October-November Newsletter
Healing Power of Music in Times of Crisis
It was a “horrible” day - well, for a 20 y.o. whose relationship were about to die, it was indeed. I was devastated… but still had to go to my private student: I was tutoring a girl for the music college entrance exam in ear training. One of the requirements was a music dictation: a student was supposed to write down the melody by notes, after listening to it played by a teacher for 8 times. I remember, I was playing the Cavatina of Ludmilla from the opera “Ruslan and Ludmilla”, sunny and playful tune. And - oh miracle! - at the end of the lesson, after I repeated it 8 times, life was good again!
This is when I realized that music is not only beautiful, or emotional, or engaging - it’s actually healing.
The 2020 is not the best year for everyone. We are stressed, exhausted, upset, worrying… We need to be helped! But what if before counseling and pills we use… music?
It’s not just our intuitive knowledge; scientists conducted multiple experiments.
During some experiments, music lowered blood pressure and heart rate, breathing rate, oxygen demands (signs of stress); at the other - decreased the needs for supplementary intravenous sedation.
Another group of scientists checked two groups of people who listened to music every day for two weeks. The group that was instructed to intentionally try boosting their mood achieved a better mood indeed, while people who just listened (without trying to improve their mood) didn’t feel happier…
Thus, music is a safe, low-risk way to reduce anxiety and depression. (Actually, music outperformed prayer in mood-boosting.)
Classical and meditation music provides greatest benefits; heavy metal and techno is ineffective and can even be detrimental.
Energetic, upbeat music improves endurance and performance. It was measured, that faster music increased speed of exercises for 10%, and slower music decreased it for 10%.
There was a well-publicized discovery in mid-1990s, “Mozart effect”. After 10 minutes of listening to Mozart, students showed 30 points higher on SAT tests than a group which didn’t listened to Mozart (after learning about it, I actually forced my kids to listed to a very same Sonata before their important exams.) After this original discovery, many more experiments have been conducted with the same result: music improves cognitive performance.
To complete this brief review, I want to mention three things that are specifically relevant to our time.
Music is not visual. Our vision is terribly, awfully, painfully overstimulated. Listening to music off-screen will not put extra burden on our eyes.
Even when students have their music lessons on-line, the actual activity is hands-on. They see a teacher on a screen, but play on a piano, pressing piano keys, and not computer keys.
Music gives a feeling of hope. There are speculations, why. One researcher suggests, that music is setting up expectations of what might happen, i.e. which note or chord will sound next or how dynamic will develop (grow up or down) etc. It might either happen instantly, or be postponed - and this actually “models” our life perception, on subconscious level. So let’s listen to music, play music - and hope for the turn for the better in a foreseeable future! Close your eyes - and listen!
Student Spotlight
Jannet Chari
Our advanced piano student, Jannet is LHS Junior. She started the Do-Re-Mi Introductory Piano when she was 4.5 years and steadily progressed since. Additionally to piano, Jannet used to play viola in school orchestra; she also loves art and dance. She’s planning to study chemistry in college.
Welcome New Students!
Zev R. Russian for the Young
Lily K. Piano
Jealyna C. Piano
Jacob C. Violin
Layla C. Violin
Shayna C. Guitar
Darina D. Russian
Joshua H. RSL
Daniel Z. Chess
Logan S. Piano
Anton M. Math
Victoria S. Piano
Ryan S. Piano
Mulan Y. Chess
Katherine F. Russian for the Young
Swetan S. Guitar
Isabella I. Russian for the Young
Alexander B. RSL
Leyla S. Russian
David S. Guitar
Aviana R. Art
Patricia L. English
Myra D. Singing
Kaleb D. Chess
Robert K. Russian
Davian E. Piano, Math
Caden D. Chess
Markus P. Russian
Sehaj K. Piano
Dorothy P. Guitar
Tanner R. RSL
James G. Math
Elan W. Math
Jacob R. Math
Luka H. Russian for the Young
Sasha V. Music for the Young
Max B. Math
Sophia M. Art
Sasha G. Music for the Young
Nigel C. Guitar
Joel G. Piano
Irina B. Music for the Young
Nicole C. Guitar
Since the Fall 2019, we donate one half of all new student registration fees - and this time we chose https://www.musiciansfoundation.org/, the organization that supports professional musicians in the times of need. Thanks to all of you, we are still able to operate and support our teachers, while performing musicians have been heavily impacted by Covid-19, so this organization is helping as never before.
Thank you everyone for helping us to help others!
Welcome Our New Faculty:
Sondra Mermelstein, English
Mrs. Mermelstein is a certified ELA teacher and was teaching English in West Orange Redwood Elementary School (Gr. 3-5) and Edison Middle School (Gr. 6) slightly above 20 years.
Her education credentials are impressive: B.A. in Journalism with Minor in English Literature from NYU, additional studies in Rutgers that resulted in NJ Teaching Certificate, and M.A. in Educational Psychology from NYU School of Education.
Thanksgiving Break
Thu-Fri 11/26-27: no lessons for Piano and Instruments
Thu-Sat 11/26-28: no lessons for Art, Chess, Math and Russian