Top 10 Love Affairs of Famous Romantic Composers

Famous composers, such as those belonging to the Romantic era, weren't only passionate about their music, they were also passionate about their respective love affairs. Here we will learn about the women who captured the hearts of composers during the Romantic period. Clicking on their names will bring you to their images and clicking on the composers name will take you to their biography.

1) Marii Wodziñskiej

Marii Wodziñskiej (1810 - 1869) - Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin was friends with the Wodzinski family, they had a 17 year old daughter named Maria who was also a brilliant musician. Chopin fell in love with her and proposed marriage, Maria's mother accepted the proposal but advised Chopin to take better care of his health. Their short-lived engagement didn't end in marriage because Maria's parents eventually saw Chopin as unfit due to his poor health and irregular lifestyle.

2) George Sands

George Sands (1804 - 1876) - Another of Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin's famous love affair. George Sands was a French writer whose real name was Aurore Dudevant. She was older than Chopin by six years, was divorced and had two children. George Sands was forced to part ways with Chopin in 1847 because of her son's disapproval of their relationship.

3) Clara Wieck

Clara Wieck (1819 - 1896)- She was Robert Schumann's great love. Clara was the daughter of Friedrich Wieck and was also a gifted musician. Her father strongly opposed their relationship but Clara and Schumann held on to their love and was married in 1840. Schumann's Arabesque in C Major was written for Clara. Clara remained faithful to Schumann even when the latter was admitted in an asylum. It has been mentioned that composer Brahms also fell in love with Clara during this period.

4) Marie d'Agoult

Marie d'Agoult (1805 - 1876) - She was also called Countess Marie d'Agoult and a German writer using the pen name Daniel Stern. Marie fell in love with Franz Liszt in 1833. During that time she was married to Comte Charles d'Agoult but soon left her husband to be with Liszt. Marie and Liszt had three children but ended their relationship in 1844.

5)Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein (1819- 1887)

She was the sister of a Tsar and was a Russian princess who was romantically involved with Franz Liszt. They met in 1847, she was married at that time and had a daughter, but chose to be with Liszt. She and Liszt tried to get married but their plans were thwarted when it turned out her divorce documnets (she was granted a divorce from her former husband) needed to be reviewed. Nevertheless, they stayed together until Liszt' death in 1886.

6) Cosima von Bülow

Cosima von Bülow (1837 - 1930) - She was the daughter of Franz Liszt and Countess Marie d'Agoult. She was married to the conductor Hans von Bülow and they had two children. Cosima fell in love with the composer Richard Wagner, they had two daughters of their own. In 1868, Cosima left her husband to be with Wagner and they got married in 1870. They had a son for whom Wagner composed Siegfried Idylle.

7) Giuseppina Strepponi

Giuseppina Strepponi (1815 - 1897) - Her real name was Clelia Maria Josepha and was a talented soprano. She was Giuseppe Verdi's second wife and they lived together from 1848 to 1859. They finally got married in 1859.

8) Desirée Artôt

Desirée Artôt - She was a Belgian singer with whom Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky was enamored. She and Tchaikovsky became engaged but Desirée had to travel due to her career. On January 1869, Tchaikovsky received a telegram informing him that Desirée became engaged to a singer. Desirée and the singer were married on September 15, 1869.

9) Cecile Jeanrenaud

Cecile Jeanrenaud - She was a painter and her father was a Lutheran clergyman. She was the wife of Felix Mendelssohn. Cecile and Mendelssohn married in 1837 and had five children.

10)Harriet Constance Smithson (1800 - 1854)

She was the first wife of Louis-Hector Berlioz. Berlioz saw her on a stage play where she played the part of Ophelia in "Hamlet" and Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet". They were married in 1833 but she died in 1854. Berlioz fondly called her Henriette

Movies and Films About Music and Musicians

I love watching movies, especially those that are inspiring. There are many great films about music that have been made over the years. Some are based on the lives of musicians, others center on the struggles of a fictional character who wants to become a musician. As a parent of a child who is musically inclined, I find that exposing my daughter to such movies have its advantages. As a musician who is trying to hone my skills, watching movies like these fuel my desire to continue learning. Here are some movies worth checking out:

* Bird (Rated: R)

A film directed by Clint Eastwood, it stars the actor Forest Whitaker as the great jazz saxophone player Charlie "Bird" Parker. This movie depicts the life of Parker, his talent, his struggles and his music.

* Lady Sings the Blues (Rated: R)

Based on the life of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday. Diana Ross makes her film debut and portrays the role of Holiday. Compare Prices on the DVD

* New York New York (Rated: PG)

A bitter-sweet love story between an up and coming singer (Liza Minnelli) and a jazz saxophone player (Robert DeNiro}. Directed by Martin Scorsese.Compare Prices on the DVD

* Ray (Rated: PG-13)

This film is based on the life of keyboardist/musician Ray Charles. Charles, played by actor Jamie Foxx, had to overcome great obstacles in life including his blindness and drug addiction. A very inspiring movie on the life of this legendary musician. Compare Prices on the DVD

* A Hard Day's Night (Rated: G)

A movie about one of the most beloved band in history - The Beatles. It gives us a glimpse of John, Paul, George and Ringo's life, rise to stardom and everything else that comes with it. From adoring fans chasing them to the often humurous way the group handles their fame, this movie, including the music, will bring you back to yesteryears with a smile. Compare Prices on the DVD

* Jailhouse Rock (Rated: PG)

One of Elvis Presley's classic movies, it's a story about a man who was imprisoned after he killed someone during a brawl. Once in prison, he discovers his knack for singing and playing the guitar. He would further pursue his talent after his release from prison. This movie touches on how fame goes to a person's head and the universal truth that it is during the lowest point of your life when you realize who your true friends are. Compare Prices on the DVD

* The Commitments (Rated: R)

Jimmy Rabbitte (played by Robert Arkins) wanted to create a rhythm and blues band in Dublin. The question is, will he find the right people to play for the band? He finds the answer after holding auditions and soon after a band called The Commitments is formed. Wlll they rise to stardom? In real life the cast members who made up the band really played their own instruments and even went on a concert tour after the movie was released. This movie is based on Roddy Doyle's novel.Compare Prices on the DVD

* The Doors (Rated: R)

Based on the 1960's rock band The Doors. In this film directed by Oliver Stone, Val Kilmer plays Jim Morrison. This movie attempts to chronicle Morrison's early years and his rise to stardom as a musician. It reveals how the group was formed as well as how Morrison's personal struggles affected the band. Compare Prices on the DVD

* La Bamba (Rated: PG-13)

Based on the life of young musician Ritchie Valens, his rise to fame and his untimely death. Valens is played by actor Lou Diamond Phillips. Compare Prices on the DVD

Happy Chinese New Year

A Brief Look

I've always been fascinated with the culture and traditions of the Chinese, my late grandmother is Chinese as well as my bestfriend of 17 years. The Chinese has one of the richest and colorful traditions in history. One of their much anticipated celebration is the Chinese New Year.

When Is It Celebrated?

Spring festival, or what is more known as the Chinese New Year, is considered one of the most important events in China. The celebration is based on the lunar calendar, so that the first day of the lunar year marks the Chinese New Year. Thus, the event falls between late January to early February. The celebration begins on the eve of the lunar new year and continues on until the fifth day of the lunar calendar's first month. Next will come the lantern festival.

How Is It Celebrated?

Generally, the Chinese people prepares for this holiday by making sure everything in their life is in order, or at least under control.

By this I mean the house should be clean, rifts or problems should be resolved, wear clean or new clothes, etc. At midnight there are fireworks and firecrackers to greet the coming of the new year. The belief behind this is that the noise created by the firecrackers will drive away evil spirits.

What's In the Menu?

After the festivities, the family will sit down to a feast. A sticky rice pudding called nian gao (or "tikoy" in my native tongue) as well as dumplings is usually present in these feasts. Nian gao is also given to family and friends, the belief behind this is that the stickiness of the nian gao will hold or bond the family together. Also, because of its' round shape and sweet taste, it is said to bring good fortune and sweetness to one's life. In my home, we usually cut the nian gao into lengthwise pieces, roll it into beaten eggs and fried. It's delicious!

Other Aspects of the Chinese New Year

Houses are decorated with lights and lanterns. Red is a popular color to wear when ushering in the Chinese New Year. Also, hongbao, or red envelopes that contain money, are given to family and friends (especially the youngsters) as a symbol of luck and wealth. There are also lots of musical performances and parades, the most famous of which are the dragon and lion dance. In the Chinese culture, the dragon is the deity of water ensuring that no drought will come. The lion, on the other hand, helps ward off evil spirits since it symbolizes power and courage.

What Moves You

I have always been creative. Some of my earliest memories of creating art are not the most pleasant: Bored in math class, drawing my own rendition of an ad campaign for women's undergarments and having the instructor come up behind me, catch me drawing, then 'sharing' it with the class. Later, perhaps in fourth grade; having an assignment to write a story using all of the words from the weekly vocabulary list. An afternoon of work later resulting in a short story. I handed it in, only to have the instructor accuse me of plagiarizing it.

These two instances just from my personal experiences are wonderful examples of the education system failing in its task to inspire future generations. A math instructor may find that teaching applicable use for geometry might be the thing needed to illustrate the 'golden ratio or mean"' as a use for fraction and geometry. Likewise, the english teacher exhibited so little faith in the abilities of her charges, lacking inspiration herself, how would she be able to recognize and nurture it in her class?

Being creative is both a blessing and a curse. Creatives are often marginalized, thought of as so 'different' that their concepts and ideas are often beyond the scope of most other people. To draw and paint, to write and dream, to create music were not the skills valued in my home as I was growing up. Those skills and talents were not considered useful for a financially secure future. I suspect it can be said by most creatives, that their parents had 'higher hopes' for them than the insecurity of an artists life.

