The Playground

The Simply Music blog

Showing 11 - 20 of 346 posts
The Molecule of More

The Molecule of More by Daniel Lieberman & Michael Long

Book Review By Katie Schmidt Welp, if I were a psychology professor, I would definitely make this book a requirement for all my students. Although I am not said professor, I do wish all of us would read this book. It gave me a much…

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – Book Review

Mihaly reading his book ‘Flow’ War is horrific. There’s no getting away from it. But sometimes out of the horror there’s a contribution to the world that wouldn’t be here otherwise. Such is the life’s work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The study of what he has…

I Found Your Keys – Interview with Laurie Richards & Neil Moore

  I Found Your Keys Written by Laurie Richards Laurie Richards is an accomplished musician and music educator. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in the 1980s and worked as an Accountant for several years. During that time she also taught…

A World Where Everyone Plays by Bernadette E. Ashby – Book Review

A World Where Everyone Plays is a collection of stories of how Simply Music has impacted people’s lives. Each chapter is written by a student, teacher or loved one. The stories vary from a ten-year-old student, to a professional circus clown, to a retired teacher,…

How 2 songs became 1: Londonderry Air & Danny Boy

As most of us could agree Danny Boy is a legendary musical piece, possibly one of the most famous songs in the world. It is synonomous with all things Ireland and has made its way to being an unofficial Irish national song. But did you…

blues

Having the ‘Blues’ Never Felt So Good – Piano Tutorial

From their earliest lessons, Simply Music students know how fun and easy it is to get into real, authentic-sounding blues piano pieces.They also learn that there are lots of ways to vary and develop their first blues projects with cool extra touches. Actually, if you…

How does music affect your brain?

Neil shared this video with the Simply Music teachers a few weeks ago but we wanted to share it with you too.   In this episode of Tech Effects, we explore the impact of music on the brain and body. From listening to music to…

Have You Met Maddalena Casulana?

Have you met Maddalena Casulana? Born 1544 in Italy she was the first woman to publish her own musical compositions! Women’s roles in the early 1500s largely centred around domestic duties and a constrained societal existence with the expectation that they would live humble, demure…

New Years & New Resolutions

I think we all have fallen into the trap of setting new year’s resolutions that don’t last a week, especially when it comes to playing & practicing our instruments. I know I definitely have! I personally find it hard to follow through with my good…

Seasons Greetings & Merry Gravy Day

From all of us here at Simply Music we wish the very best and a safe and happy holiday season … and a Happy Gravy Day Australia! Gravy Day you ask? The 21st of December has become synonymous with Gravy in Australia. Paul Kelly’s ‘How…