Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Music ,Guide To Make Your Kids More Successful

Benefits of Music Education Shown to Include Leadership and Teamwork Skills Besides being a sure way to become the life of the party, learning to play an instrument can make your children smarter, better adjusted, and better equipped to adopt a position of leadership in a diverse world. Some of the benefits of music education include the development of leadership and teamwork skills.

The idea that music education makes children smarter isn't just our opinion. Music has a mathematical precision; the rhythms, pitches, and motifs in musical composition can all be expressed with numbers and equations. Maybe that is why the 1993 Standardized Achievement Test (SAT) showed above-average scores in both mathematical and verbal portions of the test by high school students who studied music. At the time, President Bill Clinton and Education Secretary Richard Riley were calling for enriched arts education for all children.

Being smart is important, but it's also critical that children be well adjusted. Children with music education -- especially those in a school setting with other musicians -- develop the key people-skills that are essential to functioning in society, including teamwork, problem solving, and leadership. They gain from the hard work of music mastery, learning self-discipline and self-worth through accomplishments. Studies demonstrate that the students most likely to be elected to class office, achieve the highest grades, or receive honors for academic achievement are the students who -- you guessed it -- study music.

There is also an impossible to quantify, yet essential quality that music adds to each of our lives. If, as argued by the Oxford Review of Education as far back as 1996, the richness of music is itself enough justification for the teaching of it , then are music's other benefits unimportant? We do not believe so. Music education should and does have measurable benefits. What we know is that music education helps children improve academic skills, develop leadership skills, and gain a sense of accomplishment. We also know that support for music education in public schools is always under financial pressure.

You may have to resort to private or virtual lessons to help your children learn music. Be involved, pay attention, and behave as if your children's music education is as important as math and writing education. Why? Because it is. But if that doesn't convince your son or daughter to study music, perhaps the fact that musicians are the life of the party will! Guitar players and singers and pianists are always in demand, no matter what the venue; whether in church musical groups or jazz combos or contemporary rock groups, with bass players and drummers close behind. With the current decline in support for music and arts education, it is more important than ever for parents to encourage their children to study music.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Mesyuarat di Sek Seni Kuching, Sarawak

Pada 21-24 Julai lalu aku ke Sekolah Seni Kuching, Sarawak untuk menghadiri satu mesyuarat berkaitan peperiksaan .

Sekolah Seni Kuching adalah merupakan salah satu daripada dua sekolah seni di Malaysia yang diwujudkan oleh kerajaan Malaysia bagi memberi saluran kepada pelajar yang mempunyai bakat dan potensi di dalam bidang kesenian untuk mendalami bidang kesenian yang mereka minati.

Semasa kedatangan kau ke sana, rakan-rakan jurulatih dan ketua bidang muzik sibuk mengendalikan satu projek besar Jabatan Pelajaran Sarawak iaitu Konsert Syukor Tuan Yang Terutama Negeri Sarawak.

Konsert tersebut menggabungkan guru-guru dan pelajar-pelajar dari seluruh negeri Sarawak. Konsert ini adalah ala-ala Konsert Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia yang diadakan pada setiap tahun pada peringkat nasional.

Projek yang julung-julung kalinya diadakan ini menurut En. Reduan Taha, Ketua Bidang Seni Muzik dan selaku konduktor konsert adalah merupakan benchmark atau penanda aras yang akan menentukan sama ada konsert ini akan diteruskan pada tahun-tahun akan datang atau hanya akan diadakan setakat tahun ini sahaja sekiranya persembahan tidak berjaya.

Tapi rasanya berdasarkan pengamatan aku semasa mengikuti sesi latihan yang dijalankan di Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak pada hari itu, Konsert tersebut akan mencapai kejayaan seperti yang diharapkan.




Apa-apa pun aku sangat berterima kasih di atas layanan yang cukup sempurna semasa berada di sana terutama kepada En Rojali Yusin jurulataih Seni Muzik.

Friday, July 18, 2008

What Are The Basics Of Buying Electric Guitars?

Just about every kid ever born wants to be a rock star like Man Keedal. They see their favorite stars up there on stage playing the electric guitar to a crowd and want to do the same. Problem is, it's not easy learning to play the electric guitar.