One art which I had no skill at was the making of music. Growing up, I always loved music. We always listened to music; I grew up hearing Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and the Comets and other 1950 era musicians. Over the years, my tastes changed, the styles of music changed, the musicians changed. But I never lost the awe I held for musicians. Not having musical talent, it never occurred to me that musicians, like visual artists and writers, were just creative people. Instead of seeing images in their heads, they heard music there. Instead of playing with words, they played with notes and chords and lyric turnings. Recently I've been able to meet musicians who are comfortable enough about their work to talk about creating it. Their music and vision has inspired some of my own art. These musicians struggle daily with the same issues that plague artists everywhere, and have always plagued artists: how to be successful. Or when to know when success has been achieved and how to hold on to it.

Another factor for all artists is the constant concern that one must remain successful so that there is never a need to go back to working at something they do not love.

Success is generally measured with the yardstick of financial accumulation, or in the case of musicians, grammy awards and platinum records. But what if we chose another ruler to measure success by? What if success could be measured by how our work inspires others to be creative? Or to reach across some divide and establish unity? If in twenty years, I am still able to afford to work at my own schedule, to not worry about supporting myself and my family, have I achieved success? If the walls of my office are lined with awards, but I can not touch the people who enjoy my work, have I been successful? If in twenty years or two thousand, I can look back at a body of work that has facilitated the work of others, can I be called successful?

How would the cave painters of Lascaux have felt if they could look to the future and see the work the artists of Knossos depicting the Bull dance of the court of Minos? And what would the Knossos artists make of Picasso and his Guernica? Would they have been able to recognize the direct inspiration from their own work? Maybe success can be measured in two ways; the way our art enables us to live and the way our art enables others to live.

It seems to me that success is truly empty unless both criteria is filled. The criteria of providing us a comfortable living doing the things we love and the building on a body of work that continues to grow even after we, as the artists, let it go and hand it off to another, or vacate this earth.

The creation of art is a gift that the artist gives to the world. Just like other gifts, the recipient is free to do with it as he or she sees fit. But the successful artist knows that if the gift is well received, it comes back to them again and again, and in ways that we can not know when we first conceive it and bring a work to it's fruition

Mix in Music

The Continuing Serenade

Music is the rhythmic accompaniment to our lives. People are born to music, study to music, drive, eat, sleep, and dream to music. People spend more money on music than on books, and music stars become our idols and companions.

We expect to hear an auditory signal and will usually supply one when none exists. Some people will talk to avoid silence. Others will leave a TV or radio on in the background, or provide their own music by singing, humming, rapping or whistling. An extreme example is person who whistles while walking through a graveyard. Their auditory signal adds comfort and warmth to the cold and foreboding environment.

The auditory signal is critical to success in live training. Imagine training devoid of audio (no laughter, no conversation and no lecture) and you see the point. Audio is present in training. What that auditory presentation lacks is variety, especially where music is concerned.

Composer George Burt once commented, “When we see pictures and hear music at the same time we invariably make a connection, if only on an unconscious level.” When music is combined with information powerful brain connections occur. Anyone who learned their ABCs by singing a song, learned to say words by watching Sesame Street, or remembers the song that was playing on the radio during a critical moment in their life knows first hand the power of auditory signals.

There is ample evidence of the effectiveness of music in aiding learning. A wealth of studies from the education, musicology and health care fields demonstrate the effectiveness of music in increasing learning, healing and self-esteem. History also proves the point. Twice in the past, audio and video were separate and then combined. The result was electrifying.

Sound Wins

The first silent films were short scenes lasting only a minute or two. They were immediate, but short lived sensations. Absolute silence, the total absence of both voice and musical sound proved to be a deadly combination. Viewing a silent film was described as “cold and bare, ghostly, lifeless and colorless.”

Fortunately for the theater owners, musicians were already on their payroll. The theater owners told the musicians to play something, anything. They did, and it worked. Music became so effective at solving these problems that film critics of the era called music the “flame which brought life and warmth” to the experience. Live music accompaniment continued out of necessity until The Warner Brother's “talking” picture “The Jazz Singer” came out in 1927. Within one year, silent films were extinct! Silent film stars, directors, musicians, and non-talkie theater locations went silent themselves. The public had spoken for sound.

Several years later radio found itself threatened by television. Radio networks feared that the combined audio and video signals of TV would put them out of business. There were some dislocations, but radio did not die.

The comparison between silent films and radio is instructive. When people had a choice between a solitary auditory signal (radio) or an auditory signal combined with a visual signal they favored the combination, but still patronized the audio signal. Conversely, when people had a choice between a solely visual signal (silent films) or one combined with audio, they, by acclimation, chose the combined signal. TV AFFECTED radio. Talkies DESTROYED silent film. Sound won.

Sound Wins Again Home video games had been around since the late 1970s when Atari introduced the home video game equivalent of the silent film: “Pong.” Pong offered a limited visual presence, and more importantly, an auditory signal that consisted of only a single “pong” as the electronic ball bounced from side to side.

Home video games progressed from this simple beginning, becoming more interactive and visually stimulating, while largely ignoring the auditory signal. Like silent films, home video games didn’t emanate warmth. And also like silent films, the bottom fell out of the home video game market. By 1984 American stores were refusing to carry video games.

And then in 1985 something revolutionary happened. Nintendo introduced gamers to the Super Mario Brothers. By 1990, Mario the Italian plumber was recognized by more American children than Mickey Mouse!

Super Mario Brothers succeeded because it was a complete package, offering striking visuals and, more importantly, auditory coherence. Lead designer Shigeru Miyamoto in describing the game's design stated, “The state of mind of a kid when he enters a cave alone must be realized in the game. Going in, he must feel the cold air around him. Not just the experiences but the feelings connected with those events were essential to make the game meaningful.” The game's music was instrumental in connecting those feelings.

Mix In Music

Fortunately for live training, it already has an audio signal: the trainer. Unfortunately, listening to that one auditory signal all day makes for really boring training. It’s not an accident that we refer to it as “death by lecture.”

Film composer George Burt once observed, “When placed together (video and audio) to achieve a common goal, a great deal more is expressed than would be possible by means of either medium alone.” Music, when properly inserted into the training environment can lift some of the cold, lifeless quality that often typifies training.

Among other usages, music can provide cover for silent activities and small group discussions, announce the beginning and ending of breaks, reflect the emotions of the learning and enhance activities.

Twice in history an audio-visual medium faced a crossroads. In both cases, success resulted when the auditory and the visual signals were integrated. Trainers who, with history as their guide, integrate the auditory component will gain a huge advantage over the competition. They will never hear complaints about “death by lecture.”

Modern Turkish Music Stars Salute the 'Past Master' Zeki Muren

Whether you favor Turkish Music in the arabesque, pop, or Sanat-Art musical style, these are some of the biggest names of the Turkish Music scene of any era -- Sezen Aksu, Muazzez Abaci, Ajda Pekkan, Erol Evgin, Seda Sayan, Muazzez Ersoy, Özcan Deniz, Zerrin Özer, Deniz Seki, and Müzeyyen Senar. The only very obvious big-name musical star missing from that list is Bülent Ersoy -- and her absence, in this case, is no surprise and no mistake...

They had all gathered in March for the first time at the Imaj Music Studio in İstanbul to begin rehearsals for a special musical concert -- to honor Zeki Müren (1931-1996) and his music. The concert (held in April at MyShadowland Concert Hall in Istanbul) was the main attraction of the '13th Annual Golden Lens Awards' ceremonies -- sponsored by MGD (The Turkish Magazine and Newspaperman's Association).

And it was a smash hit -- which even produced a 'life-time achievement award' for Sezen Aksu (the reigning queen of Turkish music, who, as a young woman, wrote some of the songs that Zeki Bey made famous).

It was so successful in fact, that the participants decided to make a music album (now released) of the songs they sang at the concert -- with all the profits going to support well-known Turkish Education and Health-related charities. The music album (titled "One Voice -- 13 Breaths' -- the same name as the concert), was produced under the direction of Mustafa Sagyasar, a well known musical artist in his own right.

And not even the absence of Bülent Ersoy's big name (due to her lifelong feud with musical rival Zeki Bey) could mar the successful release of the instant-classic Art Music album -- which gracefully floated to the top of the Turkish music charts in record time.

The Immense Popularity of the Piano Continues To This Day

Every since about 1709 when Christofori announced that he had invented an instrument to upscale the harpsichord, which plays all at one volume level -- no soft or loud -- that played both soft and loud -- which he appropriately named the "pianoforte" (which means "soft-loud" -- later the name was shorted to just "piano") -- people throughout the world have been entranced with the harmonic sound of the piano - it's richness and fullness in enabling musicians to play many notes at once or in rapid succession.

(An excellent history of the piano may be found at uk-piano.org/history/piano-tuner-history)

Most instruments are not solo instruments in the sense that they require an accompanianist, but not so with the piano. It can play alone as well as with combos, orchestras, or whatever. It's unique sound qualities make it the first choice in musical instruments for millions of folks the world over.

Because of that fact, multitudes of people around the world have purchased pianos and continue to purchase pianos in hopes of mastering the "musical monster with 88 ivory teeth". Some of the dominant manufacturers are Steinway, Yamaha, Baldwin, Kawaii, Bosendorfer and many others. Pianos come in various shapes and sizes, including:

Grand Pianos:

Parlor Grand. Size 4'5" to 5'5"

Baby Grand. Size 5'0" to 6'5"

Medium Studio Grand. Size 5'6" to 6'5"

Semi-Concert Grand. Size 6'6" to 8'0".

Concert Grand. Most concert grands are 9' in length

Upright Pianos:

Spinet. Size 35" to 39" tall.

