How have things been going for you?

“Brutal”, “challenging”, “not even talking about it,” “scary”... what is your word to describe how work has been for you in the last year?

I’m putting together some thoughts on this subject and I need to hear from you musicians. If you want to send me info at hannah@musicvillage.ca I would be really glad. If you want your name to remain anonymous for the writing I do, please put something like “don’t use my name” in the subject heading.

I guess that I can’t ask people to share without sharing myself, so here goes. This year has been bad, really bad. When the economy was tanking, I was enjoying collecting employment insurance and taking care of my baby, Etienne. I didn’t even notice, really, how things started to slow down for my musician husband. I was thinking to myself that EI was not great money, but that soon I’d be back to my work as a Music Director.

Then things changed really fast.

I was laid off from my position as MD, and had no work, not a thing. EI ended, and I was scrambling to find something to do to make money. I wanted to apply for composition grants, but couldn’t get to it, as I was so busy taking care of the baby and doing home stuff, while my husband went out to do jobs. I was looking at retail, or restaurants, or anything. I went to interviews for music schools that wanted me to invest $500 for certification and spend three months in training, even though I’ve been teaching and training since I was a teenager.

So what did I do?

I got Music Village up and running. I set up our website, made online presence and am going through my contacts to let them know about the work that we do. I’ve gone to networking sessions and training sessions.
I’m looking for publication for my children’s book. I’m making my album (on credit). I’m putting myself and the artists I represent out there so that people can find us and bring us for their live events. I’m writing and recording music it for film. And on and on...

I’m interested to hear from you. How have you felt through the last year? What have you done to make things last? How have you felt yourself represented in the media? What does your community look like right now.

You can respond to me at hannah@musicvillage.ca. I think it’s important for our community and our city to hear how we’ve been coping.

When things are tough, remember that “this too shall pass.” This is just a season in our lives.

Hannah

Navigating the Music Education Waters

People ask me all the time, "How old should my child be before I put them in music lessons?" That is a tricky question. The short answer is that it depends on how interested your child is and how active the teacher is that you have in mind.

I'd like to offer you a bit of a broad base of options in the Canadian music scene. Here is a compiled list of many of the music options for music for students of all ages.

Generally speaking, teachers are certified in the methods of study until your child is in one on one lessons. Then it can become looser, depending on your school of choice. More on that later...

BABIES
For these classes, you or your caregiver must attend with your baby. These classes offer songs, clapping games, movement and words. Classes are usually offered in sessions of three to four months. Classes are very fun, encourage bonding between your child and caregiver and are a great way to experience music.

Some examples are, www.rainbowsongs.com, www.kindermusik.com,

TODDLERS
In toddler classes, the children are encouraged to participate more by singing along and using their hands to play percussion instruments. Movement is always encouraged, as it is an integral part of experiencing music. Parent Participation is required.
www.northyork-suzuki.com

3-5
At this age, your child can really enjoy participation in musical games and activities. Most methods begin to teach by rote, which is the practice of hearing and repeating. This is a great way for children to develop memory muscle and build up their song library. Some music methods begin to offer group lesson classes in a particular instrument at this age.
http://www.yamaha.ca/content/musiceducation/courses/keyboard/index.jsp?from=courses

5+
At this age, the training really begins to branch out. Many schools begin to offer one on one lessons, or private training for your children in an instrument. Some schools offer group lessons in keyboard courses, or some schools begin to follow a set methodology. There are many choices as your child begins to study an instrument.

If your child is (like mine) extremely active, and wants to do things him or herself, then I think you could put your child in lessons from an early age (4 or 5 years old). Be sure though, to find a teacher who is good at teaching young children, and is able to entertain while educating your young child for a 30 minute period by using many different activities.


ADULT LESSONS
There are lots of schools that teach adult lessons. If you are interested in picking up an instrument that you learned as a youth, or trying something new, then congratulations!!! These lessons are fun, since you are really motivated to get playing. I recommend (if you are motivated this way) to browse through some musician's profiles and study from someone who's music really speaks to you. Of course, ask the teacher a bit about his or her teaching history, and it is not inappropriate to ask to speak to someone that the teacher has already taught.

SENIOR'S COURSES
There are a few schools that are teaching group lessons for 65+ students. This is a great way to learn a new skill and meet new people with similar interests. Check out www.yamaha.ca for info.

REMEMBER:
1. Try to have an open mind, and if you had a bad experience as a child yourself in music lessons (ie rulers on knuckles, or something like that), check back in, since most schools now have a code of conduct that would prevent that kind of bad behaviour.

2. To me, it is important to find a teacher that is active in performance. A lot of music schools don't worry about if their teachers are good musicians, but I have found that musicians that are always making music, expanding skills, experiencing different places and kinds of music make the best teachers.

