Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

School Plays Bieber's 'Baby' As Fundraiser: Students Pay To Make It Stop

Excerpt from: Huffington Post (click for full article)

Patti's comment: "What a creative fund raising idea- I know I would contribute!!!"

A suburban Chicago high school fundraising to save a popular arts center is motivating students to donate with an earsplitting incentive: pay up and they'll stop blasting Justin Bieber's "Baby" during passing periods.

Evanston Township High School seniors Charlotte Runzel and Jesse Chatz convinced school administrators to let them play the popstar's biggest hit over the loudspeakers for one week, or until they'd raised $1,000, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Within three days, students had coughed up enough cash to silence the Canadian singer's repetitive single.

Between Monday and Wednesday, the pop song, which features tween idol Justin Bieber singing the word "baby" 54 times, played through around 20 times in between classes, NBC Chicago reports. The school reportedly rebuffed student complaints, encouraging ETHS kids to play along and donate money to make the music stop.

 

Effects of Noise: Hearing Loss and Musicians

Excerpt from: Herzan (click for full article and infographic)

 

While loud noise can cause the collection of inaccurate data in experimentation, it can also lead to hearing loss in musicians. Even child musicians, aged eight to twelve, show signs of it, while most adult musicians suffer from it to some degree.

The relationship between hearing loss and musicians is due to their constant exposure to loud noise. Prolonged exposure to sounds above 85dB, the range of many musical instruments, can cause gradual hearing loss. Moreover, modern music genres, such as rock and hip hop, have a tendency to increase the decibel level until it crosses the ear's pain threshold.

To prevent or reduce loss of hearing, musicians are advised to keep their exposure to loud sounds to a minimum and wear soundproof earmuffs or noise cancelling headphones, when possible. Like Herzan's acoustic enclosures and vibration cancellation technology, they both use the same principles to reduce the amount of noise to a tolerable level. Sound absorbing or deflecting materials muffle noise while the transmission of a noise cancelling signal eliminates sound or vibrations over a broad spectrum.

House Where Bruce Springsteen Wrote 'Born to Run' for Sale

Excerpt from: Rolling Stone (click for full article)

 

The two-bedroom cottage in Long Branch, New Jersey, where Bruce Springsteen wrote his breakthrough LP Born to Run is up for sale for about $350,000, The Associated Press reports.

Springsteen rented the five-room residence in 1974 and '75 while he was writing songs for the album, and, according to real estate agent Susan McLaughlin, tourists stop by the house "all the time."

The house currently has five owners, and McLaughlin said that if no one wants to buy the house outright, the owners would consider selling a one-third stake in the property for a price that has yet to be set.

As for Springsteen himself, he's about to resume life on the road when the Australia leg of his Wrecking Ball tour kicks off March 14th in Brisbane. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello is set to join the E Street Band for those dates while Steven Van Zandt finishes filming for his television show, Lilyhammer.

Early music lessons boost brain development

Excerpt from: Concordia (click for full article)

 

A study published last month in the Journal of Neuroscience suggests that musical training before the age of seven has a significant effect on the development of the brain, showing that those who began early had stronger connections between motor regions – the parts of the brain that help you plan and carry out movements. 

 

This research was carried out by students in the laboratory of Concordia University psychology professor Virginia Penhune, and in collaboration with Robert J. Zatorre, a researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University.

 

The study provides strong evidence that the years between ages six and eight are a “sensitive period” when musical training interacts with normal brain development to produce long-lasting changes in motor abilities and brain structure. “Learning to play an instrument requires coordination between hands and with visual or auditory stimuli,” says Penhune. “Practicing an instrument before age seven likely boosts the normal maturation of connections between motor and sensory regions of the brain, creating a framework upon which ongoing training can build.”

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) Announces $1,000,000 Gift to Michigan State University’s College of Music

Excerpt from: Credit Union Insight (click for full article)

 

MSUFCU has announced a $1,000,000 donation to the MSU College of Music for the MSU Federal Credit Union Jazz Studies Guest Artist Residency Endowment. This gift will bring world-renowned jazz artists to Michigan to provide students and the Greater Lansing, Detroit, and Traverse City communities with exciting musical and cultural experiences.