Console. 40" to 44" tall.

Studio: 45" to 47" tall.

Professional. 48" to 52" tall.

Every since the invention of the piano, parents have signed their children up for piano lessons in hope they would become the next Mozart, or a least be able to entertain family and friends. But for every 100 kids that start piano lessons, probably less than 20% or so actually continue with the lessons long enough to play decently. Still, it is a good education in music, and certainly good for developing self-discipline and focus.

To really master piano playing, a beginning student must gradually learn many different disciplines and aspects of music including: sight-reading sheet music (or the score of a classical piece); fingering of scale passages and chord formations; keyboard chords, from major chords to minor chords to augmented chords to diminished chords to 7th chords and more; music theory, including major scales, minor scales, whole-tone and chromatic scales, and the "church modes", plus some specialty scales such as the Mediterranean scale, the blues scale, and so on; the tonic note or tonic tone, triads, arpeggios, the concept of key (key of C, key of Eb, key of F#, etc.) unisons, intervals, inversions, chords -- both primary and secondary, figured bass, chord symbols; dynamics and dynamic markings such as sforzando, presto, largo, allegro, etc, pedaling, body position, ear-training, music appreciation, a study of the great composers such as Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, etc., interpretation, arranging, and a host of related subjects in the harmony and music theory areas.

This often involves years of learning at home with a teacher ( sometimes supplemented by online music lessons) and numerous music books, chord charts, fingering diagrams and musical scores. Meanwhile the student learns to play songs and classical pieces galore that contribute to the warmth of the home and the enjoyment of the family.

And if the student fails to become another Brubeck or Garner, he or she has still benefited tremendously in terms of music education, appreciation, the ability to concentrate, and many other qualities that flow out of having taken piano lessons. Plus he or she has brought the sound of music into their parent's home, and hopefully will continue with it when they form their own family.

The Kid Rocks: Three Generations Are Fed A Varied Musical Diet

Many summers ago I drove to a distant rural Canadian town every two weeks to teach violin lessons. The grueling 5-hour drive (did I mention I was pregnant?) seemed to whiz past when I spent quality time with my musician buddies, Bob and Fred. That is, Robert Plant and Freddy Mercury of the legendary classical rock bands Led Zeppelin and Queen, respectively.

British Columbia speed laws were drastically infringed when I blasted “Immigrant Song” and I was my car's own Canadian Idol, crooning at the top of my lungs to “Bohemian Rhapsody."

It was during one of these trips that my husband and I discovered our expectant son, Ryan, was a classic rock buff! We were listening to Zeppelin’s “Physical Grafitti” when the baby started kicking in my belly like Sid Vicious meets Riverdance. We thought the kicking to the beat a funny coincidence at first, but realised the moment we changed to something non-rock, the kicking would cease. Blast the rock and the steady thumping would resume.

My bladder has seen better days.

Ryan was born that fall and we discovered the intra-belly dancing was no fluke. This kid loved rock! His preferred teething tune was a rowdy cut from “Night at the Opera,” the Queen album that became a vital part of our bedtime ritual.

Each night as the teething pain crept in I'd distract my drooling infant by spinning around wildly on an office chair to “Death on Two Legs.” This much-anticipated routine matured into a dancing frenzy where our offspring gyrated, wiggled and squealed with delight. He was singing along with "My Sharona" and "Boris the Spider" at an age when average children are learning "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Old MacDonald."

Like Ryan, I loved classic rock at a tender, impressionable age. My favourite toddler records (you know, those big, black CDs) were by all the top bands of the 70's. I wanted to grow up to become Deborah Harry of "Blondie" and had a crush on Billy Joel and Elton John. I also loved classical music and would cry every time I listened to the second movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony.

The musical chairs began when I started playing violin and further immersed myself in classical music, abandoning pop music. My pre-teen pals were blasting Metallica when I was head-banging to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, some “real heavy stuff." My teenage makeshift tattoos, “Bach Rules” and “Beethoven Kicks Ass,” were a firm indication of my pop-cultural retardation.

Circa 1994 my hip friends somehow managed to force-feed me Pearl Jam and Nirvana and I realised I'd missed out on the whole Alterative movement. I abandoned plans to attend an expensive conservatory and accepted my dad's offer of an all-expenses paid trip to jazz college.

A classical musician thrown at the mercy of an all jazz and contemporary program, I was both humbled and enlighened. I developed a technical appreciation for jazz and its cerebral theory, but my real joy came when I started a 70’s rock band with my classmates. We played everything from Pink Floyd to Santana. I even performed the epic “Kashmir" once. I was home again.

Coming out of music school was like a musical renaissance. I was overwhelmed with all the music I previously didn’t give credit to and rapidly changed musical chairs again. I got into some techno thanks to Propellerheads and Portishead. I recharged my love for the Beatles and Billy Joel and added Rush, Supertramp and Abba to the mix.

I started experimenting with various forms of fiddle music and absorbed any Mark O-Connor, Natalie Macmaster and Stephan Grapelli music I could get my paws on. I soon learned to support artists outside my sheltered classical world, from Leonard Cohen to Nine Inch Nails, Alanis Morissette to Marilyn Manson.

Then, like my mother before me, I spent the entirety of my pregnancy munching on french fries and listening to classic rock. Thus another generation was hooked to rock music of the 70's.

Ryan and I really can’t help but love it! Both of us have listened to the stuff since before we were born: it’s embedded in our DNA! I know Ryan has music in him and have supported his music education with a child-sized drum kit, a teeny tiny violin and a huge piano.

“Rock please, mommy” Ryan says sweetly from his booster seat behind me. I put “ZOSO” in the car stereo and he says, “really loud.” We car-karoke together on the way to get groceries, headbanging and stomping our feet as we drive along.

Linking Music To The Heart Of A Child

Music is powerful and persuasive. It touches one’s emotion, motivation, creativity and relaxation. It has the soothing effect that can calm our mental nerves. It inspires you to do something new and productive. It gives you ideas. It lulls you to sleep. The list is definitely endless.

Music is many things. It makes us happy, annoyed, melancholic, afraid and mad. Music is also for every one. It invades almost anything and everything. Different milieus have their own music to recollect. Various races and continents also enjoy distinctive music. Young and old alike take pleasure in it.

In every stages of life there will always be music for it is perpetual. In fact, there are unique types of music that caters to specific group of individuals. Rock and metal music cater to hyperactive music enthusiasts. Love, acoustic and pop songs blend well with lovers and emotional persons. For kids there is the children’s music.

Children’s music can give kids a magical experience. They can play roles with it. For a moment, they can be a pretty princess with a castle or a dashing knight in shining armor. They can simultaneously play musical instruments. They can dance and sing.

Music is entertaining most especially to children. Thus, even at the very young age they must be exposed to music. By doing so, kids develop their sense of adventure and discovery.

Aside from that, they can be knowledgeable about children’s music lyrics. They can also develop the basic languages.

Children’s music can also be treated as therapy. Application of children’s music can treat some physiological and psychosocial elements of illness. Treatment is aimed for the acquisition of non-musical behavior by virtue of systematic musical methods.

Studies have proven that children with developmental delays and learning disabilities like Down’s syndrome respond to music. Thus, exposure to music can boost response and expression. As a result, individual expressions and talents like singing and dancing can be discovered.

Children’s music treats developmental delays and learning disabilities by drawing out movements. The latter develops self-awareness which can easily be manifested. Examples of these movements are gripping the beater, tapping a triangle, playing cymbals and drums and the likes.

The relationship between children’s music and movement cannot be overemphasized. The rhythm of music creates the ideal stimulus that results to coordinated movements. These movements lead to repetition which is a mode of child learning.

Aside from entertainment and therapy, children’s music is also a special kind of education. It develops the cognitive skills of children. Exposure to music stimulates learning about colors, numbers, shapes and parts of the body. As a consequence, though may not be the primary goal, it increases the child’s intelligence.

Stimulation of cognitive abilities leads to multi-sensory development. The latter contributes to the ability of a child to retail information and be attentive to detail. As a result, the child becomes confident and clever.

Children’s music can also develop the child’s social skills. Usually, musical experiences are done in groups. Participants can sing in unison or one after the other. With this process, every one is encouraged to participate thus participants eventually become closer.

Children’s music can be so powerful that it can develop both the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of a child. It simultaneously augments functional abilities at the same time the expressive and creative capacities of a child

Brian Jones, Founder of the Rolling Stones

Last year the music community and fans marked the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death. Predictably, quite a few new Beatles books have hit the stores just in time for the holidays. Few bands have managed to carve out such a coveted place in rock n' roll history, which leads to the age old question: The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. It's a debate that has raged on since the early 60s, with devoted fans of each voicing their steadfast opinions. Others stand firmly in the middle, believing it's simply a matter of taste. Both artists contributed much to the history of recorded music. More than 40 years after their formation, The Rolling Stones still tour the world, though some argue they are a pale shadow of the once vibrant band they were in the early 60s. Ultimately, they are still selling out shows and fans are still enjoying them.

Most Stones fans cite the prolific material of the 1970s as the group's best work and few can downplay the importance of EXILE ON MAIN STREET and LET IT BLEED. But, the term 'best' is open to interpretation. Surely, it had a strong impact on bands to follow but the same can be said of the Stones early material, represented by such classic albums like 1966's AFTERMATH and 1968's BEGGARS BANQUET . The early live shows and recordings set new boundaries by tying classic blues and R&B together with raw rock n' roll. The blues foundation, which carried over into the Stones 70s material, was rooted in the band's original guitarist and founder, Brian Jones. The "forgotten Stone" is known to few newer Stones fans. Still, Brian's enigmatic persona and unique style mirrors Lennon's in the Beatles. Accounts claim Lennon was, in fact, closer to Brian than any of the other Stones. The two were inseparable during the infamous Rock N' Roll Circus debacle of 1968 and there were even rumors they discussed the possibility of a musical collaboration prior to Brian's untimely death in 1969. Our imaginations could only envision how it would have turned out. Sadly, too few remember Brian and the often understated impact he had on one of the most quintessential rock n' roll bands of all time.