3. It's always the right time to study music. It feels really great to pick up an instrument, or sing a song and be involved in making music.

Here are some of the schools that are teaching music in Canada, and in Toronto.

The Royal Conservatory of Music - instrument lessons, reading music, classical music curriculum. Has a lot of fun new options for adult and children group studies. www.rcmusic.ca

Yamaha Canada Music - www.yamaha.ca

Little Fingers Music- group lessons for young children in Toronto's West end. www.littlefingersmusic.com

Kaos Music Centre - www.kaosmusiccentre.com

Long & McQuade - http://www.long-mcquade.com/lessons/

Merriam Music - www.merriammusic.com


Have a question about lessons? Are you interested in reading about something else in the music business? Send me an email at hannah@musicvillage.ca

Movie Time

Hello Viewers and Fellow Bloggers,

I'd just like to make mention that a Music Village Sountrack will be appearing at the Moving Image Film Festival in Toronto, CAD this Saturday, October 17th at 1pm.

Ardent Pictures, and Independent Film Co. has created and released, "The Devil's Tail" a feature length film of intrigue, humour and deception. But since I can't describe it as well as others can, here is the synopsis:

When Eddie disappears in the Yucatan, Pete abandons his comfortable life in Toronto to search for his lifelong best friend, a charming Texas ne'er-do-well. Arriving in Mexico with his girlfriend Zoe and pal Dave, they discover a world that is deeper and darker than any tourist image of Cancun. As the hunt progresses, Pete encounters old love Kate who is now Eddie's girlfriend. Meanwhile, several local Mexicans disappeared at the same time as Eddie - a fact noticed by a popular barfly who befriends Pete - who also happens to be retired Texas Border Patrol. Eddie's sudden reappearance only adds to the puzzle as he deflects all questions by distracting them with Southern charm and promise of local adventures. And with Eddie's return, Pete must reluctantly relinquish his role of savior for Kate, who has blinders on to their real circumstances. With this, Pete learns there is more than one way to "disappear" and a startling discovery uncovers more about his past and his former friend than he can bear. All this set against the glorious backdrop of Mayan Ruins, stunning beaches, underground rivers and a beautiful country wrestling with its history of racism and its convoluted relationship with "Norteamericanos". The overall effect is of a complicated, character driven dramatic thriller tempered by the possibility of personal redemption.

So, here are some links:
http://www.miffest.com/miffestnewschedule.html

We are -- GIGGLESHORTS THEATRE - the Devil's Tail - Ardent Pictures, 1 pm.
www.ardentpics.com
www.musicvillage.ca

Well, if you live in Toronto and can make it out, I'd love to see you!

Volunteer your Heart out!

I have noticed recently, an alarming trend on artist work pages.

These pages are search sites that post arts jobs for designers, musicians, actors and arts administrators, in addition to many other varied jobs. I and many other artists browse these sites to pick up contract work in our off time, or look for a part time position that enables us to work on our craft while still paying our bills.

In Toronto there is not enough work to go around if you are an artist, particularly if you are a performance artist. In the last year, since the global meltdown, work has been even harder to come by. There are thousands of artists that cannot survive now, that had been barely surviving two years ago. Every artists that lives by their trade alone is constantly juggling many jobs at once while looking for more.

Back to the alarming trend...of volunteerism. On sites like workinculture.ca, every day companies are posting “jobs” for volunteers to fill positions that should go paid. These companies are proudly broadcasting, "Do art work for free!"

Some of these postings are for singers, designers, curators, and team leaders. And, to add insult to injury, the companies are asking for your resume, so that they can browse your work history in order for you to volunteer.

Times are very tough in traditional job fields with cutbacks and layoffs and job sustaining programs, but times are downright abject if you are an artist. More than ever we need companies to pay for the services that we provide, not only to keep economic transfer happening, but also to affirm that the work artists do is valuable and necessary for our community experience. This type of internship needs to stop. There are legitimate ways to make an internship work but to replace a paid worker for a volunteer for the same job does not qualify as legitimate.


If you've found yourself in this position, here are some ways to start a reversal:

1. Pay for a service that your company requires.
2. Don’t suggest to an artist that playing for free is a good opportunity for us to get exposure. We get exposure by playing on youtube and one hundred other ways.
3. Be creative about using art, performance, design, writing, etc. in unconventional ways.
4. Figure out how to get the community involved to help pay for something if your company can’t finance the entire venture/concert/design project. Get a sponsor, ask people to pay for portions of work, it’s similar to the idea of a patron.

Talk to artists, we generally want to be involved in making something happen. We can be flexible and sometimes have ideas of how to make integration happen between business and art.

Let’s work it out!

