VOL. 72- March 16th, 2019
“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” ― Albert Einstein
The sackbut was an early form of which musical instrument?
SCROLL DOWN FOR ANSWER
Hello, Friend!
WE ARE CLOSED FOR SPRING BREAK APRIL 1-6th
OPEN ON SUNDAY, APRIL 7th - CLOSED FOR EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 21st

Da Capo Da Mornin' to Ya!

You're in luck this St. Paddy's Day - the Music Time news is here. Please keep on scrolling & take note that SPRING CONCERT SIGN-UPS are now open - first come, first served (and space is limited, especially for the BIG SHOW)!

And, HEY THERE, ADULTS ! Yes you, the one who used to take lessons or play in school band, but quit years ago - we have a special place just for you in our up-and-coming experiment in communal jam session - Groove Lab! It doesn't matter that you haven't touched an instrument in a while. You're still musical, and you've got what it takes to do this. Trust me. Try it. Mondays, 6:30-7:30pm.

With peace, love & music,
Anna
ADULT ONLY HOUR! GROOVE LAB - MONDAYS 6:30-7:30pm
Alright, Parents. The jig is up!
You took piano lessons as a kid. Maybe you were in school band. You don't feel like you're "a musical person" though. You're here because you're hoping your kid has a better experience, or has "musical talent". Sorry to destroy your story - but it turns out YOU ARE MUSICAL!
If you have 2 feet, you're keeping in a kind of groove with every step. If your heart beats, you've got rhythm. If you're breathing, you have the flow. Stop making excuses, and come make music. Don't worry if you're rusty. We got you. Try Groove Lab! It's for ADULTS ONLY every Monday night, 6:30-7:30pm.
SPRING CONCERT SIGN-UPS ARE OPEN NOW!
It's the most wonderful time of the (twice a) year - Concert sign-ups!

DEADLINE FOR BIG SHOW SIGN-UPS:
MONDAY, APRIL 1st
DEADLINE FOR LITTLE SHOW SIGN-UPS:
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1st
HOW TO SIGN UP:
  1. In-person, on the sign-up sheet in the hallway at Music Time
  2. Via phone or email to Music Time (just hit "reply" to this email). Please include Student’s Full Name, song selection (for Little Show) or top 2-3 song choices & t-shirt size (for Big Show)
 
HOW NOT TO SIGN UP:
By talking with your teacher only & not communicating at all with the front/admin office.
 
But wait….what show should I sign up for?
THE BIG SHOW is on SUNDAY, JUNE 2ND at 12pm-2pm (raffle to follow) at the Bothwell Arts Center in Livermore.  It will feature 20+ GROUP PERFORMANCES (rock bands, jazz/funk bands, acoustic bands, string ensembles, etc.). All students (ages 8+) that are currently attending Music Time are welcome to perform, regardless of instrument or length of time in lessons here. This format is recommended for ALL guitarists (acoustic or electric), vocalists, drummers, bassists & adventurous piano, wind or string students.
 
It’s a full-scale extravaganza! Hot brick oven pizza will be cooked & sold on site. All performers get a FREE t-shirt! AND…the Raffle will be drawn at the end of the show (more on that in the upcoming newsletter….but grand prizes include 6 MONTHS OF FREE LESSONS & an iPad mini!)
BIG SHOW SPACE IS LIMITED – PLEASE SIGN-UP NOW TO HELP US FORM GROUPS!
 
THE LITTLE SHOWS   take place in our performance area, right here at Music Time Academy.  Each little show lasts 45-60 minutes & features 15+ solo performances (duets & trios OK). Little Shows are scheduled based on your teacher.
 
LITTLE SHOW SCHEDULE (Subject to change):
Thursday, May 30th @ 8pm (Nick D, Belinda, Phyllis & Adam)
Friday, May 31st @ 8pm (Xavier, Ian & Kevin S)
Saturday, June 1st @ 3:00pm (Tim G, Pete & Kevin H)
Saturday, June 1st @ 4:30pm (Cory & Nick LW)
Saturday, June 1st @ 6:00pm (Sal & Luna)
Saturday, June 1st @ 7:30pm (Michael S & Jody)
Whitt, Stewart, Mickey & Will’s Little Show Schedules are pending/TBA
 
This format is recommended for piano students or those looking to ease into the world of performance. The audience is small & most student performances are under 1 minute in length (maximum song length is 3 minutes).

TIPS WELCOME
From Making Music Magazine, 11 Essential Practice Tips:

It’s Playback Time— Recording your practice can be an ear-opening experience. It can help you quickly identify trouble spots not noticed during performance, and it’s a convenient way to keep track of your progress.

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC
Micah Brown is using brain research to understand what makes rappers–and rap fans–tick. And that’s just the beginning of his ambitious neuroscience plans.

Brown donned two headsets. The first is Neurable–a neurosentiment technology that places electrodes on the scalp to track electroencephalography (EEG), the electrical signals inside the brain. The second is a Vive VR headset, which transports Brown to a virtual stage in front of a crowd. As Brown begins to rap, the Neurable tracks his brainwaves to approximate his levels of stress, attention, calm, and fatigue in a performance environment. The idea is to create a training environment where performers can peek inside their minds and hone their craft. Think of it like advanced sports science, but for rappers. For the second headset, Brown hacked an Emotiv headset to create a beautiful visualization of his mind as he freestyle rapped. The headset read various brainwaves (Theta, Alpha, Gamma, Beta) and translated them into flowing visuals. 