And of course before you learn to play the guitar you need to own a guitar, or at least borrow one. When you're just starting out learning the electric guitar you don't need one like Jimmy Hendrix would play, but you still need to get your hands on an electric guitar that will be adequate for the beginner. And if that's you then there's a few things that you need to know about electric guitars that may help in understanding a little more about them.

First thing to remember about buying your first electric guitar is that you don't need to spend hundreds of thousands to do so. Be happy with a cheap electric guitar while you're learning, and maybe once you hit the big time spend up big. However a cheap electric guitar will do the job for the first few years.

You also need to know exactly what style of music you will be playing on your guitar. Different styles of music require different styles of electric guitar. You need a different guitar to play rock, for example, to the guitar you'd buy if you were playing jazz.

So spend a little time researching the types of electric guitar that should be used by different music styles.

Electric guitar types boil down to 2 basic types, solid body and hollow body.

As the name suggests a solid body guitar has no hollow space inside, and is usually, though not exclusively, made of solid wood. Different types of timber can produce different sounds, so as you get better you may want to research more on the type of timber you need to produce the sound you want, but in the early stages if you're buying a cheap electric guitar don't get too carried away getting the ideal timber, you may find it more expensive than you need to be paying, and it's not essential at the start.

And there's a few unusual terms you'll need to become familiar with if you're buying an electric guitar for the first time. Here's a taste.


Pickups.

The pickup is a magnet with a coil of wire wrapped around it placed right under the strings. This receives the vibrations of the strings and turns these into an electric signal for the amp to use. There are 2 types of pickup. The single coil, which produces a sound that sounds good for playing rock, blues and country. Humbuckers are a pickup with 2 coils next to each other that produces a warmer sound which is great for metal and rock in particular. Some guitars have a combination of single coils and humbuckers, and there is usually at least 2 pickups utilized.


Bridge.

The bridge is where the strings connect to the body of the guitar. You can have a fixed bridge or a Vibrato bridge which allows you to move the bridge to tighten or loosen the strings. The fixed bridge is better for beginners who can graduate to a Vibrato bridge after they've mastered the basics.

Hollow body electric guitars are the second basic style of guitar. These, as the name suggests, have a hollow body although there is also a variation of this which is the semi hollow. As the player plays his guitar the hollow space helps the body resonate which produces a quite distinctive sound. These are good guitars for jazz. These hollow body guitars also utilize pickups, including single coil and humbucker.

That's really just the start when it comes to understanding electric guitars, and for the enthusiast it's a lifetime job learning all there is to know about them. And finding out exactly what it is that you need to play to produce exactly the sound you want to produce. That's part of the fun of playing the guitar, it's a constant learning process, not just about how to play but what to play as well.

However remember, the most important piece of advice. If you're a beginner don't spend up big the first time. Buy yourself a cheap electric guitar first, then learn to play that and take it from there. It's the best way to kick off your rock star career.

The Importance of Dedicated Daily Practice In Learning to Play Music

As a result, practice is essential to becoming skilled at anything, and this is especially true with musical instruments. When you first get your used musical instrument, whether it is a guitar, piano or trombone, you’re going to need to practice on it if you want to play it without people laughing at you.

Practice is not something that can be done occasionally. It is something that has to be done on a regular basis. The world of rock and roll and other popular music genres is littered with men and women who practiced constantly to become the ideal that they could on an instrument.

Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin didn’t just become great on the guitar, he’d to practice constantly. Elton John did not just become great on the piano, he had to practice on a regular basis.

This is what it means to be great in music. It means working to ensure you practice every day, often for several hours a day.

Unless you plan on being in a boy band, your dreams of musical stardom are tied directly to how hard you want to work to make something work and make yourself a rock god.

It isn’t easy to do, but no one stated success was an simple thing to achieve. It is a long process of practicing and heartache. Sometimes it will pay off, other times it will not, but regardless of whether or not you become famous or simply play in a band at banquets, practicing at something regularly means you’ll develop discipline and commitment. This is incredibly important and can help you throughout your life.

