Music For Young Children

The High Note in Music Learning

Music for Young Children is the only child-centered music-learning system that integrates keyboard, creative movement, rhythm, singing, ear training, sight reading, music theory and composition. MYC‘s is interactive system motivates and engages parents and children, in a fun group based setting that provides a solid foundation in music learning. Children who complete the most advances level of MYC training are well prepared for early intermediate piano studies or studies of another instrument.

MYC teachers meet specific piano-performance and music-theory qualifications, receive special program training and are assessed to ensure consistently high music education standards. Teachers are mentored through network of field coordinators who provide ongoing support and guidance.

Take a look at Music for Young Children, the music-learning system of choice for more than 24,000 students throughout North America, Asia and New Zealand.

School of Music Online

School of Music Online is an online music tutorial for all aspiring rock stars in the world. It offers single lessons for all levels, categories, and instruments.

Levels

Levels are categorized into beginners, intermediate, advanced and professional. Rhythm Training is SOMO’s complete rhythmic training package. Starting at the basics and very quickly getting into extremely advanced concepts.

Categories

SOMO categorizes lessons into theories, fundamentals, chords and voicing, scales and modes, improvisation, songs and feels, rhythm, progression, tips and tricks, practice and techniques, and basslines.

Instruments

SOMO offers lessons for instruments like piano and drum. It has developed a full rhythm syllabus which is gradually being rolled out over the next few years.

SOMO can be at our hands for as low as $19 for monthly tuition and as much as $150 annually.

TakeLessons (TL)

Choosing a music teacher? a student? In TakeLessons (TL), you can have them all. TL is a website that allows students and teachers take musical, academic, and performing arts lessons online and locally.

Music lessons are available for singing, guitar, piano, violin, bass guitar, and drums.

STUDENTS

For students, by choosing a type of lesson and entering their zip code, they can search thousands of pre-screened teachers for local and live online lessons. All of their instructors have complete background checks and are pre-screened to ensure both safety and an exceptional learning experience. Booking lessons with teachers takes only a few minutes and students can do it all online, by entering student’s contact information, creating student’s schedule, and selecting a service plan to complete the purchase.

TEACHERS

For teachers, it all starts when they create their free profile where they can list the categories they teach, describe their teaching style, highlight past accomplishments, and upload photos and videos. Their profiles are their capital.

With TakeLessons, learning music is at the tip of your fingers.

Bamboo Mañalac

Filipino rock icon Bamboo Mañalac was born as Francisco Gaudencio Lope Belardo Mañalac. He is a son of a political legend in Mindanao and comes from an influential Muslim family. He grew up with his mother staying mostly at their home in the northern part of the Philippines.

Born in San Francisco, California on January 19, 1978, Bamboo broke the silence of the Philippine music scene as he became the frontman of the band Rivermary which is composed of Perfecto de Castro on guitars, Mark Escueta on drums, Nathan Azarcon on bass guitar, and Rico Blanco on keyboards and backing vocals. The band was conceptualized by Lizza Nakpil and the award winning Philippine film director Chito Roño. Rivermaya started to hit charts with their self-composed songs “Ulan”, “214”, and “Awit ng Kabataan”. Despite the fame they are into, in 1998, after three successful albums and series of US and Canada concert tours, Bamboo decided to leave the band and stayed at United States to continue his studies.

After the departure of Bamboo, his Rivermaya bandmate Nathan Azarcon also decided to leave the group and joined the band Kapatid. While Bamboo was still in the US, he began to talk to Nathan about the possibility of forming a new band. With Bamboo, Nathan, Ira Cruz, and his friend, Vic Mercado as the members of the band, they debuted in late 2002. “Bamboo” which became the name of the band, was decided for its strength and durability and also to have Filipino feel in it.

Being one of the Philippines’ best music icons, Bamboo being on the band “Bamboo” got nominated and won different music awards. He won Vocalist of the Year at 13th NU Rock Awards (2004-2005) and SOP Pasiklaban (2006). Everyone thought Bamboo band will stand firm until the end but a shocking revelation from KC Montero in his Twitter account last January 10, 2011 leave the fans puzzled as he stated that the band decided to have it quits.