I've read nearly every book on the life of Brian Jones and visited his grave in the English countryside a few years back. Most books say the same thing: they talk about Brian's early life and childhood; his meeting with Mick and Keith, which led to the formation of the Stones; his subsequent downfall due to lack of self-esteem and drug use, and his untimely death ruled a suicide but still believed by many to be murder. Lost in all of these books is the true insight into Brian as a person. There is mention of both his many character flaws, which contributed to his ultimate downfall, and his many attributes, including a tenacity that drove the Stones to the forefront of a musical rebellion. The two conflicting sides of Brian's personality somehow melded together to form a musician with unique talent, whose musical "flavorings" helped the Stones stand out from their contemporaries; from the sitar on "Paint It Black to the dulcimer on "Lady Jane".

The Rolling Stones were formed in the early 60s when Brian came together with childhood friends Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In the early years, the three held each other in admiration and even lived together in squalor in a small London apartment without heat during one of the roughest winters on record in the UK. Brian had a hard time holding onto steady work and he and Keith would spend hours practicing guitar riffs in their freezing apartment. The trio would often share a bed to keep warm at night, a story that eventually led to rumors that Mick and Brian had a sexual relationship. Mick, Keith and Brian were the glue that held the Stones together until they crossed paths with Andrew Oldham, who became their manager and marketer. His business savvy impressed the group and they trusted his input, which eventually included elevating Mick and Keith to the post of songwriting team (an unofficial 'poster boys'). Though not able to break into the "Glitter Twins" writing monopoly, Brian was able contribute enduring musical masterpieces, with instruments ignored in contemporary music up until that time. Truly gifted, Brian was able to pick up just about any instrument and learn how to play it in just a few hours time. His brilliant sitar performance on "Paint It Black" is heralded as one of his best. The song owes its "classic" status to Brian's inspired performance. Regardless, Brian was gradually removed as self-proclaimed 'leader' of the Stones. Only those present can be certain of the dynamics at play, but the accepted version is that Mick and Keith grew closer while writing, as Brian became more and more alienated. His severe self-esteem problem, something he was never able to conquer, apparently kept him from offering input and further isolated him from the band. It has been said that Brian actually wrote songs and had he been more mentally stable, he might have been confident enough to present them to the band. They are now rumored to be held by one of his many ex-girlfriends. Some members of the Stones inner circle claim that Brian, and not Keith Richards, actually crafted the famous riff that launches the Stones classic "Satisfaction". The story goes that Brian was playing the riff one day, and Keith heard it. Later, Keith awoke in the middle of the night and began playing the riff into a tape recorder, expanding on it to create the tune that became legendary. The rumor of Brian's input has never been corroborated. Ultimately, Brian's paranoid insistence that the remainder of the Stones were "out to get him" kept him from achieving his most coveted musical: to be recognized as a songwriter.

By the mid-60s, Brian Jones had developed a serious dependence on illegal drugs. Sadly, these mixed badly with his poor mental health, leading to further isolation and paranoia. If Brian were alive today, he would most likely be diagnosed as manic depressive and placed on medication to control his extreme ups and downs. In Brian's day, however, far less was known about such medical conditions and Brian was left to cope with his growing stardom and increasingly shrinking role in the Stones and unable to dig himself out of the cycle of alternating megalomania and self-loathing. Interestingly, Mick and Keith's much-publicized "drug orgy" at Keith's home, Redlands, eclipsed Brian's own arrest and trial for retaining a controlled substance. Even in drug use, Brian had failed to measure up and he continued to feel defeated. As Brian sunk deeper and deeper into a drug-induced stupor, it has been said that his personality became unbearable. Many claim the drug use made him nasty and violent and he was accused of beating more than one of his ex-girlfriends, which eventually lead to the infamous "Anita Pallenberg incident". Anita, a German model Brian met in 1966, has been called Brian's only 'true love'. In 1967, she joined Brian and Keith, among others, on a trip to Morocco. Legend has it Brian became irate with Anita and beat her to the point where she fled to Keith, hysterical and begging for help. Keith came to her rescue and the entire group left Morocco, leaving Brian behind. Keith and Anita would eventually become lovers (legend has it she also had onscreen intercourse with Mick while filming the cult film "Performance") widening the gap between Brian and the other Stones even further. By the time Brian returned to the UK on his own, his relationship with the Stones was beyond repair.

It's clear, through stories from bandmates, ex-girlfriends and friends, that Brian Jones could be an outright louse but he could also be a trusted friend and confident musician. Sadly, by the time the Stones recorded the infamous THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST in 1967, Brian was worlds apart from his former 'best buddies'. He hated the album and repeatedly begged the other Stones not to release it, claiming it blatantly ripped off the Beatles SGT. PEPPERS album. Strangely enough, this is the first Stones album that featured a track written by a Stone other than Mick or Keith, Bill Wyman's "In Another Land". Upon release, Brian's opinion was proven correct, as critics and fans dismissed the album as a pale shadow of its Beatles counterpart. Over time, the album has been given much more credit for its place in rock history. By the time the Stones hit the studio to record the follow-up, 1968s BEGGARS BANQUET, Brian was all but useless. Luckily, he was able to contribute some fantastic slide guitar to "Salt of the Earth" and lend some backup vocals to "Sympathy for the Devil". Sadly, Keith was forced to pick up most of the slack on this album, and Brian's dismissal from the Stones was all but imminent. Brian managed to contribute mildly to LET IT BLEED, released in 1969, but his part is barely worth a mention.

The Stones asked Brian to leave the group in June of 1969. The split was reported in the press as mutual, and Brian retired to his home, Cotchford Farm, formerly owned by A.A. Milne, writer of the classic "Winnie the Pooh" books. Brian spent much time working on music and 'detoxing' during this time. He reportedly discussed collaborations with other musicians, including the members of Credence Clearwater Revival and John Lennon. Sadly, on July 2, 1969, Brian Jones was found dead in his swimming pool, his passing ruled "death by misadventure" a/k/a drowning. Interestingly, neither Mick Jagger nor Keith Richards attended Brian's funeral, though the Stones held a 'memorial concert' in Hyde Park days after his death. Both Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman attended the service in Brian's native Cheltenham, while rumors that Brian's death was actually murder surfaced shortly thereafter. First, his girlfriend at the time, Anna Wohlin, was whisked away never to be seen again. Second, though Brian was an expert swimmer and there was a nurse at his home the evening of his death, no one was able to save him. Third, though Brian did have narcotics in his system at the time of his death, they were not strong enough to have rendered him helpless in his own pool. New theories have abounded in books by Wohlin and Terry Rawlings, among others. The general consensus is that Brian was killed by a live-in contractor, Frank Thorogood. Published reports claim the two had a falling out, prompting Thorogood to hold Brian's head under the water until he drowned. Rawling's book claims, according to former Stones tour manager Tom Keylock, Thorogood eventually confessed to the crime on his deathbed. British producer Stephen Wooley is currently working on a film centered mainly on Wohlin's book. STONED (scheduled for release in early 2006) claims to finally 'solve' the mystery of Brian's death. According to Wooley, Janet Lawson (the nurse at Brian's home on the night he died) offered valuable information that led to the ending of the film. The indie film may be hard to find at local theaters but a DVD release is also planned. Whether or not the film is a success, the music of the Stones will stand as a testament to Brian's legacy. If you aren't familiar with the early material, now is your chance to pick it up. It surely shaped all Stones material to come, including their current work. If you are interested in more on Brian's life, there are many books to check out, each with subtle nuances and interesting stories. Either way, it's a pleasant musical education. Happy New Year!

The Dad Behind 'The Doodlebops'

The Doodlebops are taking two nations by storm. Surely you've heard of them! If you haven't yet, you undoubtedly will soon. They're the hottest new children's show since The Wiggles.

The Doodlebops are DeeDee, Moe and Rooney Doodle--pretend rock stars starring in a musical comedy show. They have oodles of energy and play catchy music.

Each episode takes you backstage as they interact and together tackle life's problems. At the end of each show, they perform.

Produced in Canada, the program premiered last summer on the CBC, and in a very short time, has become a hit show. In the U.S., the Disney Channel began airing The Doodlebops in April as part of its Playhouse Disney lineup.

"The show is vibrant, colorful, fun and funny, all elements that are appealing to preschoolers," says Patti McTeague, spokesperson for the Disney Channel in Los Angeles. "The music built into the show supports many common themes parents are reviewing with their preschoolers such as making friends and pl aying well together."

McTeague says The Doodlebops show is a top performer in the Playhouse block among children ages 2-5.

Now, The Doodlebops are about to step out of the small screen. There's a real-life concert tour planned, a DVD and even Doodlebops dolls!

People just can't stop talking about the show.

Even as producers build the show's official internet site, several "unofficial" sites have already sprung up.

"Why did we decide to create a website for The Doodlebops?" says one site. "We did this because our son... saw one episode of The Doodlebops, and fell quickly in love."

The man who created The Doodlebops is a dad of two. Jamie Waese talks with interactive DAD about his hit show; how he tries to make the program educational as well as entertaining; and the best way to watch TV with your kids.

Waese talked with InteractiveDaDMagazine.com from Toronto, Ontario, Canada following a costume meeting with CBC executives.

interactive DAD: How did this idea come about and tell me about the name, it’s rather unusual?

