Creative Soul Music School is now offering some exciting new programs, even for those very young future musicians.
We are no strangers to the sippy-cup crowd, we’d love to have you join our Makin’ Music Rockin'
Rhythms Program!
Award-winning family classes feature friendly and enthusiastic teachers who lead the class as you gather in a circle to make music together. Not only do our classes have a strong educational foundation, they are incredibly exciting and fun as well.
Makin’ Music’s programs integrate well with pre-school curriculum objectives to reinforce concepts such as:
- cognitive development
- language development
- gross motor skills
- math readiness
- memorization
- life & social skills
- imagination
- imitation
- spatial skills
- pitch and tempo
- nature/social studies
- …and more
Young listeners are immediately engaged by the music & are carried from song to song by infectious rhythms & energetic production. No matter your child's age, the fascinating & rewarding experience of Makin' Music creates natural stepping stones to formal music schooling & facilitates the transition to more advanced ideas.
Every Makin' Music song is lovingly written, adapted, & produced to introduce & reinforce plenty of of your child's important developmental milestones. Our classes are planned to include action songs, lullabies, play-alongs, seasonal songs & chants. This encourages maximum class participation by using movement, finger-plays, group chants, percussion instruments & other musical props. The blend of traditional, original & world music as well as a gifted array of featured vocalists makes for a joyful musical ride that kids will require to jump right back on when the recording ends.
Young minds love music and can benefit tremdously from music education. The younger these children start, the longer they have to reap the rewards of a musical education.
FREE LIVE STUDENT CONCERTS, RAFFLES FOR GUITAR AND GIFT CARDS, AND FAMILY FUN!
Ready to rock in
South Fort Worth? Our newest music school is NOW OPEN and enrolling new students for our incredible music programs. Whether you are looking for private, one-on-one music lessons, want to be a part of a pop music troupe, or join a rock band, Creative Soul is the school for you.
Why Should You Choose Creative Soul:
- We’re an ALL AGES music school-Something for everyone!
- Instructors who specialize in rock, jazz, classical, blues and more
- We schedule around you!
- Join a community of musicians with similar passions
- Performance opportunities across the metroplex
Programs Offered:
- Private Lessons
- Band 101 or Band Tour
- Makin' Music Rockin' Rhythms
- Pop Shop
- Seasonal Rock and Jam Camps
RSVP Online and be entered to win creative soul gift cards and a brand new guitar from Guitar Center!
I do not think it is a surprise that all of us at Creative Soul believe in the importance of musical education. Carol Watson at National Nannies writes:
As public school systems slash budgets and eliminate musical education programs around the country, more and more parents are forced to find private musical instruction for their children. For parents who aren’t sure if the benefits of musical lessons justify the added expense and hassle, here are seven of the scientifically-proven benefits of music education.
- Enhanced Abstract Reasoning Skills – Abstract reasoning skills, which play a crucial role in the development of mathematical and scientific aptitude, are markedly enhanced by musical instruction, according to a 1997 study stating that early childhood musi
c education has a positive physiological impact. Children who actively participate in band or orchestra, or who have pursued private musical instruction, also tend to have higher math and science scores in adolescent and teenage years.
- Stronger Cognitive Processes – A Henrich Heine University study reported findings that exposure to music enhances the cognitive process, boosting language and reasoning abilities. After studying the undergraduate majors of medical school students, noted physician and biologist Lewis Thomas also discovered that 66% of music majors who applied to medical school went on to be accepted, the highest percentage of any group.
- Higher Standardized Testing Scores – On average, students with musical instruction and performance experience scored up to 57 points higher on verbal portions of the SAT and 41 points higher on the math portion than their peers with no musical background, according to the College-Bound Seniors National Report: Profile of SAT Program Test Takers. Princeton, NJ: The College Entrance Examination Board, 2001.
- Increased Likelihood of Finishing High School and Attending College – Several studies, including one conducted in Florida in 1990, indicated that music, art and drama programs in public schools helped children to feel more involved with their school, and fostered a sense of community with like-minded fellow students that positively influenced their decision to stay in school. Similarly, a 2007 Harris Interactive poll suggests that 88% of those holding graduate degrees have a background in music education.
- Reduced Likelihood of Drug and Alcohol Abuse – The 1998 Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse Report revealed that secondary students who were actively involved with band or orchestra reported the lowest current and lifetime rates of drugs, alcohol and tobacco use. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has also issued a list of factors they believe could reduce the risk of adolescent and teen substance abuse; among them was success in school and involvement with school organizations. Children who are active participants in band, orchestra and other musical activities may face a significantly lower risk of addiction.