On January 11, 2011, just a day after the rumor of calling it quits, Bamboo published an official statement in the band’s official website. He said, “As a group we’ve come to a point where you have to trust your gut, your heart and your head and accept that all things change. The hardest part as always is to know when to pack it up and part ways. We’ve learned that this journey is not only about us but includes all who came along for the trip. Family, friends and of course our front row believers who were there for the best reason of all. To simply listen. So it didn’t come easy winding down to this decision. So here we go. IT’S OFFICIAL. THE BAND. IT’S OVER.”

Bamboo, after having failures as a member of a band, decided to have a solo career. He released his debut album “No Water, No Moon” consisting of 12 tracks with “Questions” as its career single. The album reached gold in February 2013 after selling more than 7,500 copies.

Projects come in hand as he was also casted on ASAP last February 2013 and confirmed as coach and judge in The Voice of the Philippines and The Voice Kids which is currently airing at ABS-CBN during weekends.

Adam Lambert

One thing is certain, there were a lot of talented artists this year, and however, Adam Lambert stood out the most.

Popular “POP” music is a genre that touches base to a huge audience. As there are many talented artists and bands that often identify with just one genre, the moment they reach a big audience, they are destined to be world-class superstars. Thus, Lambert for one is a reality.

Lambert was born in Indianapolis on January 29, 1982, to mother Leila, an interior designer; and father Ebder, a program manager for Novatel Wireless. At 19, he worked by performing on a cruise ship for ten months. His beginnings were ushered by taking chances and opportunities. However, his career boomed until he joined and won the American Idol 2009.

Lambert’s first studio album was released on November 23, 2009 entitled For your Entertainment. As of April 2012, the album had sold nearly 2 million copies worldwide which was certified gold in the US in June 2010.

Moreover, he appeared on the cover of Out magazine in their 2009 “Out 100″ issue, sparking controversy as Out’s publisher issued him an open letter questioning the “gayness” of his image. In April, he became one of People Magazine’s Most Beautiful People 2010.

Lambert’s own music has been influenced by numerous genres including classic rock, pop, and electronic music.

He is best known for his exaggerated performance style and thorough attention to detail in all aspects of his personal presentation. He draws upon extensive stage experience in the ease with which he can refine and define his image through fashion and other imagery, which are essential to how he chooses to inhabit his songs, rivet his audiences and showcase his individuality.

You cannot help, but love this man. One would have never seen an artist this year who can deliver such incredible vocals while engaging crowds making you relate what they are singing about. Lambert’s vocal ability has no limits and when he takes off, it’s as if the world is painted red. Lambert is clearly the best popular music singer the world has ever heard.

Yansimalar

Yansimalar is a Turkish musical group that composes and plays contemporary ethnic music.

It was founded by Birol Yayla (guitarist, tanbur lutist) and Aziz Senol Filiz (ney flutist). In their journey, the founding group was joined by Engin Gurkey (percussions) and Nezih Yesilnil (double bass).

In 1980, Birol Yayla and Aziz Şenol Filiz met at the conservatoire. In 1983, they joined the Turkish music chorus. In 1990, they formed Yansımalar: the name is the plural of the Turkish word yansıma (reflection); giving yansımalar (reflections), which as in English means both the reflection of the mirror and the reflection of the mind.

The music of Yansimalar has an acoustic sound and is essentially instrumental, though a few pieces feature the sound of voice or breathing.

It has its roots in the traditional Ottoman Music and consists of compositions that have a broad perspective. The artists define their aim as to “Introduce today’s chaotic world to natural and peaceful feelings.

In 1991 and 1995, the founding pair recorded two albums, released by the newly created record label Kalan Müzik (1991). In 1996, the band was joined by Engin Gürkey (percussions) and Nezih Yeşilnil (double bass), who appear on the 3rd and following albums. In 2001, four guest musicians participated to the recording of the 4th album, and in 2004, eight guests are featured on the 5th album, including noted fretless guitarist Erkan Oğur.