Waese: The Doodlebops is a fun name for a rock band. We were just looking for a fun name, what can I say. I wish I had a better story to tell you about that!

interactive DAD: How did the idea come about?

Waese: We have a really fabulous songwriter/music director who’s also co-creator of the series, his name is Carl Lenox. And he one day came up with the idea of doing a show for pre-schoolers about a rock band. And then I… helped flesh out the look, feel and style of the show and then The Doodlebops emerged.

interactive DAD: I think it’s an unusual show from my observations because of the costumes. Looking at the hands, they almost seem cartoon like…

Waese: I like to describe the show as a live-action cartoon. We obviously are drawing references from a number of live action shows. And we crossed it with elements from Pee Wee's Playhouse and The Banana Splits and all sorts of wonderful things from our childhood. My background is in animation. I used to work for The Walt Disney Company and came up through the ranks in Saturday morning cartoons and I bring that to it.

interactive DAD: What cartoons were you involved with?

Waese: I was an executive in charge of production for a show called Recess (and involved in) Buzz Lightyear Star Command. It was a fun time and a really good education for me and I worked my way through a number of things in Canada… But this show is my first live-action show and I think you can really see the cartoon influence in it.

interactive DAD: When watching the show, I noticed that you have certain scenes repeated almost identically in every episode, like ‘Don’t Pull the Rope' the pledge of 'I Promise to Care, I Promise to Share...'

Waese: That’s one of the things that I really like about the series: the repetitiveness, doing similar things in similar ways every episode. A lot of times like after (Moe) pulls the rope there’s a different funny line. A lot of times with The Pledge we’ll follow up with a different funny line.

I like the sameness and minor differences. It just sort of helps build the style--and when I watch the show with children they really respond to that. They shout at the TV, they know it’s coming, it’s comfortable. One of the things that a lot of people are trying to do these days is combat the "couch potato syndrome" and we’re doing that by encouraging kids to dance.

interactive DAD: What about the education components, you have the oath, the plege, which you talked about, the 'We promise to care, promise to share…"

Waese: When we were developing the series we met with a number of developmental psychologists to find out what the hot button issues are right now in children’s programming.

One of the things that came out as something that’s imporant to preschool teachers but not being addressed in the current batch of television shows right now is a notion called "school rediness."

What preschool teachers are reporting is that children need to come into classrooms with more social skills, and with more confidence working problems out together and respecting one-another’s space.

So school-readiness is what was an important part in the educational foundation of our show. We found that a rock band is a really good way of sort of approaching that problem.

Here we have a situation where there’s three young people who are working together. The three of them are sharing the same goals and the same resources and together they have to work out the problems that arise: Like who’s going to write the song for the concert tonight; who’s going to be the one chosen to be on the cover of the magazine; who’s going to be the one that decides what they’re gonna play that day and how they’re going to play. And so it’s really a nice way to deal with the same issues that preschoolers deal with in a fun and a more glamourous way. I mean who doesn’t want to hang out with coolest rock band in the world?

interactive DAD: You’re a dad yourself…

Waese: I am. I have a one year old and a 4 year old.

interactive DAD: What message would you have for dads when it comes to watching TV with their kids?

Waese: I do find that watching shows along with your children is a good way to underscore whatever value or social value you’re hoping to get out of shows.

A really helpful thing to do, is after you see a show that conveys a good scene or message or lesson, is to ask them a few questions. Just see if they were paying attention or if their eyes were glazed over. ‘So would you have done the same thing that DeeDee did there?’ ‘Do you agree with the way they solved that problem?’ Just do it casually, not as a teacher would. But just to engage your child in conversation. Show them that you’re interested in the same thing they're interested in.

interactive DAD: Where do you see The Doodlebops in the months and years to come? Do you hope to be as big as The Wiggles?

Waese: We have some exciting things coming up. We have an album and an 8-DVD set that’s going to be released…

We have a live tour that’s going to be annouced soon. A cross-country live tour that will then move down to the U.S. in the following year. We have a toy line that will be announced shortly. Then we are just gearing up for a second season of 26 new episodes. Slowly but surely we hope to continue growing the band.

interactive DAD: It’s really getting big in Canada, right?

Waese: The show’s doing very well. We’re doing very well in our ratings and we get lots and lots of fan mail everyday. It’s a really exciting time.

Do you really need college to learn to play music

Music courses are a great way to learn about virtually any area of music; history, theory, and musical instrument instruction -- you name it and somewhere music courses specialize in it. Though generally found through colleges, universities or high school programs, music courses are also offered via one-on-one instruction with a private teacher or community-based workshops. Some churches even offer music courses as a complement to their choirs; the music courses may be offered to the general public, but they're often geared toward the choir members and congregation.

In the last few years, however, a new dimension to learning music has appeared in the form of the internet – the world wide web. Now instead of being limited to classroom courses, students are free to create their own schedules and learn at their own pace. A quick search on Google or Yahoo will turn up online courses in:

-Chord Piano

-Classical Piano For Beginners

-Improvising on the Piano & Guitar

-Rock Guitar

-Praise & Worship Guitar

-Killer Drum Instuctions

-Black Gospel Piano

-Jazz Piano

and many many more…

Music courses offered by colleges are generally far more in-depth than other music courses and are usually only available to degree-seeking students (though some colleges offer music courses as part of their continuing education programs). Lower level college music courses often focus on an amalgamation of music theory and history, teaching individual theory concepts based on the historical period to which they are particular. As the music courses grow in skill level so too does the number of specialized topics. Advanced music courses are available for nearly every historical music period and are sometimes based on one particular movement. Advanced music courses for theory grow increasingly more difficult and slowly teach every detail found in modern music theory; it's during the theory music courses that students intending to major in music have their skills challenged the most -- some even refer to these music courses as a weeding out period.

Instrument-based music courses are equally as tough at the college level, though they usually assume a working knowledge of the instrument before the class begins. Those wishing to learn an instrument, therefore, are better off with private music courses or music courses offered by a community orchestra or social group. These music courses will focus on the basic details of learning an instrument, starting from the very beginning. Fingering, theory and music reading will be covered, in addition to the occasional bit of history. Students of these music courses may then wish to move on to college-level music courses after completing a few years of private instruction.

But for those more interested in “recreational music” – in other words, music that is played for personal enjoyment or to entertain family and friends, college music classes are not at all necessary. The internet abounds with wonderful courses that will help you do everything from play at your church to accompany your child on their flute or trombone, or even play in a jazz or rock or fusion or country group.

Preserving Musical Memories

I love to reminisce about the old days when sheet music played an important part in the pop music culture of the time. As soon as a new song was introduced, either by a burlesque singer or by being sent out on radio waves, millions of people would rush out to the music or department store to buy the latest song in sheet music form. Almost everybody owned a piano or could visit as friend who was lucky enough to have one. Piano lessons were part of every child’s education in those days.

A while ago, our chorus music committee leader needed some pictures to supply a theme for the upcoming show on Irving Berlin melodies. I was able to gladden him with twenty samples of songs Berlin wrote in their original colorful form. Today, these graphic reminders of past musical pleasures are available from many sources. Most antique stores have a box of old music you can go through. Relatives who are up in years often have a box or suitcase full of old sheet music they are glad to get rid or. Garage sales and rummage bazaars occasionally have donated to them whole boxes of music. Of course, as a collector you only want music sheets which are in excellent condition.

Most fun are the songs of Tin Pan Alley from the early 1900’s. I have found some rare examples of sheet music from the mid 1800’s, but I have never heart these songs sung.

You also may want to limit your collection to a certain category that pleases you. Most valuable are portrayals of ethnic life in America, covers with pictures of ships, planes or automobiles, or of famous people. It goes without saying that there are certain rare covers which bring huge prices, but you don’t have to worry about finding one of those, even though you never know. Easier to collect are sheet music featuring girl’s names, (wanted by their namesakes), famous singers, movie and Broadway hits, and patriotic themes.

I’m sure your older relatives or grandparents can sing or even play most of the songs you find. It’s fun to categorize and preserve your sheet music collection in clear plastic sleeves and chat or trade around the world with other collectors. I found it not too difficult to produce a CD presentation including two or three hundred of your favorite covers along with names of the composer and date, the lyricist, and the celebrity on the front. If you are offering them for sale, include the price. You can follow the popular price guides or depend on supply and demand. Most excellent quality sheet music covers of a collectible nature are worth from ten to twenty dollars on the market to the right people. You might even find a copy of ‘Their Song’ for framing.

Do you really need college to learn to play music

Music courses are a great way to learn about virtually any area of music; history, theory, and musical instrument instruction -- you name it and somewhere music courses specialize in it. Though generally found through colleges, universities or high school programs, music courses are also offered via one-on-one instruction with a private teacher or community-based workshops. Some churches even offer music courses as a complement to their choirs; the music courses may be offered to the general public, but they're often geared toward the choir members and congregation.

In the last few years, however, a new dimension to learning music has appeared in the form of the internet – the world wide web. Now instead of being limited to classroom courses, students are free to create their own schedules and learn at their own pace. A quick search on Google or Yahoo will turn up online courses in:

-Chord Piano

-Classical Piano For Beginners

-Improvising on the Piano & Guitar

-Rock Guitar

-Praise & Worship Guitar

-Killer Drum Instuctions

-Black Gospel Piano

-Jazz Piano

and many many more…

Music courses offered by colleges are generally far more in-depth than other music courses and are usually only available to degree-seeking students (though some colleges offer music courses as part of their continuing education programs). Lower level college music courses often focus on an amalgamation of music theory and history, teaching individual theory concepts based on the historical period to which they are particular. As the music courses grow in skill level so too does the number of specialized topics. Advanced music courses are available for nearly every historical music period and are sometimes based on one particular movement. Advanced music courses for theory grow increasingly more difficult and slowly teach every detail found in modern music theory; it's during the theory music courses that students intending to major in music have their skills challenged the most -- some even refer to these music courses as a weeding out period.