Practicing is so important to music that those who don’t practice can never hope to accomplish superstardom. Even lead singers have to practice their voice so they don’t sound like a bad American Idol contestant in front of their fans. Practice makes perfect, and perfection is the only thing that’ll take your band, and yourself, to the next level.

When you choose to take up a musical instrument, or your child begins playing one, the most important part of learning is practice. There’s no point in playing an instrument if you select to only practice once per month. You need to take the time to learn everything you can about the instrument, because only through practice can you become good at it.

Through practice, your self-esteem will rise, you will feel more confident and you’ll be proud of the fact that you decided to work hard to make yourself adept on an instrument. It is a long-term commitment, and for many, the success they feel at the end when they have the ability to play with ease is worth any amount of cash they may make in the future.

How to Improve Piano Sight Reading

To play a piece of music you have never seen before takes a great deal of skill. So how is it, some musicians can do this easily such as session musicians and others such as non professional players of all standards find sight reading so difficult.

Don't confuse learning to play a piece with sight-reading a piece

Many players confuse learning and playing a piece of music with sight-reading. You also have to learn how to sight read and this is completely different from learning to play a piece of music. To sight read successfully does not necessarily mean playing the piece note for note but to get through the piece from start to finish, in time, that means no slow downs or speed ups, perfect time.

Stopping and starting

As a professional musician you do not have the luxury of stopping and starting as many non professional players do, and there are a great deal of very good amateur players that keep stopping and starting because they don't have the discipline of a good sight reader.

Learn to sight-read

The best way to learn how to sight read is to find a piece of music you have never seen before, start playing at the beginning and don't stop, until to reach the end. Yes, there will be mistakes and that is part of the learning process. You are learning to sight-read. It is a discipline that professionals are forced to use and unfortunately, amateurs just don't get. They have to play everything perfectly, which means lots of practice on just one piece of music.

The more music you sight read the better you will understand music phrases you have never seen before, the more music phrases you play the better you will get, the better you get the easier the sight reading becomes. It's a vicious circle, it's a great discipline and it will force you to use all of your music knowledge.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Teater Kasih Teja di Muara Muar

Akhirnya pelajar-pelajar SSJB telah berjaya membuktikan kehebatan mereka kepada para penonton Teater Kasih Teja Di Muara Muar yang berlangsung di Dataran Bandaraya JB pada 12 dan 13 Julai lalu.

Ramai yang memuji mutu persembahan teater muzikal yang ditunjukkan, malah persembahan yang berlangsung selama kira-kira 2 jam setengah itu langsung tidak membosankan kerana penuh dengan adegan yang digarap dengan begitu baik pada setiap plot penceritaan.

Itulah kehebatan Dean Manas pengarah Teater ini dibantu oleh semua produksi iaitu koreografer, make up artist, Sound engineer, lighting , Music director dan stage manager. Aku sebagai jurulatih muzik kepada pemuzik SSJB pun turut rasa tak puas dan rasa nak perform lagi. 2 jam setengah tu tak terasa lama pun.




Rakaman Video - Overture taken with my Finepix Z2 camera



Persembahan teater tersebut telah berjaya memukau para penonton yang dianggarkan seramai 1500 orang penonton dalam masa 2 hari tersebut.



Kenangan Teater Kasih Teja di Muara Muar





Slideshow Pemuzik SSJB








Kehadiran Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran Malaysia

Pada show hari Ahad petang (matinee) penonton penuh, aku tak perasan bila tiba-tiba semasa break 15 minit, Juruacara mengumumkan kedatangan Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran Y.B Ir Dr. Wee Ka Siong. Beliau terus datang kepada aku mengucapkan tahniah di atas persembahan yang hebat ditunjukkan oleh pelajar SSJB.





























Beliau seterusnya berjanji untuk datang ke sekolah untuk melihat perkembangan sekolah. Aku pun sempat bertanya kepada beliau tentang lokasi sekolah seni. Beliau memberitahu tempatnya di Bandar Putra Kulai. Tapi itu kata beliau adalah ura-ura sahaja.