Perhaps the most potentially lucrative use case for Brown's technology–is to help artists reach the right audience with their music. This is where the neuroscience gets particularly complicated. Essentially, Brown wants to help independent artists find their ideal audience by matching the content of their lyrics to neurosentiment data, compiled from research he conducted at the University of Kansas last year, as well as publicly available EEG data. The idea is to understand how people respond to different words while listening, and then use that data help an artist figure out the true ideal audience for their music.

“You take a Jay-Z, for instance,” Brown explains. “It’s taken him a number of years to be able to start putting out music about what it’s like to be a grown, successful black person. And, if you notice, he’s being very selective about the type of music and image that he puts out now, because he knows his demographic is these upper-class black people who are listening to his music. But he’s only able to do that because he’s able to sit down with the dashboards and sit down with the AMRs and sit down with the team, and interpret what they’re saying as a businessman, as well as an artist. A lot of artists aren’t able to do that.”

PROJECT STOP! COLLABORATE & LISTEN: INSPIRATIONAL VIDEO OF THE MONTH
The Opera Company of Philadelphia brought together over 650 choristers from 28 participating organizations to perform one of the Knight Foundation's "Random Acts of Culture" at Macy's in Center City Philadelphia. Accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ - the world's largest pipe organ - the OCP Chorus and throngs of singers from the community infiltrated the store as shoppers, and burst into a pop-up rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah" at 12 noon, to the delight of surprised shoppers.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Colin Johnson
INSTRUMENT: Guitar
TEACHER: Tim
AGE: 11
STARTED LESSONS: June 2018
HOBBIES: Sports

"Colin works hard, practices what I give him, and generally shows great love for the guitar. I can tell that playing the guitar will be a lifelong interest of his. Due to all this, he progresses quite quickly!"
- Timmy G, Colin's teacher.
FEBRUARY ANNIVERSARIES
6 YEARS:
Carter Goralka
Connor Goralka
Adam King
Jenny Nguyen
Mallory Rowe
Nathan Woolsey

5 YEARS:
Rutvi Bhavsar
Nicholas Carrano

4 YEARS:
Jax Koski

3 YEARS:
Sarvagna Banda
Tony Beltran
Alanija Correa
Colton Crouch
Samanvi Dharma
Samanvi Dharma
Christian Lynam
Olivia Lynam
Adriana Sisca
Giana Sisca
Chi Lok Isaac Yee
Torah Zinn

2 YEARS:
Cindy Detzel
John Enriques
Lissette Hernandez
Gennie Langshaw
Elena Pauli
Lucia Pauli
Eldon Porter

1 YEAR:
Jared Bielski
Jerald Adriano
Lukas Arenskoetter
Benjamin French
Emma Goulart
Joel Mathews
Anika Rao
Brayden Vilkins
OUR CONCERT PICK
Zakir Hussain and the Masters of Percussion

Sunday, March 31st
7:00pm
Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA
"There seems to be no limit to the versatility of Ustad Zakir Hussain."— Rolling Stone
Tabla legend and master improviser Zakir Hussain is a natural collaborator, and there are perhaps no artists he enjoys working with more than his fellow percussionists. For this year's Master of Percussion program, Hussain joins an international cast of accomplished performers to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of his late father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha. 
FEATURED TEACHER:
Stewart Gude
Stewart Gude is back! Before his triumphant return to our regular teaching staff a few months ago, you may have seen him make a brief cameo at our Winter Concert, rocking lead vocals for House of the Rising Sun. Although Stewart left us for a number of years, pursuing a career in Southern California, he’s back home and back to pursing the one thing that’s always been his passion (despite the best efforts of diabolic, triangle-giving band directors). Here’s his story of early rock and roll records, 2-string basses, wrongly-strung guitars, Jimi Hendrix mimicking, and rising podcast stardom. Enjoy!

YOUR TEACHERS, LIVE:
Saturday, March 16th
Fast and Vengefully (Tim & Belinda) at Johnny Foley's in SF
Sunday, March 17th
Fast and Vengefully (Tim & Belinda) at Maggie Mcgarry's in SF
Thursday, March 21st
Timmy G at Tiki Toms in Walnut Creek
Friday, March 22nd
Timmy G at The Fourth Bore in Orinda Theatre Square
West Grand Brass Band (Adam) @ Woods Bar in Oakland
Saturday, March 23rd
Mama Foxxy (Anna & Judy) at Vinnie’s in Concord
Timmy G at Swirl on the Square in Livermore
Friday, March 29th
The UnOriginals (Tim & Xavier) at Johnny Foley's in San Francisco
Saturday, March 30th
Gala (Luna) at Octopus Literary Salon in Oakland
Thursday, April 4th
Timmy G at Tiki Toms in Walnut Creek
Friday, April 5th
The UnOriginals (Tim & Xavier) at Maggie Mcgarry’s in San Francisco
Saturday, April 6th
The UnOriginals (Tim & Xavier) at Meenar in Danville 
Wedneas
Saturday, April 13th
Mama Foxxy (Anna & Judy) at Legends in Concord
Thursday, April 18th
Timmy G at Tiki Toms in Walnut Creek
Friday, April 19th
Mama Foxxy (Anna & Judy) at Toot’s in Crockett
Saturday, April 20th
The UnOriginals (Tim & Xavier) at Johnny Foley’s in San Francisco
Friday, April 26th
Timmy G at Clayton Club in Clayton
West Grand Brass Band (Adam) at Woods Bar in Oakland
Saturday, April 27th
Mama Foxxy (Anna & Judy)

ANSWER: Trombone
Thank you for reading, and for your continued support of music education in Livermore.
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