ambient

For me personally art and music in particular were about the only things that I was any good at. I have autism, and have always struggled both socially and with communication, verbal and written, though I can write amazing essays. Music lessons at school were a huge benefit to me, which I why I feel so strongly, and passionately about this subject. Here's just a few of the benefits of musical education for youngsters, from published research: [u]More Than Just Music[/u] Research has found that learning music facilitates learning other subjects and enhances skills that children inevitably use in other areas. “A music-rich experience for children of singing, listening and moving is really bringing a very serious benefit to children as they progress into more formal learning,” says Mary Luehrisen, executive director of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation, a not-for-profit association that promotes the benefits of making music. Making music involves more than the voice or fingers playing an instrument; a child learning about music has to tap into multiple skill sets, often simultaneously. For instance, people use their ears and eyes, as well as large and small muscles, says Kenneth Guilmartin, cofounder of Music Together, an early childhood music development program for infants through kindergarteners that involves parents or caregivers in the classes. “Music learning supports all learning. Not that Mozart makes you smarter, but it’s a very integrating, stimulating pastime or activity,” Guilmartin says. [u]Language Development[/u] “When you look at children ages two to nine, one of the breakthroughs in that area is music’s benefit for language development, which is so important at that stage,” says Luehrisen. While children come into the world ready to decode sounds and words, music education helps enhance those natural abilities. “Growing up in a musically rich environment is often advantageous for children’s language development,” she says. But Luehrisen adds that those inborn capacities need to be “reinforced, practiced, celebrated,” which can be done at home or in a more formal music education setting. According to the Children’s Music Workshop, the effect of music education on language development can be seen in the brain. “Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds,” the group claims. This relationship between music and language development is also socially advantageous to young children. “The development of language over time tends to enhance parts of the brain that help process music,” says Dr. Kyle Pruett, clinical professor of child psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and a practicing musician. “Language competence is at the root of social competence. Musical experience strengthens the capacity to be verbally competent.” [u]Increased IQ[/u] A study by E. Glenn Schellenberg at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, as published in a 2004 issue of Psychological Science, found a small increase in the IQs of six-year-olds who were given weekly voice and piano lessons. Schellenberg provided nine months of piano and voice lessons to a dozen six-year-olds, drama lessons (to see if exposure to arts in general versus just music had an effect) to a second group of six-year-olds, and no lessons to a third group. The children’s IQs were tested before entering the first grade, then again before entering the second grade. Surprisingly, the children who were given music lessons over the school year tested on average three IQ points higher than the other groups. The drama group didn’t have the same increase in IQ, but did experience increased social behavior benefits not seen in the music-only group. [u]The Brain Works Harder[/u] Research indicates the brain of a musician, even a young one, works differently than that of a nonmusician. “There’s some good neuroscience research that children involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people not in music training. When you’re a musician and you’re playing an instrument, you have to be using more of your brain,” says Dr. Eric Rasmussen, chair of the Early Childhood Music Department at the Peabody Preparatory of The Johns Hopkins University, where he teaches a specialized music curriculum for children aged two months to nine years. In fact, a study led by Ellen Winner, professor of psychology at Boston College, and Gottfried Schlaug, professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, found changes in the brain images of children who underwent 15 months of weekly music instruction and practice. The students in the study who received music instruction had improved sound discrimination and fine motor tasks, and brain imaging showed changes to the networks in the brain associated with those abilities, according to the Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that supports brain research. [u]Spatial-Temporal Skills[/u] Research has also found a causal link between music and spatial intelligence, which means that understanding music can help children visualize various elements that should go together, like they would do when solving a math problem. “We have some pretty good data that music instruction does reliably improve spatial-temporal skills in children over time,” explains Pruett, who helped found the Performing Arts Medicine Association. These skills come into play in solving multistep problems one would encounter in architecture, engineering, math, art, gaming, and especially working with computers. [u]Improved Test Scores[/u] A study published in 2007 by Christopher Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy at the University of Kansas, revealed that students in elementary schools with superior music education programs scored around 22 percent higher in English and 20 percent higher in math scores on standardized tests, compared to schools with low-quality music programs, regardless of socioeconomic disparities among the schools or school districts. Johnson compares the concentration that music training requires to the focus needed to perform well on a standardized test. Aside from test score results, Johnson’s study highlights the positive effects that a quality music education can have on a young child’s success. Luehrisen explains this psychological phenomenon in two sentences: “Schools that have rigorous programs and high-quality music and arts teachers probably have high-quality teachers in other areas. If you have an environment where there are a lot of people doing creative, smart, great things, joyful things, even people who aren’t doing that have a tendency to go up and do better.” And it doesn’t end there: along with better performance results on concentration-based tasks, music training can help with basic memory recall. “Formal training in music is also associated with other cognitive strengths such as verbal recall proficiency,” Pruett says. “People who have had formal musical training tend to be pretty good at remembering verbal information stored in memory.” [u]Being Musical[/u] Music can improve your child’ abilities in learning and other nonmusic tasks, but it’s important to understand that music does not make one smarter. As Pruett explains, the many intrinsic benefits to music education include being disciplined, learning a skill, being part of the music world, managing performance, being part of something you can be proud of, and even struggling with a less than perfect teacher. “It’s important not to oversell how smart music can make you,” Pruett says. “Music makes your kid interesting and happy, and smart will come later. It enriches his or her appetite for things that bring you pleasure and for the friends you meet.” While parents may hope that enrolling their child in a music program will make her a better student, the primary reasons to provide your child with a musical education should be to help them become more musical, to appreciate all aspects of music, and to respect the process of learning an instrument or learning to sing, which is valuable on its own merit. “There is a massive benefit from being musical that we don’t understand, but it’s individual. Music is for music’s sake,” Rasmussen says. “The benefit of music education for me is about being musical. It gives you have a better understanding of yourself. The horizons are higher when you are involved in music,” he adds. “Your understanding of art and the world, and how you can think and express yourself, are enhanced.”

