NY Times article on royalties for streaming music

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Classical musicians don't really do recording as a way to make money directly these days. Recording is a way to increase one's prestige, perhaps, and to reach different audiences; As such, there is an indirect impact on one's income over time, but the recordings themselves really are not making the artist any money.

What are you screaming?

I like this. It's a jazz pianist giving a talk to some students. He discusses some really important ideas about playing music. The basic one is that "all music is played by ear" and that what we must work on is how well we hear. We should develop the vividness of what we hear inside. 

When you imagine a phrase, how vivid is the articulation or the color of the sound, or the direction of the line, etc.? If you are screaming it inside, to the point that it must come out, you are ready to play it.

Early Training in Music Affects Brain Development

New Scientist article. 

Study linking music and emotion

Here is a brief LA Times article about a study by neuroscientists showing how perception of emotional states in others is strongly linked to musical elements, particularly pitch. The questions of how, when and why music developed relative to language in our evolution is one that is far from settled, and is one I am fascinated by as a music educator thinking about the role of music in society.
Here is the final line of the article: "The findings, the authors write, "lend support to early speculations by Darwin, elaborated upon by several contemporary theorists, that emotional communication is a fundamental link between these domains [music and language] and reflects their common evolutionary origin."

Top 10 skills children learn from the arts

Washington Post article: 

Top 10 skills children learn from the arts

Education Post: How Finland Did It

Not on music, but still...

Forty years ago Finland revamped their education system. These days they top every list comparing outcomes. Here's how they did it. (really short article)

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