Author: Alyssa

Convention 2014

Announcing the SRMTA Fall Convention and AGM 2014!

Inspiring the Next Generation – October 17th and 18th, 2014 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

The convention is going to be a great experience.  You can read about the workshops, masterclasses, and other events planned in the documents linked to on this post.  You will also find the events in our events calendar.  We hope to see lots of you out at the conference in the fall!

To Register, you can download this registration form. Full registration is $140 before the early bird deadline of July 2, 2014.

Here you can look at the schedule for the conference.

Read about Marc Durand by clicking here.

Read about Mary Lou Fallis and Peter Tiefenbach.

Fun Music History Facts – Adolphe Sax

Fun music history facts #1:

Adolphe Sax, inventor of the Saxophone, was really accident prone. His mother’s only recorded words are: “The child is doomed to suffer; he won’t live.” Here’s some of his near death experiences:

  • He nearly drowned
  • fell headlong down three flights of stairs and cracked his head on a stone floor
  • nearly got poisoned four times
  • he swallowed a pin
  • received severe burns from a gunpowder explosion
  • burned knocking a frying pan over
  • hit on the head by a falling roof-stone
  • nearly asphyxiated from varnish fumes

Apparently the locals in Brussels called him “Young Sax, the Ghost.”

For those interested in reading more about his life, you can check out this article here, which you can access through the Saskatoon Public Library’s website.

Or see if you can find a book (such as the reference book I used, ‘Adolphe Sax 1814-1894’ by Wally Horwood)

Piano Teaching on the Internet

There are some great resources out there about teaching music. Here’s a few links to some useful sites:

The Royal Conservatory of Music has information about exams, a blog, and much more.

Also, there are many blogs about teaching piano, and here’s a few good ones:
Teach Piano Today
Diane Hidy
The Canadian Piano Teacher

There are many other great websites about music and music teaching. What are some of your favorites?

Start thinking about Contemporary Showcase

This year’s Saskatoon Branch Contemporary Showcase will feature adjudicator Kathleen Lohrenz-Gable.  Students can play two pieces by Canadian composers, and they will be grouped according to their grade level.  We hope this will be a real celebration of our Canadian culture – complete with door prizes! – as we participate in passing on our heritage to future generations.

Why Should I Teach Composition?

  1. Composition helps students understand how music is put together.  They learn about form, melody, and harmony.  It is a chance to apply theoretical concepts and study them in a new way.  There is opportunity for discussion on what makes each style of music sound the way it does.  Students learn to appreciate the complexity that has gone into the creation of the music they play and listen to.
  2. Composition helps develop ear and dictation skills.  Students must figure out intervals and remember them in order to notate them accurately.
  3. Composition helps to improve sight reading as students learn to recognize patterns to notate.
  4. Composition helps to advance the useful skill of improvisation as students try out new ideas and attempt to develop them.
  5. Composition helps students realize that not all composers are dead!  Students learn that studying composition doesn’t remain an ancient craft, but it is an exciting way of validating one’s thoughts.
  6. Composition helps students play with passion.  Many students perform at their finest when playing pieces they compose.  A completed work is a reason to be proud!
  7. Composition helps students become well-rounded musicians.  The combination of so many different skills necessary for composition helps students to function at a higher level on individual tasks.
  8. Composition results in fully utilizing the musical language.  When we learn a spoken language (such as English), not only do we learn to read and speak, but we also learn to write and compose our own ideas in the language.  This creative process brings one to a greater depth of understanding the language, and should not be missed out in the learning of music.
  9. Composition fosters a spirit of lifelong learning and creativity.  The spark of inspiration found in composition is a wonderful tool for self-expression in any genre.  As students imagine new ideas, they will want to find new musical ways to communicate.  The sky is the limit when discovering new ways to create that perfect sound.