Play, Play, Play!

July 2, 2011

This is for those of you who don’t know much about music. Or who would like to know more about it than you do now. Let’s start off by having some fun. Have you seen a Virtual Keyboard? Even if you have never played an instrument, you can experience making music yourself with this wonderful [...]

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Would You Believe It? The Surprising Benefits of the Ukulele

June 17, 2011

Hawaii has been in the news a lot lately.  President Obama released the long form of his birth certificate, and A Singular Woman, Janny Scott’s biography of his mother, Ann Dunham, was recently published. But Hawaii is also offering something even more newsworthy, in larger numbers than ever before–an instrument through which almost anyone can [...]

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Music I Love: Love Music

June 1, 2011

A message from Josh: The joys of serendipity.  The other day, listening to the car radio while driving to my college campus to teach, I heard a piece by Richard Wagner that I have loved for a long time:  “A Siegfried Idyll.” I’d like to share some thoughts about it with you. Wagner has been [...]

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Happy 70th, Bob Dylan!

May 23, 2011

The sound of his voice has been compared to “hog calling,” described as an abrasive whine.  Pop critic Stephen Holden once wrote that “his voice jerked upward in a spasmodic shriek, as though he had just sucked in a mouthful of helium. Weird half-yodels, yips, cracked sobs and gravelly mutterings embellished every other phrase.” And [...]

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What Can Music Do? One Magical Musical Moment in Gaza

May 6, 2011

Back in the 1950′s the U.S. State Department sent jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and others to Russia during the Cold War.  The idea was that American music could break down barriers and open Russia up to Western influences.  In retrospect, that idealistic plan may ultimately have been successful! This past week, on May [...]

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