Artist in Canada

It’s funny business being an artist in Canada. If you doubt, just ask any artist how many different things they have to do to make a living.

Perhaps acting, music, painting, and other performance mediums are the only career paths where you can train for a lifetime and still make less in a year than someone working full-time for minimum wage. In addition to making very little, musicians suffer the injustice of being undervalued in Canadian society.

Imagine training for hours a day, taking a degree, and then coming out of school with no prospects for work. You must do you art on the side so that you can survive. Then, potentially, several years (or more) down the road, you have enough experience that you can quit your day job and do only your profession, and you still make less than $600 a week.
The busiest and best musician in town can have no money in the bank, and be unknown to the general public. Think for a moment of the Canadian performers that you are familiar with. Who in ballet, contemporary dance, painting, mixed media, film-making, acting, writing, rock music, jazz, world music can you name? Who is Toronto’s Poet Laureate? For every one person that you can name, there are 1000 others also trying to make it in the arts business.

Musicians become known to the public through making recordings and playing free festivals and putting music out through the internet. Once we have interested you then we hope you’ll buy our records and pay ticket prices to come and see us. Each record costs us a significant amount of money to make, upwards of $15,000 and often double that, just for a basic record. We apply for help from arts councils but they are very selective and many musicians do not get help. Making a record is daunting financially when you are not making extra dollars and you have to feed your family.

The art that we make is special because it costs us so much to make it.
Who brings tourists to our cities? Artists, of course. As much as we despise dirty streets, we don’t travel to a city to see how clean it is. We travel to cities to feel the vibe, and to move with the energy in the streets. We go for shopping and concerts, shows and festivals. Designers, musicians, poets, artists, dancers, film-makers and performance artists are the heart of our cities. We need people like you to come to hear and see shows, visit galleries, find out who are the designers in the city and buy their clothes, furniture and other wares.

Artists coming from all countries on the planet, congregating in Toronto and making art that comes from integrated living is what sets Canada apart from every other country on earth.

--
(Pier Giorgio Di Cicco is our Poet Laureate in Toronto)

Music for Everyone!

Playing music is a great antidote to the stress of life. Spending a few minutes a day playing your instrument or singing can be just the positive momentum that you needed.

I’ve been noticing music lesson registration coming down across the board as people trim their family budgets. Lessons can be costly, ranging from $60 to $120 a month per person (based on a 30 minute lesson ranging from $15-30 in price), and that from a lesson centre.

But the positive benefits that come from music making cannot be underestimated. As you’re thinking about your lifestyle, here are a few things to consider:

Working in the body
Singing and playing an instrument gets your blood flowing and makes you feel good.

Just as you breathe deeply in yoga or other physical exercise for a calmer mind, breathing exercises are the foundation of singing and playing wind instruments.

Working “in the body” is good for self-esteem and general health. You are developing yourself.

Stress Release
Playing an instrument or singing is good to distract from problems at hand. Taking a break from stress to work out a passage from a song, or to play something familiar will help to bring you back to a calm state.

Problem Solving
By learning a piece of music, or a small section of a piece of music, you are engaging your problem solving skills. Your hands working together, or your body producing sound, hone your skills to work out difficult issues in smaller sections.

This can be applied to other areas of life.

These benefits are great for adults and children. There is no age at which you cannot learn music.

Playing and singing gives the opportunity to pour emotions into a creative vessel. Making music is a way to change around a negative attitude into a positive one. By putting energy into our own development, we increase our potential.

You can make music. You can learn to play an instrument. You can sing, even if you’ve been told that you can’t or aren’t good. Don’t believe me? Give us a try.

Everyone can make music!

Let us help you.

Language

Do you ever find pop music content a little lean?  

I know language has taken a bit of a beating in our IM days but I appreciate the poetry of a sentence.  Even if you are a woma-woma-woma, you're a womanizer, I would kind of rather sing a-long to "Like a lonesome weeping willow lost in the wood, the way I hug my pillow no woman should, I got it bad and that ain't good."  (I got it bad and that ain't good.)  The imagery is better, isn't it?

While we are getting creative about gift-giving, cost savings and adventure taking, perhaps it is time to resurrect the art of conversation.  For this birthday and valentine's day, why not make poetry your cause? 

Maybe we also have to widen our thoughts to be good receivers of language. I admit, I might get really excited if you told me that you were giving me a new wardrobe for my birthday, but in the long haul, if you could put how you feel about me into words, that would really light my fire.  

And, if you are not that good at making up a poem, search the lyrics of pop music until you find the right sentiment, then have it framed for your loved one.   

You just might have to look back a few years to find a sentiment that fits. 

--

*note* you may find something on jazzstandards.com *  It makes for interesting reading even if you don't.