Beliau turut berbangga dengan persembahan teater ini dan besar kemungkinan beliau akan membuat MOU dengan KeKKWa untuk mengadakan persembahan teater ini di Istana Budaya KualaLumpur. Tunggu aje lah.

Sesungguhnya penglibatan kami warga seni SSJB ini telah banyak memberikan pengalaman dan pengajaran yang sangat berharga dalam pelbagai aspek.

Terima kasih kepada pihak penganjur khususnya pihak Alpha Entertaiment kerana memberikan sepenuh kepercayaan kepada kami.

Thank you very much.!!!

Jumpa lagi ...

Monday, July 14, 2008

Surat Kelulusan Menjadi Jurulatih Seni yang sangat menggembirakan hati.

Hari ini, semua jurulatih senior mendapat surat kelulusan perpindahan sementara sebagai jurulatih gred DG41 berkuatkuasa 01/06/2008 hingga 01/06/2010.

Agaknya diorang tak tau kot aku melatih student sekolah seni daripada tahun lepas.
Tahun lepas cuma 4 orang jurulatih ini ajelah yang bertungkus lumus, bekerja keras, membentuk, membina pelajar-pelajar di sini. Woooo bukan senang woooo. Dengan serba serbi kekurangan. fasiliti dan peralatan yang kurang. Kami tabah menghadapi cabaran ini demi agama bangsa dan negara yang tercinta.

Kiranya tahun lepas tu kitaorang bukan jurulatih cuma di arahkan pindah sekolah aje, Kalau aku tau JPJS punya auta ni.

Baik aku tak masuk sekolah seni tahun lepas. Masuk tahun ini aje macam jurulatih yang baru.

Dah la tak ada backdated kita cuma guru akademik biasa aje, walaupun kerja sampai malam kadang-kadang tidor di sekolah pun ada.

Kitorang yang set up , bentuk pelajar sekolah seni ini kepada tahap yang ada sekarang.

Siapa yang besalah dalam hal ini. Masing-masing mestilah tak nak mengaku salah.
Mestilah pihak KPM ada jawapan yang konkrit yang kukuh beserta dengan fakta dan pekeliling la. Diorang mesti menang punya. Kau siapa nak tanya-tanya.

Mestilah diorang tak bersalah.

Aku rasa semua orang tak salah. Nak tau sebabnya. Sebabnya ialah harga minyak dunia naik. Jadi bila harga minyak naik maka diorang buat kerja ni pun pening kepala.

Hmmm.. Malas la aku nak tau kenapa perkara ni berlaku kepada kitaorang yang pioneer di sekolah seni yang tercinta ini.

Itulah antara beberapa perkara Auta yang banyak di gula-gulakan kepada kami.

Apa-apa pun kepada mereka yang teringin menjadi jurulatih di Sekolah Seni no problem dah.
Kalau berminat nak jadi jurulatih di sekolah seni. Mohon lah. Kami alu-alukan kedatangan anda di sini.

Cuma kalau nak mintak jadi jurulatih tu..... aku syorkan korang nyanyi lagu Janji Manismu oleh Aishah. ok. Sebab lagu tu sedaplah... ala nyanyi aje lah.. Lagu tu pernah menang Anugerah Juara Lagu TV3 tahun 1990.



Kalau lagu tu lagu sedih korang tak suka, Aku ada cadangan lagu lain.
Lagu Wann. Apa Guna Berjanji. pun ok jugak.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Video Pertandingan Nyanyian Lagu-lagu P. Ramlee

Post ini adalah update daripada post sebelumnya;

Bertemakan Nostalgia Seniman agung Tan SriP.Ramlee, pihak Panitia Seni Muzik SSJB telah menganjurkan satu pertandingan Nyanyian Lagu-lagu P.Ramlee dan Saloma bertempat di Dewan Mini SSJB.

Pertandingan telah diadakan pada hari Rabu 25 jun 2008 (3.00 petang) di Dewan Mini SSJB

Berikut adalah beberapa klip video yang sempat diupload ke youtube.
Selamat menonton dan berikan komen. Siapa boleh menang?

Diana Adha - Tunggu Sekejap




Syazliana - Bossanova


Ahmad Fawwaz dan Aaina Soraya Putri