- Greater Self-Discipline – A paper entitled “Music Linked to Reduced Criminality”, which was released by MuSICA Research Notes in 2000, examined a group of Rhode Island natives from infancy to age 30. The study discovered a significantly diminished arrest rate among those who had been involved in music and musical education. The dedication, determination and willingness to sacrifice free time for practice and performance fosters a strong sense of self-discipline in a child, which may lead to a lower likelihood of anti-social behavior.
- Increased Confidence and Self-Esteem – Developing and mastering new skills dramatically boosts kids’ confidence and self-esteem. Through musical instruction, children are constantly learning new skills, improving them, and sharpening them to excellence.
Whether your child is enrolled in private music instruction, or is fortunate enough to attend a school that still offers a music program, the benefits of a music education are undeniable.
If you child's school does not offer a music program, or, if you feel the program is not giving your child everything you are looking for, contact Creative Soul today to schedule a free consultation.
Music - for those who love it - is a life-long pursuit. The landscape of the musical world is constantly changing, not only is sound and style, but also in the way we consume and distribute music. As music teachers and instructors, the job sometimes becomes even more complex.
Lori Kozlowski, Contributor for forbes.com, writes about a new program that can help both students and teachers:
Matt Sandler, musician and co-founder of Chromatik, was a music teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District and saw the strain on music learning and teaching.
Chromatik is a music technology company redefining how people practice, perform, and learn music. Essentially they are a music company, powered by technology, focused on education.
Regardless of device, the platform can be used anywhere. “Laptop, desktop, iPad — you can take it everywhere. You can use it in the classroom, in the recording space, with your band, in the garage, in your church,” said Sandler.
“We have pushed forward very heavily to make it 100% free to every musician in the world.”
Today the startup launched on iPad and on the Web. They are already being used by over 300 music organizations in the United States, including UCLA, the Salvation Army, and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
In addition, they have secured investment from a number of artists and business professionals in the music industry, including Grammy-winning artist Bruno Mars, Virgin Records co-chairman and co-founder of Shangri-La Music Jeff Ayeroff, and the Carnegie Hall Foundation’s Dr. Jennifer Snow.
The platform can be used by professional artists on stage, in ensembles, and during practice to streamline their playing and practice processes. It can also be used by the casual musician (as Sandler puts it, “the guy picking up a guitar to impress a girl, or a rock band that’s just forming”).
For students and teachers in schools, Chromatik offers a new way to learn and instruct.
“If you look at arts education, it’s a foundation that should be within our schools — in every program, for every student, regardless of demographic or area that you live,” he said.
Indeed, there is a nationwide movement, gaining attention, to change the focus on the future of education from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education to STEAM, adding the “Arts” as the “A” that rounds out an ideal curriculum.
As students in the United States continue to learn music in public schools, while budgets for arts education continue to be slashed — Sandler points out that this strains the teacher to student ratio, making learning and teaching music difficult.
“Students don’t have the resources they need to play music within the school districts. And even when they do, they don’t have access to their teachers. Music has the worst student to teacher ratio, in any subject area. It’s about 80 to 1 in bands, orchestras, and choirs across the U.S.,” he said. “It’s actually staggering.”
“Combine that with the fact that you can’t grade music on a Scantron. You have to listen to it. It creates a fundamental problem that teachers can’t give personal assessment to every student.”
In the education space, Sandler said they didn’t want to replace teachers, but rather provide a tool that could help teachers do their jobs better, and give students a better experience.
“It gives the teachers and students a way to perform, practice and collaborate in a way that they’ve never had before. It’s actually one of the first ways that music teachers can give homework assignments. Teachers give the assignments, students login at their home computer. They get the full set of music, they can record themselves, listen to themselves, and then take their best recordings and push them back to their teachers to get feedback.”
On all fronts, for the professional artist to the 6th grade flute player, Chromatik is hoping to make a cumbersome process easier. Sandler said, “We want to be the right hand platform for musicians. The musician’s OS.”
At Creative Soul, we love to teach music. We are constantly looking for new ways to innovate and streamline our programs. If you, or someone you know, is looking for a modern, progressive, and unique music education experience, get in contact with us. We offer a wide variety of programs that suit any age and skill level. Contact us today for a free evaluation.
In this age of smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices, musicians (and future musicians) have a whole new set of tools to help them perfect their craft.
For the aspiring guitarist out there, tech writer and blogger Tim Brookes found five completely free apps for the iphone/ipad. These apps will help music students of all levels learn guitar.
|
When a big player in the guitar world such as Gibson releases an app, it is expected to be pretty good. Guess what – it is. This is probably the most fully-featured (free) guitar app on the App Store today, and what’s more it’s beautifully presented to boot.
