The Playground
The Simply Music blog
Make Your Buds Blossom
Although music is generally considered a social activity, I also treasure the personal experience of private listening. One of my favourite times to listen is when I’m out walking. Music always takse me to another emotional place, even while strolling my familiar neighbourhood. It’s only…
A Study in Songwriting – Pt 2: Sue Lopez
After our Songwriting Tips from Simply Music Friends – Pt 1 post, we asked contributors to give us a more in-depth insight into their process of creating songs. You’ll find that there are as many ways of writing a song as there are songs to…
Chords – Who, What, Where, How & So What?
Image via Gavin Whitner (http://musicoomph.com) In search of the first chord Have you ever wondered when the first ever chord was played? How did it happen? Where did it happen? What is a chord? And what is its importance in understanding Western Music? This article…
Discover New Music in the Streaming Era
If you’re as old as I am, you might remember a now largely vanished delight: walking into a record store and being instantly struck by something fantastic being played over the speakers, or seeing a cool-looking album beckoning to you from the new release racks.…
Meet the Team – Stacie Davison
We asked Stacie Davison some questions to gain some insight into her role here at Simply Music, what lights her up musically and some facts that make her the person she is. Your full name: Stacie Lynn Davison When did you start and what is…
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…
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…
