According to an article by PBS.org , a study published in 2007 by Christopher Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy at...

The study of music provides so many benefits it just makes sense to bring voice and piano lessons into your child’s life. So, you select...

Idina Menzel stops by the Tonight Show Music Room to perform the Oscar-winning song “ Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen .”  The unique thing about this performance is that the song has a new accompaniment – composed from musical instruments that you would find in a classroom.   Jimmy Fallon and The Roots created an impressive re-imagining of this Oscar-winning song.  My favorite part is the instrumental breakdown leading up to the bridge.  It’s at that moment that you realize

Gizmodo.com reports that biological anthropologist Leslie Seltzer of the University of Wisconsin held an experiment where 7-12 year-old...

A child’s brain is going through constant stages of development, so parents want to find the best activities to have a positive impact on...

Two hundred years ago, Francis Scott Key witnessed British soldiers firing on Fort McHenry as they tried to gain entry into Baltimore during the War of 1812.  American soldiers, however, remained fearless and defeated the British. To celebrate their victory they hoisted the U.S. flag and seeing those stripes and stars inspired Key to write “ The Star-Spangled Banner. ” Since then, the song has been immediately cherished by the country, proudly sung during the Civil War and as

By now, you know we love stories that expand our definition of music and musical instruments. We’ve previously discussed the music potential of plants and earthquakes and now we were excited to learn about bridges and monuments! Composer Joseph Bertolozzi created 10 musical suites a few years ago based on the unique vibrations of the Hudson Bridge’s panels, spindles and cables.  From those sounds, he created a plainly, but aptly named, “Bridge Music”  in celebration of the Ne

In this TED talk Ryan Holladay of Bluebrain tells us why he is experimenting with what he describes as “location-aware music,” a project that he created with his brother, Hays.  Location-aware compositions are special albums composed specifically for a particular place – in this case, Central Park – and each track on the album is synced with the listeners locations within the area.  Remarkably those outside of Central Park can not access this album – the music is only availa

With earthquakes being a persistent part of our lives in California, we always have those  tremblers on our mind. We should always be...

Since The Orchestra app debuted in late 2016, there has been a steady stream of praise for its ability to bring orchestral music to life...

They have sung their songs dancing on treadmills, while testing elaborate Rube Goldberg contraptions and off-roading in a car. And in their video for the song “ The Writing’s on the Wall ”, OK Go wants to make you question reality. Equipped with only a handheld camera, the group, along with 50 video assistants, created 28 different optical illusions on its first video for the group’s EP, Hungry Ghosts. The video appears to be shot in one continuous take and shows illusions th

When instrumental musicians struggle with their sound they can buy new strings, order more reeds or grease their gears. When a singer...

If you haven’t met Nora the piano cat this is a good time to do it – this kitty is inspired!  If cats had fingers I think Nora would be doing a lot more than pawing at the keys. Interested in lessons?   Learn more!   | Questions?   Contact us Music Junction offers private one-on-one music lessons with talented and caring music teachers at our music school in Burbank, CA. Study your choice of piano, voice, guitar, ukulele, violin, drums, woodwinds, strings. Virtual lessons ar

Even though we speak throughout every day, most of us aren’t aware of how our voice actually makes sound.  Knowing how vocal sound is created gives us a great insight into singing, and can be very useful to make sure we are creating sound healthfully. Our voice makes sound in the same way all sound is made – through vibration.  We have two vocal cords, also called vocal folds, that vibrate when the breath passes them during exhalation.  These two membranes can stretch out to

Playing music produces a whirlwind of activity in the brain that is unmatched by any other activity including playing sports and painting. It is the only activity that researchers can compare to a full-body workout. A recent Ted-Ed video has some fun with this topic, exploring the issue through animation that’s under the direction of educator Anita Collins. Researchers have been studying this topic for more than two decades and there is still more work to be done but what is

If there was anything that would make the most recalcitrant music student excited about practicing, we think the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus would be it. Children who visit the bus have an opportunity to write, compose, record and sound engineer original songs as well as shoot and edit an accompanying music video and documentary — all in one day! The bus houses more than $3 million in state-of-the art equipment and is staffed with engineers who are more than happy to ed

This video has us smiling and wishing we could hang out with this musical family. It features a father playing a trombone and a young son accompanying him by providing backup thanks to an oven door and the cutest head bob we’ve seen in years. They’re playing the dance song “Freaks” by Timmy Trumpet and Savage.  Never heard of the song or the musicians? Neither did we until we did some Internet research and discovered that Timmy Trumpet is an Australian musician specializing

Like many of you, we were saddened by reports of the Ebola epidemic that struck West Africa and other parts of the world that caused 4,000 deaths. However, we were encouraged by an NPR report about the role music is playing in containing the deadly virus. Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has commissioned musical artists to provide information on Ebola as part of its outreach plans. Given that the adult literacy rate in Liberia is 43 percent and there is a deep

As music students and teachers, we love music. We really love music. We’ll sing in the shower and randomly tap our feet to the latest song we’re trying to master. Can there be anyone more musical than us? Well, yes. A TED-Ed video taught us a lot about music in Ancient Greece. According to educator Tim Hansen, the love of music may have been stronger thousands of years ago in a place known as the cradle of Western Civilization. The Ancient Greeks strongly valued creative exp

When you think of the Muppets — from skinny-legged Kermit to the furry Fozzie — do you think hip hop? Well, at least one person (and, possibly, a feline) does. Using the moniker, Mylo The Cat, a young man has culled several old television clips from The Muppet Show and mashed them together to make hilarious music videos. The latest viral hit is Naughty By Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray” and we were impressed with how well the video syncs the speed of the rap lyrics with shots of th