Instrument-based music courses are equally as tough at the college level, though they usually assume a working knowledge of the instrument before the class begins. Those wishing to learn an instrument, therefore, are better off with private music courses or music courses offered by a community orchestra or social group. These music courses will focus on the basic details of learning an instrument, starting from the very beginning. Fingering, theory and music reading will be covered, in addition to the occasional bit of history. Students of these music courses may then wish to move on to college-level music courses after completing a few years of private instruction.

But for those more interested in “recreational music” – in other words, music that is played for personal enjoyment or to entertain family and friends, college music classes are not at all necessary. The internet abounds with wonderful courses that will help you do everything from play at your church to accompany your child on their flute or trombone, or even play in a jazz or rock or fusion or country group.

The Benefits of Music for Your Child

As I sit here writing, I can hear in the background my children humming and singing while they play. My four year old son is trying to make up his own rhyming lyrics to a melody he’s made up on the piano and my six year old daughter is reading the lyrics for a song she is practicing for a concert.

Music has had such an impact on our lives. And I know it comes in most part from the simple task of playing children’s music during our day. Together we listen, sing along, dance and even read the lyrics.

For babies and young children music is a wonderful way to learn language and new vocabulary. And they love it. I have never met a young child that doesn’t love music.

Listening to music with your children can create a stimulating atmosphere for your home. Different music can be used to evoke different moods and can be used to create different environments in your home.

When my children were babies, I used to play calm classical music before bedtime. Even now we play classical music when they do art (or when I need a some peace and quiet). At other times we use livelier music to encourage creative movement, development of rhythm, dancing and singing along with. I don’t think we could survive a long car ride without one of our favorite cds.

I have also found music very beneficial for their education. Through music, children (and adults alike) are able to more easily memorize facts. Songs can be used to learn phonics rules, math facts, lifestyle skills and so much more. We now try to find music that teaches about topics the kids are interested in. And I find myself having the opportunity to relearn many subjects including Spanish.

Early exposure to a variety of musical styles can help develop a life long appreciation of music. When your children are young, you as the parent have the opportunity to influence positively the music that the family purchases. You can introduce many different styles and topics before their peers take over in later years.

The greatest benefit of music is that it allows us as a family to spend quality time together. Music is an entertaining alternative to television. With music playing in the background we can still have conversations, read or do other activities. For some strange reason my children seem to quarrel less when their music is playing. We’ll often sing along to lively songs while we fold the laundry and tidy up. Music can be played while we bake cookies or craft. Unlike excessive television which can sometimes distract from our time together, music is something that we can all share together, enhances our home life and promotes family time.

Nowadays there are so many exceptional children’s artists and variety of albums to choose from. It can almost be overwhelming. Fortunately, the internet now allows us the luxury of being able to easily search for music, learn about the artist, read reviews and listen to samples of their work. The following select websites listed below will give you a great start. Good luck, have fun together and allow your child to grow up loving music

The Immense Popularity of the Piano Continues To This Day

Every since about 1709 when Christofori announced that he had invented an instrument to upscale the harpsichord, which plays all at one volume level -- no soft or loud -- that played both soft and loud -- which he appropriately named the "pianoforte" (which means "soft-loud" -- later the name was shorted to just "piano") -- people throughout the world have been entranced with the harmonic sound of the piano - it's richness and fullness in enabling musicians to play many notes at once or in rapid succession.

(An excellent history of the piano may be found at uk-piano.org/history/piano-tuner-history)

Most instruments are not solo instruments in the sense that they require an accompanianist, but not so with the piano. It can play alone as well as with combos, orchestras, or whatever. It's unique sound qualities make it the first choice in musical instruments for millions of folks the world over.

Because of that fact, multitudes of people around the world have purchased pianos and continue to purchase pianos in hopes of mastering the "musical monster with 88 ivory teeth". Some of the dominant manufacturers are Steinway, Yamaha, Baldwin, Kawaii, Bosendorfer and many others. Pianos come in various shapes and sizes, including:

Grand Pianos:

Parlor Grand. Size 4'5" to 5'5"

Baby Grand. Size 5'0" to 6'5"

Medium Studio Grand. Size 5'6" to 6'5"

Semi-Concert Grand. Size 6'6" to 8'0".

Concert Grand. Most concert grands are 9' in length

Upright Pianos:

Spinet. Size 35" to 39" tall.

Console. 40" to 44" tall.

Studio: 45" to 47" tall.

Professional. 48" to 52" tall.

Every since the invention of the piano, parents have signed their children up for piano lessons in hope they would become the next Mozart, or a least be able to entertain family and friends. But for every 100 kids that start piano lessons, probably less than 20% or so actually continue with the lessons long enough to play decently. Still, it is a good education in music, and certainly good for developing self-discipline and focus.

To really master piano playing, a beginning student must gradually learn many different disciplines and aspects of music including: sight-reading sheet music (or the score of a classical piece); fingering of scale passages and chord formations; keyboard chords, from major chords to minor chords to augmented chords to diminished chords to 7th chords and more; music theory, including major scales, minor scales, whole-tone and chromatic scales, and the "church modes", plus some specialty scales such as the Mediterranean scale, the blues scale, and so on; the tonic note or tonic tone, triads, arpeggios, the concept of key (key of C, key of Eb, key of F#, etc.) unisons, intervals, inversions, chords -- both primary and secondary, figured bass, chord symbols; dynamics and dynamic markings such as sforzando, presto, largo, allegro, etc, pedaling, body position, ear-training, music appreciation, a study of the great composers such as Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, etc., interpretation, arranging, and a host of related subjects in the harmony and music theory areas.

This often involves years of learning at home with a teacher ( sometimes supplemented by online music lessons) and numerous music books, chord charts, fingering diagrams and musical scores. Meanwhile the student learns to play songs and classical pieces galore that contribute to the warmth of the home and the enjoyment of the family.

And if the student fails to become another Brubeck or Garner, he or she has still benefited tremendously in terms of music education, appreciation, the ability to concentrate, and many other qualities that flow out of having taken piano lessons. Plus he or she has brought the sound of music into their parent's home, and hopefully will continue with it when they form their own family.

Music & Intelligence: Will Listening to Music Make You Smarter

Will listening to music make you smarter? Will learning to play a musical instrument make your brain grow larger than normal?

Questions like these ones have been popping up all over the place in the past few years, and not just in scientific journals either.

In recent times the media has been fascinated by the research surrounding brain development and music, eagerly reporting on the latest studies to the delight of the music-loving parents of young children.

But all this information - and some misinformation too - has led to generalized confusion about the role of music and music training in the development of the human brain. The bottom line is this: if you're confused by all you read about music study and brain development, you're certainly not alone.

In part, this is due to the manner in which the phrase "the Mozart Effect" has been popularized by the media and bandied about to describe any situation in which music has a positive effect on cognition or behavior.

In fact the Mozart Effect refers specifically to a 1993 research finding by Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and Katherine Ky and published in the prestigious journal Nature. The scientists found that 36 college students who listened to 10 minutes of a Mozart sonata performed higher on a subsequent spatial-temporal task than after they listened to relaxation instructions or silence.

An enchanted media reported this interesting research as "Mozart makes you smarter" - a huge over-simplification of the original results.

As Rauscher explains in a later paper, the Mozart Effect was studied only in adults, lasted only for a few minutes and was found only for spatial temporal reasoning. Nevertheless, the finding has since launched an industry that includes books, CDs and websites claiming that listening to classical music can make children more intelligent.

The scientific controversy - not to mention the popular confusion - surrounding the Mozart Effect, has given rise to a corresponding perplexity for parents. They wonder: "Should my kids even bother with music education?"

In fact the answer to this question is still a resounding yes, since numerous research studies do prove that studying music contributes unequivocally to the positive development of the human brain. Other researchers have since replicated the original 1993 finding that listening to Mozart improves spatial reasoning. And further research by Rauscher and her colleagues in 1994 showed that after eight months of keyboard lessons, preschoolers demonstrated a 46% boost in their spatial reasoning IQ, a skill important for certain types of mathematical reasoning.

In particular, it is early music training that appears to most strengthen the connections between brain neurons and perhaps even leads to the establishment of new pathways. But research shows music training has more than a casual relationship to the long-term development of specific parts of the brain too.

In 1994 Discover magazine published an article which discussed research by Gottfried Schlaug, Herman Steinmetz and their colleagues at the University of Dusseldorf. The group compared magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brains of 27 classically trained right-handed male piano or string players, with those of 27 right-handed male non-musicians.

Intriguingly, they found that in the musicians' planum temporale - a brain structure associated with auditory processing - was bigger in the left hemisphere and smaller in the right than in the non-musicians. The musicians also had a thicker nerve-fiber tract between the hemisphere. The differences were especially striking among musicians who began training before the age of seven.

According to Shlaug, music study also promotes growth of the corpus callosum, a sort of bridge between the two hemispheres of the brain. He found that among musicians who started their training before the age of seven, the corpus callosum is 10-15% thicker than in non-musicians.

At the time, Schlaug and other researchers speculated that a larger corpus callosum might improve motor control by speeding up communication between the hemispheres.

Since then, a study by Dartmouth music psychologist Petr Janata published by Science in 2002, has confirmed that music prompts greater connectivity between the brains left and right hemisphere and between the areas responsible for emotion and memory, than does almost any other stimulus.

Janata led a team of scientists who reported some areas of the brain are 5% larger in expert musicians than they are in people with little or no musical training, and that the auditory cortex in professional musicians is 130% denser than in non-musicians. In fact, among musicians who began their musical studies in early childhood, the corpus callosum, a four-inch bundle of nerve fibers connecting the left and right sides of the brain, can be up to 15% larger.