I'd take the £100 every time .

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1479568023' post='3177535'] I was listening to a article about this on the Today programme on the way to work. I think what's happened is that the government has massively cut the arts and music lessons budget. Then decided to give a small amount of it back. So they've made a massive cut, but then announced a £300 million programme to part replace the bigger one that they just got rid of... politiks for you. as to the rest of this thread... <Rant> the idea we pay taxes to pay for the education of children has been established in the UK since the 19th century - it's a shame that our country has become so individualistic and selfish that you hear voices (even on here) suggesting we shouldn't do pay taxes for education. Bonkers. Add to that our government massively cutting the funding for education and moving focus away from the arts. 'Cos of course music, and drawing is all just a waste of our kids time when they should be learning to read, write, and add up - or something like that - except for the fact that as a country we're only really really world class at a few things.... banking and financial industries... and art, design and music. And half the country has just shot us in the foot so we won't be the world leader for the financial sector for much longer leaving us with the creative sector... which we're just cutting funding too... </rant> [/quote] Well said !

Have you used the account on another PayPal account ? I had a similar thing when I set up my artist PayPall account. I phoned them and they did it for me.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1479503013' post='3177144'] I also think that it's great news. But, let's just ground the numbers in a bit of reality rather than throwing around meaningless numbers like £300m which are hard to actually visualise. What does that announcement actually mean? It's £300m [i][b]over four years[/b][/i], so it's actually[b] £75m per year[/b]. There are about 24,000 schools in the UK and 8m pupils. So each year that's actually [b]£3000 per school [/b](we'll ignore the fact that maybe some funds might go to community music projects too) and [b]£9 per pupil[/b]. Let's presume that only one pupil in every class of about 30 pupils takes the benefit of the additional money (because the rest are plugged into their X-Boxes). So that's [b]£270 for the single pupil in the class taking up a musical instrument[/b], singing in a choir etc. Which is [b]about enough to part subsidise their music lessons[/b]. Whether or not you like the rhetoric of the government their aims is that "[i]Opportunities are open to all not just the privileged few to... learn to play an instrument, sing in a choir, join a band..[/i]." The educational benefits which some form of a musical education can bring to those who are inclined and motivated are well documented. The discipline and application involved in learning an instrument are useful life lessons. The social, confidence building and developmental aspects of belonging to a group like a band, a choir or an orchestra are immeasurable - I know that singing in the school choir and in a local youth choir were absolutely formative and influential parts of my teenage years. If in every classroom one more child gets to have that sort of musical exposure and experience than would otherwise have done that seems to me to be £9 per pupil well spent. My little boy loves singing in the local community youth choir of which he is a member. It's cemented friendships, grown his confidence in his abilities and, I am sure, will over the years open the door for experiences he would not otherwise have had. The same goes for all the other members of the junior, middle and senior choirs - from 4 years old to 18 plus. That choir only exists because of the dedication and vision of our two choir mistresses, the enthusiasm of the children and the fund raising which the parents do. If a little bit of the £300m ends up supporting that sort of community initiative too then that can only be a good thing and will be some of the better cash that Government distributes for the rest of this Parliament. [/quote] Fantastically said ! I can't believe not only this county's attitude toward the arts, but many on this site. You're supposed to be musicians ! Yet you begrudge some of your taxes going to fund musical education in schools.