With this new residency program, national and international artists will visit schools throughout Michigan, focusing on diverse communities and urban areas. Students in these schools will enjoy hands-on music education, and teachers will receive assistance enriching their music curriculum. MSU students in the Jazz Studies program will spend time with these artists as well, learning from the best in the industry. The endowment will also provide the local community with access to musical performances offered by visiting artists-in-residence.

Peter Gabriel, Billy Bragg Join the Voice Project's Album for Peace in Africa

Excerpt from: The Rolling Stone (click for full article)

 

Recently, the Voice Project invited musicians to contribute to the first in a series of digital albums celebrating the soldiers' sacrifice. Home Recordings, Vol. 1, set for release on iTunes on January 15th, collects raw tapes of Gabriel, Billy Bragg, Garrison Starr and others covering songs of peace written by their peers.

"I think it's great in that it's very tangible," Gabriel told Rolling Stone in a phone interview this week while on sabbatical with his family. "I just thought it was a stunning example of our music actually changing lives, and it seems to be very effective where almost every other initiative has failed."

For 25 years, Kony's rebels, many of whom the terrorist captured as children, have mutilated and murdered thousands as part of the leader's initial aim to overthrow Uganda's president. Kony refused to sign peace agreements in 2008 and has since escaped military raids intent on taking him out. Last year, the LRA forced almost 500,000 people from their homes, according to a U.N. report.

U2's the Edge Launches Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund

Excerpt from: The Rolling Stone (click for full article)

 

U2 guitarist the Edge has expanded his Music Rising initiative with a new Hurricane Sandy relief fund. Music Rising will donate an initial $250,000 to aid in rebuilding music programs in the tri-state area affected by Hurricane Sandy in October. For more information, visit Music Rising's website. 

Piano Pedagogy Tips for Students with Sight/Developmental Disabilities

Excerpt from: The Musical Home (click for full article)

 

I have a few students now that require much more daily lesson planning than most other students. They have various disabilities ranging from mild learning disabilities to more severe mental, physical, or visual disabilities. These are in some ways, my favorite piano/voice lessons to teach because these students work hard and really want to be here. The following is a helpful page that I came across while searching for ideas in working with the visually impaired. It is written by a professor of Music in South Carolina that has some very good thoughts on ways to teach most efficiently for students with special needs. Most of these I have intuitively tried to implement, but some I have not thought of on my own. If you are a teacher, I hope that you can find these ideas helpful and if you are a parent looking for a teacher, I hope that you can use some of these thoughts as guidelines in what to look for in a piano teacher. Enjoy!

Marshall Crenshaw EP Subscription Series!

Excerpt from Kick Starter: (click for entire article)

First of all, THANK YOU to the 315 people that are backing this campaign! Wow.  I appreciate it so much, as well as all the "likes", "shares" and "tweets" you have posted to help spread the word.

We are in the final hours of the campaign, and I have raised an amazing $23,000 so far! Because of the way kickstarter works however, I won't receive any of this funding unless the total goal amount of $32k is raised.  The contributions you have put forth will be returned to you and I will not be able to distribute my incentive rewards.

Prolific 92-Year-Old DVD Bootlegger Sends Thousands of Films To Troops Overseas

Patti's Comments:  Love This!!!!

Excerpt from Geek O System: (click for entire article)

When you think of pirates and bootleggers, there’s typically two places your mind might go: Punk kids, or vast organizations of bootleggers, all with thick accents. Hyman Strachman is neither of those, instead, he is a 92-year-old World War II veteran. He is however, probably one of the worlds foremost bootleggers. For eight years, Stachman has been running a pretty impressive bootlegging operation from his apartment, copying thousands of first-run movies, and sending them to U.S. troops overseas. Hardly some punk kid.

Over the course of his bootlegging career, Strachman went from burning the DVDs on his own personal computer to purchasing a $400 rig that would let him copy 7 at a time. Amusingly enough, Strachman does not actually torrent or download the films himself or anything, but rather buys them from a local bootlegger, and then proceeds to bootleg said bootlegs. Though his methods may seem a little roundabout, his record is impressive; he’s sent at least 4,000 boxes of DVDs, free of charge, to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.