Included is a chromatic tuner (which is naturally best used in a quiet environment) which can be used to tune any instrument using your device’s microphone, several alternate tuning styles (including Drop D, Open G and Low C) and a bog-standard tuner for matching your instrument’s pitch to the sample note.
It doesn’t stop there, Gibson also threw in a metronome which can be altered to suit your desired tempo (and set using your fingers with the tap-pad) a decent chord library and free video lessons. Whilst the tuner’s not the sharpest, and the chord library isn’t complete you still can’t match this app for sheer features, presentation and usability.
A must-have if you regularly find stringed instruments in your hands.
|
|
|
The first tuner app I downloaded for my guitar, EpicTune remains on my iPhone despite Gibson’s attempt above. Like any simple chromatic tuner, Epic monitors for tones from your iPhone’s microphone and reports back with the note and fine-tuning options. If you’ve ever tuned a guitar before, you’ll know how it works.
There are a decent array of different tuning styles (12 in total) and the app does a pretty damn good job of tuning-up a guitar. Simple, fast and clutter free – perfect for tuning in a jiffy.
|
|
|
Included on this list for the same reasons as Epic above, Chords is one of the simplest apps you will ever use. There’s no colour, sound or elaborate diagrams – just chords, presented black-on-white in a large readable format.
Chords includes 28 chord types for each different note, making it a basic yet very powerful utility. Choose a note, choose a variation and you’re good to go – an essential bit of software that means you’re never caught short without a chord book!
|
|
|
Another free app with a stellar line-up of features. Guitar Buddy provides you with quick access to essential learning materials, with the option of having a few in-app purchases as well. These essentials include 30 scales, in excess of 300 guitar licks (movements), 20 free classical tabs and a chord dictionary with over 1,300 chords included.
That’s not quite where the magic ends – Guitar Buddy also plays you the scales, licks, tabs and chords you are trying to learn. This is an important part of judging tempo, timing and above all getting the notes into your head.
The in-app purchases consist of well-known songs, though you will never need to spend a cent to get your money’s worth from this app.
|
|
|
The only virtual guitar app on the list, Guitar Free with Songs is a shockingly easy to play virtual guitar that allows you to tinker on the go. Anything you learn whilst using the app will also apply to your full-sized acoustic or electric plaything.
So, if you feel the need to strum away on the bus, learn a few simple songs on the go or serenade a workmate with a rendition of Happy Birthday then now you can! The app is upgradeable for $9.99 which includes 500 songs to learn, though again it’s fun on its own.
|
|
|
This app isn’t free, but Ultimate-Guitar is the only place you’ll probably ever need visit to find that elusive tab. Unfortunately the UG overlords don’t have a mobile site, so whilst navigation on an iPad is probably fairly good – iPhone users will suffer.
Instead they’ve got an app, which provides a beautifully formatted version of the tabs on their website (not to mention easy search, a touch interface and so on). If you’ve been searching for the absolute best way to view tabs on a small screen, already have a UG account with plenty of favourites and don’t mind paying $2.99 then this app will deliver the goods you’ve been crying out for.
|
|
I know there are thousands of other apps out there, what are some of your favorite music apps?
Whether you are teaching yourself or learning music from one of the incredible instructors at Creative Soul, these tools will help you to become the next great guitar super star.
If you are intersted in learning more about the guitar, or any instrument, give Creative Soul School of Music a call, or shoot them an email.
Music moves us. When we hear a song, it stirs emotions inside of us. Often time, seconds after a song starts, a memory pops into my head. For many of us that love music, we have written a soundtrack of our lives. The sad times, the good times, moments that changed how we feel and think. But, is there a science to the emotion of music? Chris Gaylord of The Christian Science Monitor writes:
While there are many ways to weave emotion into music, two of the simplest are tempo and key. Happy tunes mostly have fast tempos and major keys. Sad songs often have slow tempos and minor keys.
To prove this, University of Toronto professor Glenn Schellenberg set up an experiment. He asked a graduate student to identify Top 40 songs that match these cri-teria. Finding happy songs from the 1960s and '70s was easy – The Beatles' "She Loves You" has a fast tempo and a major key. But with each successive decade, the hunt turned up fewer and fewer examples.
"When it came to contemporary music, it was really hard to find unambiguously happy-sounding music," says Mr. Schellenberg.