This extra is nowhere near the money that they've cut from the budgets. What always gets me, is out general attitude toward the arts in general. In the dark days of the Cold War and communism, the USSR placed great value on all of the arts, ballet, opera etc. This country money always comes first.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1479476937' post='3176848'] But how many of those kids already have a computer of sorts at home that will run Reaper (free), but they probably want the best straight away, which is only natural, but they need to realise that you can't always have what you want without a few sacrifices in life. When I was their age, I wanted a Fender bass, but I knew it was never going to happen because myself and my parents couldn't afford one, I finally got my first Fender Precision about forty year's later aged 55, I'm now 65, I came from a poor background, no one helped me and I didn't expect them to, I was realistic even as a kid, so I helped myself in life without relying on others. [/quote] But, they're not being taught at home. I'm not saying give them a computer, I'm merely saying how a lot of modern music is created This is for education at school. Being taught how to create music, it being a part of their formal education. Maybe leading to them continuing onto higher education, and possibly a career in music, or teaching music.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1479474593' post='3176813'] Agreed, and those who really want to get into music will find a way to get the instrument or computer and software of their choice, but why should it be handed to them on a plate? and if those kids are in Apple shops eyeing up computers that cost nigh on a £1,000+ to run DAWS that cost small fortunes, then I don't think they need our help. Like I said, I don't mind funding or donating instruments to children's homes etc, but I do mind my taxes going to fund kids who could get the equipment they need, if they were willing to sacrifice some of their other must-haves, such as, mobile phones, x-boxes, expensive trainers, etc... [/quote] I think the point is, they can't afford them, that's why they're spending Saturday afternoons hanging around the Apple stores. My Apple store post, was just to make the point that kids are still interested in making music, just in a different way to their parents, and most on here. Music creation isn't just guitar, bass and drums. I'm also not saying that schools should be given funds to buy a load of iMacs. It's not handing anything to anyone on a plate, it's a part of their education. Art and creative subjects are,or should be a part of a balanced education.

[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1479468497' post='3176763'] Following on from theBrig, my wife put up a shout on her Facebook page saying I was selling some of my electric guitars and drums. Of her 500 'Friends' just one said her boy 'might' be interested. This did'nt work so we had a garage sale with about 300 attending, half who were teens and tweens. The screens and computer games went in a flash. Barely anyone even glanced at the guitars. [/quote] [quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1479467437' post='3176755'] When I grew up in the 50/60's, my parents didn't have two pennies to rub together, they brought up four kids on just my dad's wage which was not a lot, if he was sick he didn't get a penny, and most of the kids I knew were in the same situation, but somehow, we managed to get bands together because we really wanted to, I played bass on a cheap acoustic guitar until I managed to pursued my elder to lend me £15 for my first proper bass, but I still couldn't afford an amp to go with it and played it through an old reel to reel tape recorder until the speaker blew, having lessons was not a thing that even entered our parents heads in those days because they were way out of reach in terms of affordability. And think back even further to the early to mid-fifties, skiffle started by poor kids who rummaged around for anything that they could get a tune out of, they didn't sit back and say, we can't play music because we come from a deprived background and waited for others to help them out. Don't get me wrong, I donate regularly to charities and I have spent many years doing voluntary work for kids groups etc, but in today's society, people seem to expect everything to be done for them, and payed for by others. At my school we had a thirty minute music lesson a week, and we had to sit and listen to a classical piece of music of our teacher's choice, there were no instruments to play, and if we mentioned the music that we liked, we were told that it was not proper music and wont last. I'm not trying to make people feel sorry for me, all I'm saying is that we had a desire to follow music regardless of the hardships, if there are kids in genuine need of help, then I would be more than happy to help them, and I think it would be great to donate instruments to children's homes etc, but I have to agree with the OP on this one, a budget guitar costs a fraction of the gaming machine or mobile phone that these kids will almost certainly already have, in fact, a decent 2nd hand guitar to learn on would probably cost less than just one of their games. BTW, I do speak with a little bit of experience, I tried to encourage both my boys to play an instrument, even re-stringing one of my guitars for my eldest son who is left-handed, but they told me that they would rather have an X-Box or computer. [/quote] What you have to remember is that modern music isn't necessarily guitar based. Music education in schools today is everything from traditional instruments such as violin, which is what I started on, to brass instruments, and also music technology, using Ableton or whatever software to create music. Next time you walk past an Apple shop, look in and see all the kids in there, and look see what it is they're playing around with, it'll be Garageband or Logic Pro.

They've made terrible cuts to arts funding for 'normal' people over the last few years. Projects that I've been involved with have stopped because of these cuts. These were projects in very deprived areas of Birmingham and the Black country. Projects designed to give kids tutoring and mentoring in arts/music projects, in areas where there's very little else for them to do, except get into trouble. Do some research on the enormous benefits of music, and musical education. £300 million may sound like a lot, it's over 4 years, and countrywide. In my experience of a music teacher, music has huge benefits, and kids love it.

