November 2007
Monthly Archive
It’s begun! Falalalala lala la LA!
Posted by kmwithsarah on 26 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: All that other stuff
Literal interpretations of Christmas carols are not generally encouraged. It kind of takes the magic out of it all when you start trying to figure out virgin births in cattle sheds, flying reindeer and how to convince the snowman to run around town and entertain.
Apparently, its also not a very economically sound idea either. There are 364 items in the much discussed “12 Days of Christmas” and the current cost of all those gifts from your true love? According to the Toronto Star, its US$78,100. Quite the wishlist . . . Sorry Xiaotian! Maybe next year.
If you are looking for musical gifts for your child, get in touch. We have a great selection of instruments, CDs and other great musical learning gifts available, delivered to your door! We’ll also be at the British School of Beijing’s annual charity Christmas Fayre this Saturday, December 1st from noon - 3:00pm at the Sanlitun campus. All welcome!
Why Music?
Posted by kmwithsarah on 04 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: All that other stuff, Useful Information
More posts to come this week on my trip to the 2007 Kindermusik convention in Chicago, our 11/11/07 Children’s Music Day event and more. For now, here is a great reflection on why music is so important for children and adults alike. It was passed on to me by Kindermusik educator Wendy Jones of Clarence, New York, USA and makes me proud to offer music to families here in Beijing.
WHY MUSIC?
The Clarence School District’s Position Statement on Music
Music is a Science. It is exact, it is specific and it demands exact acoustics. A conductor’s score is a chart, a graph which indicates frequencies, intensities, volume changes, melody and harmony all at once and with the most exact control of time.
Music is mathematical. It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions which must be done instantaneously, not worked out on paper.
Music is a Foreign Language. Most of the terms are in Italian, German or French; and the notation is certainly not English - but a highly-developed kind of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas. The semantics of music is the most complete and universal language.
Music is Physical Education. It requires fantastic coordination of fingers, hands, arms, lip, cheeks and facial muscles in addition to extraordinary control of the diaphragmatic, back and stomach muscles, which respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets.
Music is all these things, but most of all, MUSIC IS ART. It allows the human being to take all these dry, technically boring (but difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion. This one thing science cannot duplicate: humanism, feeling emotion, call it what you will.
That is why we teach music!
Not because we expect you to major in music.
Not because we expect you to play or sing all your life.
But, so you will be human, so you will recognize beauty, so you will be closer to God beyond this world, so you will have something to cling to, so you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good - in short - more life.