Looking at more than 1,000 Billboard hits since 1965, his team found that the average song has become longer, slower, and less happy-sounding. The share of major-key songs dropped from 85 percent of pop hits in the 1960s to just 42 percent in the 2000s.
What happened? Schellenberg says that pop culture seems to have developed an aversion to saccharin-sounding music. Many popular songs now mismatch tempo and key. By pairing mixed emotional cues, he says, artists create a more complex sound.
To the modern ear, "if you have something that sounds unambiguously happy, it kinda sounds childish," he says. Schellenberg points to Aqua's 1997 dance hit "Barbie Girl." The fast-paced, major-key song sold well – but as a guilty pleasure. More critically accepted dance songs such as Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" and Madonna's "Hung Up" share the same quick beat, but both are in a minor key.
Even this summer's sugary hit "Call Me Maybe," by Carly Rae Jepsen, tosses in a few minor chords.
Schellenberg says that classical music went through a similar transition. By the 1800s,
Romantic-era compositions shook up traditional tempo/key pairings. This shift in classical music transpired over 300 years. Pop music rounded the same bend after only 50 years.
A previous study by Schellenberg found that trained musicians prefer songs with nontraditional tempo/key pairings. Mixed music, he says, sounds "sophisticated." Now, it seems that pop culture at large favors this new "sophisticated" sound.
What do you think? Do our memories create the emotions we feel when we hear certain songs? Or, is it a trick? Are song writers and composers using music theory to stir our emotions? My guess is it is probably a little of both.
Check out the latest addition to our Instructor Spotlight video series, featuring the incredible Josh Brown! Josh has previously toured with artists such as Switchfoot and teaches a multitude of instruments.
Everyone has their own musical prefrerence. I discovered my love for music at eleven-years-old. As I entered high school, I had a very narrow view of music. Now in my thirties, I have found a new appreciation for all types of music, from rock to bluegrass to big band to hip hop and everything in between. As my boys have grown to love music, I have done my best to expose them to all genres of music.
So, how can jazz education change your child?
Hannah Newcombe writes:
"Music education is a critical part of any child's learning experience. Today's teachers work hard to come up with a curriculum that provides their students with a true understanding of different styles throughout history. Jazz has a rich heritage that can be traced through generations of musicians and students benefit from learning about its evolution over time.
Learning the Basics
Any music education program will seek to teach students the basics. They need to understand what a note is and how it is interpreted when played by an instrument or sung. Jazz provides a medium for teachers to work with. Soulful songs can be presented to students and examined for melodies and variations. Students can experience the sounds of several instruments and learn to distinguish one from another.
National standards list several milestones for students to reach and jazz music can be
incorporated into each one. Aside from listening to music, students can evaluate specific pieces and discuss what makes one different from another. Older students will be able to understand the roots of jazz music and how it evolved during a specific period of time. Jazz can be integrated into several other subjects of study including history, art and even literature.
Inspiring Creativity
Aside from the basics of music education, jazz tends to inspire creativity in students. It opens up their imaginations and allows them to come up with their own forms of music. The ability to create something new is essential for any student, regardless of the topic they are working on. Many teachers report that they start their day with jazz music to get the children's minds in gear for the day. They pair the music with journal writing or even just bell work to get the kids thinking.
While reading, writing and math are critical to a child's education, creativity is essential for success as an adult. Children need to be able to look at a musician's creativity and imagine themselves coming up with unique and interesting ways of self-expression.
Opportunities for Self-Expression
Music education in general gives students an outlet for self-expression. They take in information and examples and come up with something of their own. They have the opportunity to use their own experiences and feelings and produce something new and different that is completely unique. Students learn that while many songs and artists may fall under the category of jazz, each one brings something different to music. This give students more creative license to discover and produce music on their own, without worrying about set outlines they need to follow."
Creative Soul strives to open young minds to all types of music. Our instructors have a wide range of styles and experiences. We would love the chance to meet you and show you everything we have to offer.
Finding inspiration can often be harder than finding rain during a Texas summer. Not knowing when or where your next song, essay, or poem will come from, can make completion seem like a far-off dream. Chris Bolton, musician and songwriter, offers some advice:
Sometimes I wonder how I’ve ever come up with anything at all. What did I do last time? How did I get through it? When I did think of something good, where did I find the time and energy to execute? After beginning a project, how did I deal with less-than-inspiring results? At times like these, I remember a quote by radio host, Ira Glass:
“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.”
Whether you’re a beginner or not, I think it’s important to recognize how much our sense of taste influences our art. It’s possibly the most important tool we have. And the frustrating thing about having good taste is struggling to produce work that meets your own standards. Ira goes on to say that having good taste does not mean that we can make great art right off the bat. In fact, to begin with, we fail and make lots of bad art. But it’s our good taste that gets us through. We keep trying. We keep failing. Eventually, we get it right.
