Can you imagine meeting your celebrity crush or childhood idol ? What would you say? Some people turn into the quintessential fan and lose control of themselves. Others have somehow mastered the art of staying “cool”. It’s safe to say that these two young men stayed pretty cool under pressure. Bryce Hayashi and Michael Miller were courageous enough to stand in front of the home of their idol (John Williams of  Star Wars fame) and perform one of his most notorious compositions

Regular readers of our blog will know that we love science almost as much as we like music. Whether we’re seeing singing and dancing NASA...

I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! According to scientific studies, people who listen to Jazz music are proven to be smarter and more...

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...

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

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

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

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

Regular visitors to this blog know that we love Ted-Ed videos. Not only are they informative but they are brief — no more than 5 minutes long — and animated, which makes learning easy. We’ve collected some of our favorite Ted-Ed music education videos to share with you. Just think, in less than a half hour you could gain a better understanding of music. It’s that simple.   How to read music - Tim Hansen The video provides essential information for beginning students that add

For every Carrie Underwood who shoots to fame after wowing audiences and judges on “American Idol” there is a William Hung who is laughed...

Is there anything a robot cannot do? They beat us at “Jeopardy!”, write newspaper stories and defuse bombs. They are perfect humans. Or,...

Chances are if you play a contemporary pop song in front of someone from a different generation, they would complain about the state of...

So much great music and live performances fill the Internet, it is almost hard to keep track of it all. From the sounds of hip-hop to the strings of a violin, this is what we have been listening to this week. Enjoy these wonderful sounds and share with us what you’re listening to! “ Glory” by Common and John Legend This Academy Award-nominated song is a great fusion of sounds coupled with moving lyrics. It feels like a gospel but has added layers of hip-hop with the rich soun

There is something about a singer shattering glass that reminds us of our childhood. How many cartoons have we seen that features an oversized opera singer wearing a horned helmet belting out a note so loud and irritatingly high-pitched that glass shatters everywhere — from windows to cups to glasses? We never considered the validity of these cartoon images. Were these images based on fact or just a funny gag for the audience? Thankfully, there are inquisitive people in this

If alien life forms ever discovered human existence, how would you describe our life to them? Interestingly enough, scientists pondered this question in the 1970s and we love that they thought music was an important aspect of human life. NASA scientists created the Golden Record , a time capsule of sorts, which is a 12-inch gold-plated copper phonograph disk strapped aboard Voyager I and II that is traveling in the outer edges of the solar system as we write this post (In fac