The Playground

Credit: David Cassolato I will start with a little story. In 2007 I was beginning University studies and surfing the internet one weekend, when I came across a piano teacher’s blog. This teacher was on about this great new discovery. After teaching for many years…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Apr 11, 2023
• Anna Abraham, book review, Creativity, music, music education, music neuroscience, piano, playing-based, simply music, The Neuroscience of Creativity, the playground

I looked everywhere for the enemy and failed to see it right in front of my face. Sometimes things that should be obvious aren’t. Sometimes an obvious thing only becomes obvious after someone states it in such an articulate and relatable manner that its essence…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Mar 8, 2023
• book review, Creativity, music, music education, music neurology, piano, playing-based, simply music, Steven Pressfield, the playground, The War of Art

By Rebecca Harding This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel LevitinThis Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel Levitin is a fascinating and in-depth exploration into the neurological processes that make us love and connect with music. Levitin,…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Feb 8, 2023
• book review, Daniel Levitin, music, music education, music neurology, piano, playing-based, simply music, the playground, This Is Your Brain On Music

The Great Courses: Creativity & Your Brain I’ve been a fan of The Great Courses for a long time. Typically designed as packages of ‘lectures’ that might mirror a semester of university study, these comprehensive courses cover topics as varied as your imagination. In my…

• Written by Gordon Harvey on Jan 12, 2023
• course review, Creativity, gordon harvey, Indre Viskontas, music, music education, piano, playing-based music education, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, simply music, the playground, University of San Francisco

Quincy Jones may well be music’s all-time greatest multitalent. From jazz trumpeter to band leader to arranger for the likes of Frank Sinatra, conductor, composer, Broadway and Academy Awards director, producer for the likes of Michael Jackson, record company executive, impresario, educator, activist and more,…

• Written by Gordon Harvey on Nov 30, 2022
• 12 Notes, book review, Creativity, gordon harvey, music, music education, piano, playing-based music education, Quincy Jones, simply music, the playground

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…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Oct 21, 2022
• book review, Creativity, Daniel Lieberman, katie schmidt, Love, Michael Long, music, music education, piano, simply music, the playground

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…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Sep 23, 2022
• book review, Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, music, music education, piano, playing-based music education, simply music, the playground

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,…

• Written by Allison Gray on Aug 8, 2022
• A world where everyone plays, Bernadette Ashby, book review, music, music education, piano, playing-based music education, simply music, the playground

Whether you’re looking for a new book to read or a present for someone this holiday season, we’ve compiled a list of books for you! Some we have read and some are on our own ‘to read’ lists! If you’ve got any recommendations please leave…

• Written by Gretta Dunn on Dec 4, 2020
• Blues, books, jazz, music, Music Books, music education, music history, piano, Reading List, recorded music, simply music, the playground

Think of the word “jazz” and chances are you’ll picture something like a smoky bar with a small group of guys hunched intensely over their instruments. Or perhaps a concert hall with an ensemble of tuxedo-clad men swinging through Tin Pan Alley standards. What you…

• Written by Gordon Harvey on Nov 19, 2020
• album review, Diana Krall, jazz, jazz pianist, jazz singer, music, music education, piano, piano player, Review, simply music, the playground