Tag: St. Marys Ontario

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Nima Abbasi performs “Klangbild 24” by Carlo Domeniconi

At times, people who are studying music seem to judge themselves on the complexity of the music being learned. As music listeners, we, more often than not, could not care less about the complexity of a piece of music. Nima Abbasi’s performance of Carlo Domeniconi’s “Klangbild 24” reminds me of the importance of enjoying the moment when somebody is performing. I trust that you will enjoy his interpretation of what to me is a piece of music that has timeless beauty. It is “one-take Domeniconi”, which is not “a thing” yet but still possibly could be! I look forward to making more videos for his “one-take” interpretations recorded during these pandemic times.

Once a train leaves a station, it moves along at its own pace. I have found classical guitarists of all ages make significant progress once they “leave the station” and move in a direction that helps them help themselves. I hope that makes some sense of the train in the video.

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Blender: Open Source Programs

The changing circumstances of the past year led me to make some changes to my own skill set. I had never done anything in terms of using my creative energy to produce videos. I had relied on others to do so for Globe Educational Services with varying degrees of success. When I see students working so hard on music, I wonder what I can do in terms of adding some new ways of helping students with their creativity becoming part of the larger canvas of society. I decided to learn how to use Blender, which is an open source program used for animation and video editing, in response to the needs of students. Moving forward, I will be featuring student performances on this website with videos produced by Globe Educational Services. It does not seem likely that there will be any in-person performances this year so having students be able to work toward recording and having a video for their ongoing efforts might be a distant second but for now it will suffice.

Blender has made making music more fun for students.
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More Performance Anxiety Considerations

As mentioned previously, students identified performance anxiety as a trouble spot in regard to their learning how to play guitar. The video embedded below was made to help students understand some aspects of during-the-performance anxiety. If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to Globe Educational Services so we can help you be the guitarist everybody listens to.

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Performance Anxiety Experienced By Music Students

Students have mentioned performance anxiety as a trouble spot even while preparing for daily practice. The video embedded below was made to help students understand some aspects of pre-performance anxiety. If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to Globe Educational Services so we can help you be the guitarist everybody listens to.

How To Learn To Play Guitar Well — Performance Anxiety Considerations

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Harmony in Flamenco

There is so much written about flamenco that it is difficult to know where to start to discuss things of interest to musicians. However, most musicians are interested in harmony, to risk stating the obvious, so I put this in the resources section in case you have twenty minutes to spare and a lifetime to enjoy flamenco. There are subtitles in English, which is great in case you want to note anything for future reference.

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When To Start Learning A Musical Instrument?

As in language acquisition, there are many commonly held beliefs about when it is best to start to learn a musical instrument. Examine your own beliefs and see whether they are your own or “folk wisdom” passed along from other people that has stayed in your memory. I can still hear the voice of a music teacher from long ago lamenting that I had not started on my instrument much earlier in life. I started to learn a musical instrument when I was seven years old.

I suppose that had I not witnessed the joy of so many adults learning a musical instrument I could have come to that same conclusion that music teacher from long ago did that there is an optimal age to begin learning a musical instrument. There might be such an age for X or Y individual, were it possible to make copies of people and find out which age and situation promoted the greatest amount of learning. However, it is much more amazing to forsake cloning and simply witness the cognitive capabilities of adult learners who decide to study a musical instrument. Also, the motivation that teenagers bring to music education is most instructive. Skateboarding and music or volleyball and music or hockey and music instead of it being demanded of teenagers to choose between interests as though they are always competing. I was told to choose between such interests as a teenager. I never chose. I did as much as I could. Did it alienate coaches? Yes, it did, and I am pleased that my parents supported those decisions of mine.

There are so many activities to pursue, but I trust that if you have read this far you might still be interested in music. If age is used as a reason not to pursue music, I hope that you reconsider that reasoning. Much in life can be lost through aging, but music stays with us for a long time. There is so much fun to be had playing music. Perhaps guitar is not your instrument. That’s great. Find another one and have at it! If I know anybody who can help, I will certainly do my utmost to help you find somebody to teach you music.

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A Personal Reflection on Giving Back

It has been especially gratifying being able to give back to The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada and London, Ontario. I hope that others will enjoy the event. Moving to London was the start of a long journey for my family. The globe truly has been our home, but London, Ontario remains a place that is special to my family. Many thanks to Call the Office and to Tony Lima in particular for helping make it possible for Deadbeat Poets and Blue Ash to bring their joy to so many people. I look forward to more Brains and Hearts events in the future. If you have any ideas, please let me know. The Brain Tumour Foundation has helped other families that I know as well as my own. The work that The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada does for so many individuals and families in very difficult circumstances has been crucial to my family. As much I hope that nobody else will go through what my family has gone through, I do want as many people as possible to know that The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada is there for all Canadians.