Out of the mouths of babes...

A wonderful conversation between Lewis Eady Music School teacher Dom Blaazer and one of his 6 year old students...

Mister Blaazer, do you play with Don McGlashan?

Yes Max.

I like Miracle Sun. Are you on that?

Er, no Max but I've played it with him a lot.

(Dom plays intro)

How about Anchor Me?

No Max, I'm not on that one either. But I've played it with him a lot.

(Dom plays verse)

Mister Blaazer, which ones are you on?

Have you heard of Marvellous Year?

Um. No... but Anchor Me made him get famous, didn't it?

Yes Max, it sort-of did.

Oh yeah, I really like How You Doing, that's funny. Toy Factory Fire gives me nightmares though.

Dominic Blaazer teaches guitar, ukulele and keyboards for Lewis Eady Music School at St Leo's Devonport, Takapuna Primary, St Michaels Remuera and Ponsonby Primary Schools.  He currently plays for Don McGlashan, The Reputations Soul Revue and The Trains.

So you have decided to buy a ‘REAL’ piano for your family?

Where to from here?

Essentially you have two choices – New or Second hand. If only it was that simple!

A decade ago it was relatively simple...

Imagine if you will a 'Pyramid'...

At the very top - of course - you had Steinway underneath which was the remainder of the European brands such as Bechctein, Schimmel, Grotrian, Sauter etc.

Underneath these you moved down the pyramid to the Japanese made pianos such as Kawai and Yamaha and finally at the very bottom were what we referred to as PSOs (or Piano Shaped Objects - not to be confused with real pianos).

Of course, this structure is entirely relative to the value, cost and performance of these instruments and the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ is very relevant in the world of pianos.

Ten years on and whilst the number of piano manufacturers has almost doubled, the quality structure remains very similar.

A Chinese client of mine explained it quite succinctly to me. He said, that a Japanese manufacturer will look at a Steinway piano and say, “I am going to try and build a piano as good as that.”

Where as a Chinese manufacturer will look at the same piano and say, “I am going to build something that looks like that.”

The emerging ‘new world’ manufacturers as yet, simply don’t have the experience or the skilled technical and design workforce to build quality pianos. This is changing rapidly and no doubt in a decade’s time the situation will be quite different. In the mean time we are their guinea pigs.

The other common misnomer put out by many ‘new world’ manufacturers is that they source their parts from well known overseas companies and simply ‘assemble’ them in their factory.

A piano is NOT like a car - 'quality is not determined by single properties, but by their interaction' and therefore a piano is a reflection of the standard of its designer.

New will always be best, however for many this is a financial impossibility. Next week we will look at 2nd hand pianos and what the pitfalls are.

Lewis Eady blogs about pianos in general and in particular Steinway pianos are our passion.  New Zealand Pianos specialist Lewis Eady have been passionate about pianos since 1884.

Tra la la la la la

It's an exciting time for people wanting to learn how to sing at Lewis Eady!

As well as the ongoing private one-on-one lessons, which continue to grow, we have two new opportunities. A children's choir/group lesson and the group lessons for adults. These two classes are an environment where you can take your time learning to sing, with out the pressure of one-on-one with a teacher.

I have a number of students who come to me, who would love to learn to sing and usually it's only their confidence holding them back. But sometimes they are not ready to sing all by themselves out loud! So we have a problem... to improve as a singer and to become more confident, eventually one must sing, it is a group of muscles like any other and they need stretching and exercising in order to improve and strengthen.

If a student can't find that initial confidence to sing and show me what we are working with then developing the confidence becomes a struggle. So, all you adults and children who love to sing and would like to gain some more technique, but find the idea of one half hour all to yourselves a bit intimidating... come and join a group lesson!

Enrol now!

We will have fun learning to sing in a group, as well as solo if you feel ready! Improve in pitch, rhythm and that all important confidence!

Post by Charlotte O'Brien - Lewis Eady Music School Teacher

Music for Minors

I have had a unique opportunity to explore elements of the Orff approach to music teaching, through teaching the Singing Rainbows pre-school program and Musical Jam for Year One and Two, both of which are influenced heavily by this philosophy. It is a new approach to teaching music for me. I always believed that if I had a child I would thrust an instrument in its hand as soon as humanly possible. But, when I did have my own child, I realised that greater benefit would be gained by having music as a constant in his life – we made sure there were lots of instruments around the house, the opportunity to experiment with sound and to listen to and play a variety of music. He, of course, lapped it up and seemed to have a really good ear. However, by about 4 he seemed to have lost all sense of rhythm... and pitch. Obviously, I was horrified. Then he became part of my Musical Jam class and my great experiment. It is a fantastic opportunity to watch his development, knowing everything I do about his past. 

I also teach the violin, in a formal more traditional way. Some of my students have had previous musical exposure and some have not. For the most part, the ones who have been banging on pots and drums driving their parent nuts, or the ones who are involved in church or cultural groups, or ones who have been involved in programs like Musical Jam, seem to be much further down the road from noise to music.

My sons proficiency has increased enormously since participating and collaborating in music making, so has his confidence and co-ordination. But the most notable thing is his new connection to the beat. He got his rhythm back! The other great benefit, the “group” aspect, means the kids start sharing their ideas and start to articulate themselves, musically. I know that when my boy starts more formal musical training, he has a great number of musical concepts already “instinctual” – or seeming so. This will leave him able to concentrate on the more “technical” aspects of music making and understanding, enabling him to progress much faster than he would have without these basic musical elements already in place.

Post by Meryl Main
Lewis Eady Music School Tutor

Life & Learning

I see evidence every day that playing music fosters and encourages valuable tools for life and learning - self-expression, leadership, communication, creativity, self-esteem and confidence.  Bands and orchestras can only be successful if there is focus and dedication from each and every member of the team.

So it was encouraging last week to read the results of the 18 month US study ‘Reinvesting in Arts Education’.  

Art, music, drama and other creative activities deserve an "unambiguous place in the curriculum" American researchers said, “Creative subjects lead to significant and lasting benefits for pupil achievement and should be put at the heart of education reforms”.

In addition to gains in student achievement, the report also identified increased motivation and engagement, and improved problem-solving, critical and creative thinking skills as key benefits of arts education.

Decades of research show strong and consistent links between high-quality arts education and a wide range of impressive educational outcomes.  

The key findings of the research were:

- Arts education helps increase academic achievement, school engagement and creative thinking.

- Integrating the arts into the teaching of other subjects can dramatically improve results and close the 'achievement gap'.

- Schools that are 'arts-rich' uniquely reach out to disengaged learners.

- Creativity is best developed through arts education.

- Research about the value of arts education is positive and consistent.

Most of us are lucky - our schools recognise the importance of music and the arts but there are also many who don’t or don’t have the resources to deliver what our children deserve.  If your school doesn’t offer strong music education, take responsibility yourself to ensure your child gets access to quality music instruction elsewhere.  It is a powerful gift which will have spin-off in many areas of their life and learning.

Miranda Rocca |  Manager - Lewis Eady Music School