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1479402240' post='3176304'] Ah, shame I'm at the other end of the country. This will be interesting. Good luck with it. [/quote] Thanks ! This is the second one, the first was held in October. We had a reasonable attendance, for the first time. Hopefully it's something that will develop over the next few months. It's held in a really nice venue. An art gallery in an old converted lock factory in Wolverhampton. The venue is unfortunately suffering because of cutbacks in funding. This months has a great line-up. Artists to be announced over the weekend.

Any good ? http://sb02504edb3c64cc0.jimcontent.com/download/version/1441747436/module/11166757926/name/Woody%20and%20Dutch%20on%20the%20slow%20train%20to%20Peking.pdf

A monthly event, organised by me, The next one is December 11th. [url="http://www.facebook.com/events/1663355027288454/"]http://www.facebook.com/events/1663355027288454/[/url] Please contact me if you're interested in performing.

Nice looking instrument. I doubt Jeff would put his name to something that wasn't any good.

I don't think Yamaha make a bad instrument. I'd keep whichever you like the best. No good trying to like something, you either do or you don't.

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1479309430' post='3175522'] My brother in law has just finished his first year Marine Biology degree. He didn't attend a single lecture in the first year because he didn't need to- lectures were all published on-line and a lot of his contact with tutors was via email. He was pretty annoyed about it, as on average it was costing 9k a year to attend, he couldn't see where the money was going. [/quote] I'm not surprised he was annoyed.I got something like 30 hours a week contact time in the first 2 years, not so much in the 3rd year, but I had so much to do anyway. The problem is, students have become customers, buying their degrees.

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1479307691' post='3175499'] ambient, did he mention who awarded the degree? [/quote] Falmouth I believe.

The basses with the lowest actions that I've played, have generally had quite flat fretboards, and small frets.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1479293280' post='3175342'] As long as you're happy with what your hard work has brought you, I don't see the problem. If others have a 'short-cut', or degraded version, they presumably won't have your acquired skills. How does that debase your own work..? I doubt that any decent job you'd be after would be 'snatched' by one of these fly-by-night pieces of paper (or, if it was, it wasn't a decent job needing your skills...). Let the children play; trace your own route and ignore the others. It doesn't sound as if you regret having put in all of that work, so you're the 'winner', no..? [/quote] Ha, I know exactly what you're saying. It was just a bit of a rant that had kind of been brewing for much of yesterday. I'd spoken to the guy on Monday afternoon, and we'd been chatting about things. I mentioned that I was going to be at uni in London yesterday. That's when he told me he'd got a degree too, and how he'd got it in 2 years etc, etc.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1479287981' post='3175282'] But just how important is a degree in music when it comes to getting a job playing your instrument? I work in a different creative industry (graphic design) and on the whole the importance of having a degree when it comes to getting a job in any of the design studios where I have worked has been minimal. In fact I can't think of a single graduate that any place I was at, that was taken on based on the fact that that they had a degree. Those that that did had all been at the company before on work experience in some capacity and the skills they demonstrated during their work experience time was deemed to be far more relevant than any qualifications they might be aiming for. Several of the best graphic designers I have worked with came straight from school on work experience and never left. [/quote] I know what you mean. It mostly depends on what work you want to do. If you want to include teaching in your portfolio of skills, then you invariably need a degree. I've been asked for sight of mine just to register with private tutor agencies. Teaching through your local authority music service will certainly require a degree. I definitely came out of mine a far better player than I went in, partly down to the massive amount of practice that I was required to do. There's also the academic side of it as well. You gain a lot from that too, I found anyway.

A bit of a ranty post. I'd never heard of this until yesterday. A guitarist that I'm doing some gigs with in December recently graduated with a degree in guitar playing after doing an on-line, two year course. I think he has a BA. I did a three year course, attending lectures 3 days a week, for up to 8 hours a day. On the days that I wasn't in for lectures, I'd probably spend maybe 10 or 12 hours practicing, and then do other assignments, dissertations, essays etc on top of that. I don't see how you can do a degree in 2 years, especially when you don't attend lectures. We had live performance assessments every week, you'd get none of that ? He doesn't even read music. I had to audition for my place, and being able to read extremely well was part of the requirement of passing the audition. To me this sort of thing is devaluing musical education, and further education in general.

[quote name='mentalextra' timestamp='1479202388' post='3174645'] Channel 4 Sunday at 11pm. Following them on their South American tour. Will we see them throw a mini bar out the hotel room window? [/quote] Would they be able to hold on to their Zimmer frame at the same time ?