The Playground
The Simply Music blog
Songwriting Tips from Simply Music Friends’ – Pt 1
Our wide-ranging and talented community of Simply Music Teachers and associates include an array of gifted professional songwriters and composers. We asked a bunch of them to share a little about how they work. We found that there are as many ways of writing a…
Doing Simple Things Well – Part 1
My teenage son makes an awesome cup of coffee. He bought himself a ’70s percolator and spent a considerable time experimenting with different techniques, grinds, brewing times and who knows what else. Now that he’s got his chops down, it’s almost as rewarding for me…
Simply Music Gateway – Opening Musical Doors For Everyone
We are overjoyed to finally make the Simply Music Gateway Program available to Simply Music Teachers and their students. In this post Karen Nisenson, its creator (along with Neil Moore) talks about the benefits of musical self-expression for those with special needs. Imagine that you…
Lynn Kleiner – A Lifetime of Musical Beginnings
At Simply Music, we are committed to music as a whole-of-life experience, starting from birth, and even earlier. Although the focus of the Simply Music Piano program is obviously about playing the instrument, children don’t need to wait until their brains and fingers are ready…
The World of Music in a Few Clicks
I previously wrote an article for the playground discussing how the way you listen to music compensates the artists that create it. But putting aside that issue, streaming music services are worth exploring if only for the huge selection of music they offer you, the…
DJ Sasha – From the Booth to the Barbican
Sasha is one of the most successful and respected DJs and electronic music producers in the world. A multiple award winner and Grammy nominee, he has performed worldwide to huge audiences and remixed artists like Madonna, Seal and Hot Chip. So what does this have…
Music and The Art of Long-Term Relationships, a book by Neil Moore
Beyond the breakthrough nature of our methodology, another unique feature of the Simply Music Program is its deep concern with the nature of learning itself – the behavioral aspects of the way we learn. Many people – teachers, students and parents – have…
Story of a Song: Happy Birthday & How to Play It!
This month we celebrate a birthday of an unusual kind. You might call it the birthday of the right to properly celebrate birthdays. And surprisingly, it’s just a first birthday, because on June 30, 2016, after a very long and tortuous process, the most familiar…
‘Less is More’ – One Chord Songs
I once attended a workshop with the British singer Sheila Chandra in which she sang a whole bunch of songs from various world cultures over a two-note drone. It was amazing the rich variety of sounds that flowed from such a simple source. It made…
Notable Portrayals of Musicians & Composers in Film
The Playground has previously posted a list of some of films worth watching in which our favorite instrument, the Piano, was featured prominently. Following up on that post, I’d like to share some notable films that not only featured pianos, but are about the process,…
