of a new school year. It’s definitely a difficult task to juggle music with homework, friends, and other extracurricular activities, so how can we make music an important yet...
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Learning a new piece of music can be a daunting and sometimes even a tedious task. After a while a routine develops, and we can approach each new piece the same. However, music is not a uniform expression of thoughts and emotions; each piece is...
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“Why can’t I just play my instrument?” is a question that you probably have asked yourself during a particularly frustrating lesson. It’s understandable that frequently learning your instrument can feel like it takes over you life. However...
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