The Playground

Some human beings just can’t get enough creativity. It’s not enough to have the most amazing music machine to play, now it seems there’s the irresistible urge to get visually creative with it as well! Perhaps inspired by the wonderful Play Me, I’m Yours project,…

• Written by Stephanie Iadanza on Nov 2, 2016
• art, create, music, Music & Art, music education, Painted Pianos, piano, play piano, simply music, stephanie iadanza, the playground

  Simply Music Founder and Executive Director Neil Moore has devoted decades to the possibility of music as a lifelong companion. He has spoken to countless parents who share this vision but are still echoing outdated mindsets that don’t encourage that wonderful relationship with musical…

• Written by Neil Moore on Oct 21, 2016
• coaching, method, music, music education, neil moore, piano, piano lessons, play piano, Relationship Conversation, simply music, SoundCloud, teach piano, the playground

Welcome to A Way of Listening, an occasional series where we look at music from a range of angles designed to open you up to new listening opportunities and hopefully teach you a little along the way. It’s a big, exciting musical world when you…

• Written by Gordon Harvey on Oct 4, 2016
• Fred Hersch, gordon harvey, Hiatus Kaiyote, Lalah Hathaway, listening, music, music education, piano, Rosa Passos, Sarah Vaughan, simply music, Snarky Puppy, Stephane Grappelli, the playground, Yehudi Menuhin

In previous posts we have discussed some benefits, learning value and methods of recording yourself, mostly from the perspective of developing your own playing. But what if you feel the urge to share your work? The playing field of recorded music has never been flatter. No…

• Written by Gordon Harvey on Sep 20, 2016
• BandCamp, CD Baby, gordon harvey, itunes, music, music education, piano, Sharing Your Recordings, simply music, SoundCloud, Spotify, the playground, YouTube

A picture is worth 1000 words, but a 1000-word online talk is free! Here’s a selection of interesting and informative Ted Talks and other Talks about music and creativity. Enjoy! 1. Daria van den Bercken: Why I take the piano on the road … and…

• Written by Gordon Harvey on Aug 23, 2016
• gordon harvey, music, music education, piano, simply music, Ted Talks, the playground, Videos

Neil Moore was recently the subject of a video podcast with Tim Topham. This wide-ranging and entertaining chat gave Neil the opportunity to discuss the philosophy and methodology of Simply Music, tell stories of his own unusual musical upbringing and share his vision of a…

• Written by SM Admin on Aug 9, 2016
• learn, learning, method, music, music education, neil moore, piano, simply music piano, the playground, Tim Topham TV, Tim Tophm

Photo Credit: Trusty Joe – https://trustyjoe.com/   Creating your own original music is one of the most beneficial aspects of studying an instrument and being a musician. In Part 1, I talked about two of the three keys to reaping those benefits. First was understanding…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Jul 26, 2016
• benefit, composition, improvisation, instrument, mark meritt, mark s. meritt, music, musician, piano, simply music, the playground, toolkit, tools

Credit: http://www.intuneaudio.ca/ In the last two articles, we talked about the benefits of recording yourself and what to listen for when reviewing your recorded efforts. In this installment, we’ll discuss some practicalities of making recordings. Even if you’re simply making a cheap and cheerful recording…

• Written by Gordon Harvey on Jul 12, 2016
• chords, coaching, gordon harvey, listen, music, neil moore, pedal, play piano, record, simply music, tempo, the playground, tutorial

Credit: college.usatoday.com We hope all our Teachers and Students in the United States are enjoying 4th of July celebrations. But why not spread the national pride further afield? We enlisted the help of the wonderful Elizabeth Gaikwad to create some simple accompaniment versions, using the key…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Jun 24, 2016
• 4th of July, accompaniment, america, australia, blog, canada, chords, coaching, music, national, national pride, national songs, new zealand, piano, pride, simply music, the playground, tutorial

  Here in the Information Age, there’s no end to the opportunities to learn stuff. Trouble is, there’s no end to the stuff we ought to learn. How do you narrow all the available information about your favourite subjects down to the nuggets you can use in your…

• Written by Mel Karajas on Jun 12, 2016
• create, infographics, knowledge, music, simply music, the playground, visual