While it is now clear from research studies that brain region connectivity and some types of spatial reasoning functionality is improved by music training, there is growing evidence that detailed and skilled motor movements are also enhanced.

Apparently the corpus callosum in musicians is essential for tasks such as finger coordination. Like a weight-lifter's biceps, this portion of the brain enlarges to accommodate the increased labour assigned to it.

In a study conducted by Dr. Timo Krings and reported in Neuroscience Letters in 2000, pianists and non-musicians of the same age and sex were required to perform complex sequences of finger movements. The non-musicians were able to make the movements as correctly as the pianists, but less activity was detected in the pianists' brains. The scientists concluded that compared to non-musicians, the brains of pianists are more efficient at making skilled movements.

The study of music definitely affects the human brain and its development, in a staggering number of ways. But what to make of all the research, especially in terms of deciding the best course of music study or appreciation for yourself or your offspring?

A 2000 article by N M Weinberger in MuSICA Research Notes makes the following excellent point: Although the Mozart Effect may not list up to the unjustified hopes of the public, it has brought widespread interest in music research to the public. And listening to ten minutes of Mozart could get someone interested in listening to more unfamiliar music, opening up new vistas.

Irregardless of the hype surrounding the Mozart Effect, the overall academic evidence for music study as a tool to aid brain development, is compelling.

At the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco, Dr. Frank Wilson says his research shows instrumental practice enhances coordination, concentration and memory and also brings about the improvement of eyesight and hearing. His studies have shown that involvement in music connects and develops the motor systems of the brain, refining the entire neurological system in ways that cannot be done by any other activity. Dr. Wilson goes so far as to say he believes music instruction is actually 'necessary' for the total development of the brain.

So the bottom line is this: Music study and practice probably does aid in the development of the brain in various important ways. And after all, if you enjoy music, there is nothing to lose by trying, and everything to gain

Life Is As Musical As A Play

What was the last music you listened to today? How did that music, song or melody make you feel? Or more importantly, how did it make you think?

There is a study that is out to discover whether brains that have been trained musically are more stronger and able to resist the degenerative effects of dementia brought about by old age compared to those brains that are not in any way exposed or trained musically.

This Canadian-made study wants to discover if kids who are given early training in music has a more cognitive edge – in terms of writing, reading and over-all verbal skills – as compared to other kids who have no training in music in any way whatsoever.

The study has been given a grant of more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars by an organization based in California that is related to any and all kinds of research in music.

The researchers who want to conduct the study believe that the human brain is extremely moldable and extremely malleable especially when one is in his childhood and until one reaches full-fledged adulthood.

The researchers hope that once it has been proven that early training in music has a positive effect on how the brain functions – and this functioning goes beyond anything that is musically related – it is therefore essential that music be involved in a child’s early education. Music could also be well utilized as an effective strategy to rehabilitate a brain that has been, in any way, damaged due to disease or stroke.

Previous work done that is related with this study has been conducted in Germany wherein the brains of musicians were studied and wired in order to know how they process music and how music is actually able to trigger any changes – especially physical changes – in the hard wire of the brain.

This study was able to prove that musicians, believe it or not, have an enhanced auditory as well as sensory parts in the brain better than those who are not musicians. It was also seen that musicians who started early training have large areas in the brain, specifically the cortical, than those who started late.

The Canadian-made study will study children and the way their brains function as well as adults who are older and have prior training in music. The ages of the children range between four years old and six years old. The ages of the older group range between fifty to sixty five.

The children will be introduced to violin lessons as well as the piano. Both groups will be going through a battery of tests that will measure the degree of their perception and cognition skills. These groups will then be compared to those groups that are aged the same but have no training in music in any way whatsoever.

The EEG will be used to measure any electrical change in the rain. The MEG will also be used to measure any magnetic change. The MRI will also be utilized to obtain necessary information about the complex structures of the brain.

But basically, the goal of the study is to be able to find various ways and means to utilize music as an effective form of rehabilitation for human brains whose functions have been unintentionally hampered by degenerative diseases like stroke, heart disease, Alzheimers, accident or cancer, to name a few

Music Comes to the San Diego Schools

Over the last decade, schools across the nation have experienced the loss of music. The San Diego schools also had to replace music in many of its schools with other curriculum dictated by the state or federal law. The San Diego schools’ budget only stretches so far and, unfortunately, the arts have felt the biggest hit.

Frank Glasson and the Presidio Brass are changing all of that for the San Diego schools. A trumpet player by profession, Frank is also president of Local 325 of the American Federation of Musicians and director of Presidio Brass, a brass quintet. The veteran musician has performed with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego Opera, and San Diego’s Westwind Brass, as well as ensembles in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Glasson saw that music was steadily disappearing from the San Diego schools and wanted to do something about it. He believes that the constant influence of television, movies, computers and CDs could erode the senses of youth to the more refined music. He enlisted the help of the other members of Presidio Brass — Ray Nowak, Mike McCoy, Sean Reusch, and Scott Sutherland, who play the trumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba, respectively.

Working under the umbrella of the nonprofit San Dieguito Performing Arts Association, Presidio Brass developed the “Musicate the Mind” program for the San Diego schools. Musicate is an educational and musical outreach program, developed specifically to fill the musical void in the schools. With Glasson’s wife Robyn coordinating the events and developing contracts with the San Diego schools, Presidio Brass presents various customized programs for the different grade levels that fits any educational or outreach school requirement.

Glasson and his ensemble want to create relationships with the San Diego schools students, not just play music for them. Within that relationship, he hopes the children will grow to appreciate live music and keep it alive by becoming tomorrow’s supporters of live instrumental music. He plans to eventually do 200 programs per year all over Southern California.

For kindergartners through fifth graders, Presidio Brass introduces the brass instruments, their development, and historical context. The quintet members also give some basic musical concepts in a fun and engaging manner.

For fourth and fifth graders, the ensemble can integrate music into the core curriculum by teaching language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science through the language of music.

For middle and high schoolers, they present their Residency-for-a-Day program, which exposes San Diego schools students to the brass quintet. The hope is to inspire students to promote and cultivate their own musical abilities. Additionally, they want to give encouragement and instruction to those already playing instruments, knowing that such support is crucial.

For high schools, Presidio Brass gives master classes and concerts for their school orchestras and bands.

Though Glasson and the Presidio Brass quintet are in other school districts as well, the San Diego schools and their students will benefit greatly from this unique outreach musical program.

Music Copyright

What is Copyright?

The Copyright Act usually gives the copyright owner the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

· To reproduce the work in written copies, mp3s, Cds, Dvds etc;

· To prepare derivative works based upon the work;

· To distribute the written copies or Cds/Dvds of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

· To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;

· To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and

· In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

How do I protect my original music compositions?

There are a few things that you can do to ensure that your work is protected:

1. Somewhere on your sheet music (usually at the top or bottom) you should put the symbol © (the letter ‘C’ in a circle) and/or the word “Copyright”;

2. Write down the first year of publication of the music. E.g. “2005”;

3. Include the name of the composer.

4. You can post yourself a sealed copy of your own work, which, when it arrives will have a date stamped on it.

Do not open the envelope.

Store it in a safe place.

5. Register your work with the music copyright association in your country. In Australia it is the Australian Performing Right Association. These days, you can join and submit work online

Linking Music To The Heart Of A Child

Music is powerful and persuasive. It touches one’s emotion, motivation, creativity and relaxation. It has the soothing effect that can calm our mental nerves. It inspires you to do something new and productive. It gives you ideas. It lulls you to sleep. The list is definitely endless.

Music is many things. It makes us happy, annoyed, melancholic, afraid and mad. Music is also for every one. It invades almost anything and everything. Different milieus have their own music to recollect. Various races and continents also enjoy distinctive music. Young and old alike take pleasure in it.

In every stages of life there will always be music for it is perpetual. In fact, there are unique types of music that caters to specific group of individuals. Rock and metal music cater to hyperactive music enthusiasts. Love, acoustic and pop songs blend well with lovers and emotional persons. For kids there is the children’s music.

Children’s music can give kids a magical experience. They can play roles with it. For a moment, they can be a pretty princess with a castle or a dashing knight in shining armor. They can simultaneously play musical instruments. They can dance and sing.

Music is entertaining most especially to children. Thus, even at the very young age they must be exposed to music. By doing so, kids develop their sense of adventure and discovery.

Aside from that, they can be knowledgeable about children’s music lyrics. They can also develop the basic languages.

Children’s music can also be treated as therapy. Application of children’s music can treat some physiological and psychosocial elements of illness. Treatment is aimed for the acquisition of non-musical behavior by virtue of systematic musical methods.

Studies have proven that children with developmental delays and learning disabilities like Down’s syndrome respond to music. Thus, exposure to music can boost response and expression. As a result, individual expressions and talents like singing and dancing can be discovered.

Children’s music treats developmental delays and learning disabilities by drawing out movements. The latter develops self-awareness which can easily be manifested. Examples of these movements are gripping the beater, tapping a triangle, playing cymbals and drums and the likes.

The relationship between children’s music and movement cannot be overemphasized. The rhythm of music creates the ideal stimulus that results to coordinated movements. These movements lead to repetition which is a mode of child learning.

Aside from entertainment and therapy, children’s music is also a special kind of education. It develops the cognitive skills of children. Exposure to music stimulates learning about colors, numbers, shapes and parts of the body. As a consequence, though may not be the primary goal, it increases the child’s intelligence.

Stimulation of cognitive abilities leads to multi-sensory development. The latter contributes to the ability of a child to retail information and be attentive to detail. As a result, the child becomes confident and clever.