Here are six techniques that should inspire you and help you build a better relationship with your own impeccable taste.
Beg, Borrow, and Steal
Someone once said, “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Moments after its utterance, this phrase was borrowed and stolen. In fact, it’s been uttered by so many artists and authors that no one knows who is the original source of the quote. Talk about irony. Well, if you’re looking for inspiration, your fellow artists and creators are a great resource. But also don’t forget to listen to the art of everyday people. Observe nature. Observe children. Don’t be afraid to use what you love and are inspired by in your own work.
Pay Attention to What You Like
I experience great art, movies, radio, and music all the time. What I sometimes forget to investigate is why I like it. Why did I love that movie? Why did I love that turn-of-phrase my 3-year-old nephew uttered? Why did I love the way that chord progression turned minor, or the way that actress spun on her heels? Pay attention to what moves you. Write it down. Look for trends in what you are attracted to. These can be great bits of inspiration.
Pay Attention to What You Don’t Like
The negative can inspire you as much as the positive. What disgusts you? What makes you angry? What do you find, ugly, annoying, or amoral? Write these things down. Ask yourself why you feel this way about these things. Sometimes the answer can be expressed in a work of art.
Spend Some Time Alone
Set aside time to be alone; to sit down with your notebook or take a walk. Live with your thoughts. Sleep on them. Observe the world in a meditative state. Sometimes we simply need to clear the fog in order to see what has been there all along.
Share Your Process
Talk about what you’re working on with your friends and colleagues. We artists like to hide our works-in-progress. We don’t want anyone too see how ugly our work is in its early stages. We also relish the surprise of unveiling a finished work. But talking about your art is often the best way for you to give structure to your ideas. Talking, after all, is composition. The more you talk about your project, the more real it becomes. Some artists will have a single confidant they share their ideas with. Other artists will tell anyone with ears about what they are working on. Just remember that telling the story of your art is often a painless way to develop your ideas and quicken your process. Heck, you may even get some useful feedback and direction.
Let Your Ideas Breathe
I can stare at a blank sheet for hours. I can get caught up on a single sentence for hours. Sometimes I feel like something I’m working on is totally hopeless. Then I’ll go out for a sandwich and everything falls together. The creative process involves much more than your creative mind. It involves the magical, mystical recesses of your subconscious. Sometimes you need to stop forcing things and let your subconscious take the wheel.
The creative process is often time that, a process. At Creative Soul School of Music, we offer workshops and classes in everything from voice to guitar to songwriting. Let us help you find that inspiration!
How can music education change a child's life? From Little Kids Rock...
Nancy grew up in Dallas, TX with a severe speech impediment that causes her to stutter. Communicating was difficult and embarrassing, and her speech disability was a major obstacle to her social and intellectual development.
When Nancy’s 7th grade Little Kids Rock teacher offered her the chance to learn how to play guitar and to write songs, she seized an opportunity that has changed her life. "When I was first in school, I was very shy," Nancy said. "When I started with my songwriting, it really helped me."
Two years ago, Nancy broke free from her insecurities and sang in public for the first time in this original composition she submitted to the annual Little Kids Rock songwriting exhibition. Her teacher noticed something amazing - her speech impediment completely vanished when she sang!
Writing and performing her own music has given Nancy an outlet to express herself in a way that she can communicate confidently. She has written more than 100 songs during her four years in Little Kids Rock, including one about losing her father six years ago. "I used to deal with my problems in a bad way," Nancy said. "When I found music, it really helped me a lot."
She has performed her music for crowds of more than 500 people - a feat nobody would have expected to be possible just two short years ago.
You have helped Little Kids Rock give Nancy the impetus to toss her limitations aside and sing loudly and proudly. She still faces daily challenges with her speech, but her music helps her adopt a perspective where speech does not hinder her growth as a musician, a student, or a young adult.
"Music class is a place where you can try to be yourself," Nancy says. "And it is important because music can save lives."
Music has that kind of power – and every day, more Little Kids Rock students’ lives are being changed because you help us give kids the means and support to become music-makers and confident people.
Little Kids Rock is a nation nonprofit organization that works to restore and support musical education in public schools through providing teacher training, curriculums, and instruments. If you would like to contribute, visit www.littlekidsrock.org today.
We believe in the incredible power musical education has over the future of a child. At Creative Soul, we offer a wide variety of different programs and we are confident one will be perfect for your student.