Remarkably, Yansimalar’s third album adds some rhythm with percussion instruments and contrabass to the usual meditative ney and guitar duo.

Recently, their music is used by Turkish films and TV documentaries such as Derviş Zaim’s and Tabutta Rövaşata.

Cheikha Rabia

At the age of sixty eight, Cheikha Rabia has recorded her new album drawing inspiration from paradoxical Black Sabbath rock mixed with funk groove range from hip-hop Beats, drums & bass in 2012.

Rabia was born in Relizane in 1944, a city near Oran in Algeria. She began singing at 11 years old through singing at celebrations and wedding parties. When she reached 14 years old, she worked all sorts of music even those formerly forbidden to women. Her provocative personality made her being coined as the ‘Mistress of Voice’ when she was 18 years old. Cheikha Rabia, one of the great Algerian voices expatriated in Paris was portrayed in 2001.

From the 1960s, she sang in cabarets of Algiers where it is a huge success with an exclusively male audience.

The singularity of her voice and her personality captivated new generations of Rock musicians and electronic music producers. Thus, made her even until now the eye of label Tiferet(e) which had produced her latest album.

Dr. Francis-Nectarios Guy

A conductor and musicologist, Dr. Francis-Nectarios Guy, has been known for his concert activities and publications whose researches are focused on western and southeastern European contemporary and medieval music creation.

He has studied and worked with distinguished choir and orchestra conductors such as the Maestros Vassil Kazandjiev, Georgi Robev, Luba Pesheva, Dejan Pavlov, Jonathan Brett; composers and musicologists such as Dimiter Christoff, Bojidar Abrashev, Elena Toncheva and others.

Francis finds combining his concert activity with his research projects very challengeable. The most recent example of this is the performing, in a series of concerts in Bulgaria, Greece, Polland and Russia, of orchestral music written without bar-lines. This “trend” is noted in modern and contemporary composers such as P. Boulez, G. Cancelli, Y. Christou, Dimiter Christoff, H.W. Henze and others.

Amongst his publications are two different scientific research published in Bulgarian and Greek about the life and musical work of the Greek great composer Yorgos Sicilianos; scientific research papers published in three different languages, articles and others. Francis is also specialized in Greek contemporary music and Byzantine ecclesiastical music.

During the last decade, four live concerts of Francis were published conducting premier works of his mother, Cypriot composer Anastasia Guy. Amongst them is the circle of songs “Navs en Plo” for soloists, mixed choir and small orchestra which was performed in a series of concerts around the Mediterranean sea during the Cultural Olymbiad of Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

The Maestro is the Director of the Cyprus Wine Museum Cultural Center and also the founder and Artistic Director of ‘Le Orchestre La Grande Commanderie de Chypre’ an institution that aims to promote music from the classical orchestral and operatic repertoire related with Greek mythology and European medieval history.

Kenny G

Amidst to breathing difficulty due to asthma, Kenneth Bruce Gorelick better known as Kenny G, blew  a way to the pinnacle of his success as Grammy award winning saxophone player.

Kenny G was born in Seattle, Washington and came into contact with a saxophone when he heard someone performing with one on The Ed Sullivan Show. Thereof, he studied under a local trumpet player and played along with records and eventually honed to perfection.

His childhood was undistinguished. He experienced rejections like when he tried out for the high school jazz band. Persistently, he tried again the next year and was accepted.

His musical career spurred when he was 18 years old as a sideman for Barry White Love Unlimited Orchestra. During his College years at University of Washington, he played with a funk band and began his solo musical career.

In 2003, the Recording Industry of America (RIIA) recognized Kenny G as the 25th highest selling artist in America with 48 million albums sold in the U.S. as of mid-2006. Consequently, he won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for Forever in Love.

Kenny G has been diagnosed with asthma. One would think this would be a difficult disability to have and play a musical instrument such as the saxophone. However, it has been studied that playing an instrument or singing may actually help those with asthma by improving muscle flexibility of the lungs, allowing them to take a deeper breath without fatigue.

