Nearly 100% of past winners in the prestigious Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology (for high school students) play one or more musical instruments. This led the Siemens Foundation to host a recital at Carnegie Hall in 2004, featuring some of these young people, after which a panel of experts debated the nature of the apparent science/music link.
Instrumental practice often consists of the classic combination of long tones, scales, and etudes. While this combination of exercises is “classic” for a reason, there is one glaring omission: sound. Sound is the most important of playing no matter if you are a beginning 6th grader or a seasoned professional in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
If you are playing a scale at a very fast tempo, the number of notes passing is irrelevant in each note has poor sound quality. If you are hitting very high notes on your instrument and they don’t sound good, they don’t count for much. If you are playing in an ensemble and you are “in tune” but have a poor sound quality….you get the idea.
Playing an instrument teaches kids to persevere through hours, months, and sometimes years of practice before they reach specific goals, such as performing with a band or memorizing a solo piece.
Perseverance is developed and strengthened through music education.
This month’s staff spotlight is with Spencer Guyer. Spencer is our Brass Repair Coordinator and Brass Technician in the repair shop and has over 20 years of experience in the music industry. Watch the video below to learn more about Spencer.
Music education helps develop originality and flexibility, which are key components of creativity and innovation.
More benefits of music for children include learning cooperation, sharing, compromise, creativity, and concentration – skills that become invaluable as they enter school, face new challenges, and begin to form new friendships and develop social skills.
At Paige’s Music, we offer a wide variety of instruments that are substantial upgrades or step-ups to the standard student level instruments most musicians start with. How do you know you need a higher quality instrument? Here are a few questions to ask:
How is my instrument holding me back? For example, you are at a point where you have mastered the C major scale and can play it in consistent 16th notes at 120 beats per minute. Despite your great technique, no matter how much you clean and oil your valves, they just do not move as fast as you need them to move and it becomes very difficult to make each note speak clearly. When you come to this conclusion, it is time to try a more advanced trumpet with lighter, faster valves.