Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at Music Gym – last lessons for 2014 are on Saturday 20th December 2014 and New Term starts on Monday 5th January 2015
best watford guitar teacher
Christmas Presents for Guitarists
Christmas Presents for Guitarists
Here are some ideas for Christmas Presents for Guitarists
Picks
We have some fantastic Music Gym picks for sale
Strings
For acoustic guitars we like the
www.gak.co.uk/en/daddario-ej16-phosphor-bronze-light-12-53/1422
D’Addario EJ16 Phosphor Bronze (Light 12-53)
www.gak.co.uk/en/ernie-ball-regular-slinky-10-46/2019?gclid=CNnHqsf-jcICFSXKtAodaSwANA
For Electric Guitar we like Ernie Ball Regular Slinky
Capo
This is a great capo – Kyser 6 String Capo Black
www.dawsons.co.uk/kyser-6-strings-capo-black?gclid=CKiZpo2DjsICFYIfwwodOxAAZg
We also have Gift Vouchers to use for Lessons
Pupils Concert 21st of September
Welcome to the new term. Just a note about the concert. It will be on Sunday the
We have two concerts
3pm start will be All the Keyboard Classes,
5:30pm start will be All the Guitar Classes
Jo will be in contact about Vocal performances.
The concert will take place in the main hall of the Orbital centre.
If you would like your child to perform please reply as soon as you read this to confirm and you will need to buy one ticket (you can buy more) to reserve their place in the performance so we can programme/organise the concert. (This is because in the past people have asked to perform then not turned up to perform on the day)
Ticket prices are just £5 each and are on a first come first served basis due to limited capacity and this goes towards covering the hire of the hall, the sound engineer and hire of equipment. Tickets are non refundable.
If you are sending in money for tickets with your child please place in an envelope and write a note of how many tickets you are paying for and the name of your child. Please give this to Alan or Jo. A receipt will be given if tickets are not ready.
We appreciate your swift response.
Best Regards
Music Gym
Musical training ‘can improve language and reading’
News
Having regular music lessons improves the brain’s ability to read and respond to sounds, the study suggests
Learning to sing or play a musical instrument can help disadvantaged children improve their reading skills, US research suggests.
After a year of music lessons, the reading scores of nine and 10-year-olds held steady compared to a dip seen in those who were not taught any music.
Another group of musically-trained children were found to be better at processing sounds and language.
The research is being presented to the American Psychological Association.
“Start Quote
We are finding that musical training can alter the nervous system to create a better learner… ”
Dr Nina Kraus Northwestern University
The research was led by Dr Nina Kraus at Northwestern University and involved hundreds of children at high schools in impoverished areas of Chicago and Los Angeles.
Her research had previously highlighted that learning music could improve the concentration, memory and focus of children in the classroom by improving their neural functions.
But much of the research had focused on the impact of music lessons on relatively affluent children.
In this study, Dr Kraus found that giving children regular group music lessons for five or more hours a week prevented any decline in reading skills, which would normally be expected in poorer areas.
Positive impact
Another group of teenage schoolchildren, from a poor area of Chicago, took part in band practice or choir practice every day at school as part of a music project.
Researchers recorded their brainwaves to assess how they responded to speech sounds.
Reading skills levels are often lower in poorer areas, creating an academic gap
After two years of musical training, the results showed the musical group was faster and more accurate at distinguishing one sound from another, particularly when there was background noise, compared to a group that did not participate in any musical activity.
Dr Kraus said this showed music could have a positive impact on the brain, which could also help learning, but it was not a quick fix.
“Research has shown that there are differences in the brains of children raised in impoverished environments that affect their ability to learn,” he explained.
“While more affluent students do better in school than children from lower income backgrounds, we are finding that musical training can alter the nervous system to create a better learner and help offset this academic gap.”
All the children had similar IQs and reading ability at the start of the study.
Dr Kraus said music appeared to remodel the brain to improve the connections between sounds and meaning, the process by which babies learn to speak.
Children growing up in poorer areas with poorly-educated mothers are more likely to have ‘noisier brains’, she said.
This is because they are less likely to know and recognise a wide range of words and are therefore less able to respond to sounds and language.
“Music automatically sharpens the nervous system’s response to sounds,” Dr Kraus explained.
The children participating in the study were part of the Harmony Project, which provides instruments and free music tuition for American schoolchildren in certain deprived urban areas.
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To read the full article go here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28703013
New Term 2014 Start Dates for Music Lessons
Hi -we hope you have had a great Summer Holiday
Keyboard Lessons Start on Saturday 30th August 2014
Guitar Lessons Start on Saturday 30th August 2014
Singing Lessons Start on Monday 1st September 2014
Drum Lessons Start on Thursday 4th September
see you soon
the music gym team