Jeff Healey

A blind Canadian jazz guitar singer, Jeff Healey, who can see through the eyes of music.

Jeff Healey is one of the Canada’s most successful exports and one of the world’s most celebrated guitarists, the Jeff Healey Band sold millions of records. Healey lost his sight at the age of one, after developing eye cancer. He began playing guitar when he was three years old and began performing with his band Blues Direction at the age of 17. Healey formed the Jeff Healey Band in 1985, featuring bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen. This trio released one single on its own Forte record label, which led to a contract with Arista Records. The Jeff Healey Band released their debut album, See the Light, in 1988 and the guitarist immediately developed a devoted following in blues-rock circles. Featuring the hit single “Angel Eyes,” the record went platinum in the U.S. While the Jeff Healey Band’s subsequent records were popular, none were as successful as the debut.

What made Jeff Healey different from other blues-rockers was also what kept some listeners from accepting him as anything other than a novelty — the fact that the blind guitarist played his Fender Stratocaster on his lap, not standing up. With the guitar in his lap, Healey could make unique bends and hammer-ons, making his licks different and more elastic than most of the competition. Unfortunately, his material leaned toward standard AOR blues-rock, which rarely let him cut loose, but when he did; his instrumental prowess could be shocking.

In 2008, a month before the release of his last studio-recorded blues album, Mess of Blues, Healey died from cancer.

No doubt, his unusual story embarked in the history of music. He taught us to see what he had seen- the beauty of music.

Joaquin Rodrigo

A world class composer Joaquin Rodrigo was blinded by complications from diphtheria at the age of three. 

Joaquin Rodrigo was born on November 22, 1901, in Sagunto, Valencia, Spain. He was blinded by complications from diphtheria when he was three years old. His condition did not improve after a surgery and then glaucoma blinded him completely. Rodrigo confessed without regret, that his blindness predisposed him to music. Young Rodrigo studied piano and violin at a school for blind from the age of eight. By the age of 20 Rodrigo became an accomplished pianist. His first compositions for piano were written in 1923 and premiered a year later. In 1927 Rodrigo moved to Paris. There he studied with Paul Dukas and also became a friend of Manuel de Falla.

Joaquin Rodrigo was responsible for establishing the guitar as a classical concert instrument. He is best known for his three-part ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’ (1939), the first concert work composed specifically for guitar and symphony orchestra. This innovative concert work was created for Spanish guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza, who premiered ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’ in 1940 with the Barcelona Philharmonic Orchestra. The work has become among the most well-known pieces of Spanish music.

Rodrigo received several awards and decorations for his music. He also taught music for many years. He was using a special Braille machine and was active in ‘Arte y Propaganda de la ONCE (National Spanish Organization for the Blind). In 1933 Rodrigo married a young Turkish musician Victoria Kamhi. She became his life-long collaborator and contributor to his creativity until her death in 1997. Joaquin Rodrigo died on July 6, 1999, in Madrid, Spain, and was laid to rest next to his wife Victoria in the cemetery at Aranjuez, Spain.

Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker, nicknamed “Yardbird” (“Bird” for short), a saxophone player, had an undistinguished early carrier but ended up being one of the creators of bebop jazz in the 1940s.

He was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, the only child of Charles and Addie Parker. His father, Charles, a pianist, had influenced and inspired him to go into music.

At public schools, he discovered his own talent for music. He started playing baritone horn in the school band.

At the early age of 15, he began to practice playing saxophone diligently wherein he mastered improvisation and developed new ideas that led to bebop, a form of jazz with fast tempo.

In 1938, Parker together with his first band, toured nightclubs and other venues of the southwest, as well as Chicago and New York City. Parker had a morphine addiction while in hospital after automobile accident and was also addicted to heroin.

In the following year, he worked as a professional musician in New York who was then featured as a regular performer at a Chicago night club after a year. His New York experience was tough that he was at first forced to wash dishes in order to get by.

His humble beginnings were paid off when he was known and recognized for his musical invention, the bebop.

Parker died on March 12, 1955 from lobar pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer but Parker also had an advanced case of cirrhosis and had suffered a heart attack.