Children’s music can also develop the child’s social skills. Usually, musical experiences are done in groups. Participants can sing in unison or one after the other. With this process, every one is encouraged to participate thus participants eventually become closer.

Children’s music can be so powerful that it can develop both the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of a child. It simultaneously augments functional abilities at the same time the expressive and creative capacities of a child

Mathematicians and Poets - Two of a Kind

"A mathematician who is not also something of a poet will never be a complete mathematician." -- Karl Weierstrass

C’mon a mathematician who’s a poet! Give me a break. Isn’t that as compatible as a snake and a mongoose? You mean there really is some truth in the quote by Weierstrass, one of the most famous mathematicians of all time, who is probably responsible for the rigors of calculus? Indeed mathematics has a rhythmic structure which, when probed, reveals its poetic and musical beauty. And any person who masters this discipline rightfully then should be regarded as something of a poet.

When my Spanish II professor suggested that I go to Salamanca, Spain to study Castilian, I was pleasantly surprised. She had recommended that I go because of my outstanding performance in her class and because I had shown such intense interest in the subject. To this recommendation, I replied that I was a mathematics major who also loved—besides foreign languages—the classics in literature as well as the sciences. To this, the professor replied, “So you’re a modern day renaissance man.”

Many people think that those who excel in mathematics tend to shun things like art and literature. Mathematics, they think, is too rigorous a subject, and any who embraces such, could not possibly have the softer emotional side to embrace such flowery subjects like art and literature. Yet this is not true at all. Because mathematics has an inherent rhythmicity to its structure, mathematicians are really quite sensitive to the humanities like art and music. Even in the structure of poem, with its varied meters and rhyming schemes, can be found the essence of mathematics (see my article Math and Poetry)

Given the above considerations, I no longer feel awkward at being both mathematician and poet. Nor do I wonder at how easily I can compose poems of varying lengths, meters, and rhyming schemes. You see, this all comes naturally to the mathematically inclined person. And who knows how many of the world’s greatest poets were great mathematicians? So parents, if your son our daughter shows a flair for poetry, bear in mind that you might have a budding mathematician on your hands. And those that have children who are great at math, who knows?—you might very well have on your hands a world class poet.

A Musical Web: Beethoven's Internet-Like Concept Took 194 Years to Manifest Itself

A 31-year-old musician conceptualized an innovative concept that would change the music world forever. He said, "There ought to be but one large art warehouse in the world, to which the artist could carry his art-works and from which he could carry away whatever he needed."

The year was 1801, the man was Ludwig van Beethoven and his concept was finally realized in 1995 with the public acceptance of the Internet.

As a violinist and violin teacher I know exactly how frustrated dear Ludwig felt. Before the Internet I too was frustrated with the limited learning resources available to my students and me. Sheet music and books were expensive, any obscure information was near impossible to unearth and researching meant hours probing through dusty outdated library books. Most difficult, however, was living in rural Canada with no connection to other violinists, big city music groups or current ideas floating around the global music scene.

Apparently other musicians felt the same way and used the Internet as a tool to overcome these and many other obstacles. Web sites, file transfer systems, message boards and music forums, software and other technologies improved communication between musicians, thus creating an advanced global music community.

To start I first used online encyclopedias for research projects and concert program notes, but soon learned to use other tools. I learned to use the web to locate song lyrics and quotations, such as the one by Beethoven. If the words or lyrics aren't in English I use an online tool that automatically translates them for me!

The availability of music on the internet is stunning! You can download any song your heart desires in MP3 format within seconds. This area of the internet has become controversial as the record companies want us to pay for the music and "peer to peer" protocol violates copyright laws.

Don't want to rip off the artists and break the law? For only $1 per tune you can legally download all the music you like from sites like "puretracks." As for sheet music, thousands of sites offer a similar pay-and-use system where you can download a wide range of titles.

Can't find the sheet music you're looking for? Search for MIDI files (music reproduced digitally) then input them into a music notation application (computer program for writing music) that automatically turns it into sheet music.

Using the one of many sheet music writing programs available on the Internet I can create a song, edit it to suit the player's skill level, add a harmony, include the lyrics and have it printed within 10 minutes. The best part, other than the cost, is the editability. I can make any changes to the music I want, such as changing the key, with ease. No more writing the music out by hand either.

Beethoven would have appreciated that.

One of my favourite things to do online is to download professional quality images of violins, musicians and composers for my newsletters and publications. Using such photos improves the projects I work on and is far cheaper than hiring a graphic artist. The search for good photos has been made easier with the invention of image searches, which scour millions of web pages and catalogue the images. During a recent image search I was completely stunned to find photos of myself playing violin!

As a teacher I am always furthering my education and training. I use the Internet as a source for enhancing my violin technique and knowledge and for sharing ideas with other musicians. If I can't find what I'm looking for I can post the query on a "bulletin board" for another musician to answer.
Recently I saw comments on such a site by a former symphony conductor of mine regarding Saint Saens' 3rd Symphony. I was surprised to "bump into" someone I know on a worldwide system with millions of users. Small world.

The 'net has become the world's largest shopping centre with millions of dollars working through the system each day. I enjoy using the internet to research instruments, accessories and music books and keep up on what products are available for myself and my business.

Gone are the days of being convinced by a sales rep that his product is the best. I check musician's forums and read feedback on any of the products I am considering before I buy. I also shop and sell online using tools such as Ebay and a mutitude of E-commerce solutions. My business attracts buyers from around the world: a huge improvement on being limited to my local market.

There are numerous other facets to music on the Internet and countless more to more to come as technology improves and people grow closer together.

Beethoven once said, "Music is the soil in that the spirit lives, thinks and invents." It's been over 200 years since dear Ludwig invented his "art warehouse" and musicians are finally reaping the benefits of such a music exchange.

For me the creation of the Internet has enhanced and improved the way I enjoy music. More importantly it has helped me feel like a part of a wonderfully vast music community: a community visualized by Beethoven himself.

The Kid Rocks: Three Generations Are Fed A Varied Musical Diet

Many summers ago I drove to a distant rural Canadian town every two weeks to teach violin lessons. The grueling 5-hour drive (did I mention I was pregnant?) seemed to whiz past when I spent quality time with my musician buddies, Bob and Fred. That is, Robert Plant and Freddy Mercury of the legendary classical rock bands Led Zeppelin and Queen, respectively.

British Columbia speed laws were drastically infringed when I blasted “Immigrant Song” and I was my car's own Canadian Idol, crooning at the top of my lungs to “Bohemian Rhapsody."

It was during one of these trips that my husband and I discovered our expectant son, Ryan, was a classic rock buff! We were listening to Zeppelin’s “Physical Grafitti” when the baby started kicking in my belly like Sid Vicious meets Riverdance. We thought the kicking to the beat a funny coincidence at first, but realised the moment we changed to something non-rock, the kicking would cease. Blast the rock and the steady thumping would resume.

My bladder has seen better days.

Ryan was born that fall and we discovered the intra-belly dancing was no fluke. This kid loved rock! His preferred teething tune was a rowdy cut from “Night at the Opera,” the Queen album that became a vital part of our bedtime ritual.

Each night as the teething pain crept in I'd distract my drooling infant by spinning around wildly on an office chair to “Death on Two Legs.” This much-anticipated routine matured into a dancing frenzy where our offspring gyrated, wiggled and squealed with delight. He was singing along with "My Sharona" and "Boris the Spider" at an age when average children are learning "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Old MacDonald."

Like Ryan, I loved classic rock at a tender, impressionable age. My favourite toddler records (you know, those big, black CDs) were by all the top bands of the 70's. I wanted to grow up to become Deborah Harry of "Blondie" and had a crush on Billy Joel and Elton John. I also loved classical music and would cry every time I listened to the second movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony.

The musical chairs began when I started playing violin and further immersed myself in classical music, abandoning pop music. My pre-teen pals were blasting Metallica when I was head-banging to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, some “real heavy stuff." My teenage makeshift tattoos, “Bach Rules” and “Beethoven Kicks Ass,” were a firm indication of my pop-cultural retardation.

Circa 1994 my hip friends somehow managed to force-feed me Pearl Jam and Nirvana and I realised I'd missed out on the whole Alterative movement. I abandoned plans to attend an expensive conservatory and accepted my dad's offer of an all-expenses paid trip to jazz college.

A classical musician thrown at the mercy of an all jazz and contemporary program, I was both humbled and enlighened. I developed a technical appreciation for jazz and its cerebral theory, but my real joy came when I started a 70’s rock band with my classmates. We played everything from Pink Floyd to Santana. I even performed the epic “Kashmir" once. I was home again.

Coming out of music school was like a musical renaissance. I was overwhelmed with all the music I previously didn’t give credit to and rapidly changed musical chairs again. I got into some techno thanks to Propellerheads and Portishead. I recharged my love for the Beatles and Billy Joel and added Rush, Supertramp and Abba to the mix.

I started experimenting with various forms of fiddle music and absorbed any Mark O-Connor, Natalie Macmaster and Stephan Grapelli music I could get my paws on. I soon learned to support artists outside my sheltered classical world, from Leonard Cohen to Nine Inch Nails, Alanis Morissette to Marilyn Manson.

Then, like my mother before me, I spent the entirety of my pregnancy munching on french fries and listening to classic rock. Thus another generation was hooked to rock music of the 70's.

Ryan and I really can’t help but love it! Both of us have listened to the stuff since before we were born: it’s embedded in our DNA! I know Ryan has music in him and have supported his music education with a child-sized drum kit, a teeny tiny violin and a huge piano.

“Rock please, mommy” Ryan says sweetly from his booster seat behind me. I put “ZOSO” in the car stereo and he says, “really loud.” We car-karoke together on the way to get groceries, headbanging and stomping our feet as we drive along.

Under the speed limit.