"Eye Play the Piano" Helps Physically Impaired Children Play the Piano

The power and reach of technology grows every year, and now a Japanese company has created a way for disabled children (and adults) to be able to play the piano using only their eyes. The company FOVE has teamed up with the University of Tsukuba to invent a headset that tracks the eye movement of the user. This of course has many possible applications, but in this case it is being used to play the piano. The wearer of the headset simply looks at panels on the virtual reality headset and this triggers piano notes and even chords.

The system appears to have at least 3 different modes, one where the user can play single notes, a second mode where they can play chords with accompanying bass notes, and a third where they can play a melody and a chord and/or bass note is played along with their melody.

How amazing and awesome is this! Now children who could previously never dream of playing the piano, can now do so and not only play existing songs, but also learn to write new songs utilizing this technology. This opens up a whole new world of playing and creating music for an audience who will immensely benefit from this capability. Take a look at this short 3 minute video demonstration that shows a young boy playing the piano accompanying a choir of physically impaired children singing "Joy to the World".

We first read about this amazing invention though an article in The Guardian here: The Guardian: "Disabled Play Piano Using Virtual Reality Headset". In the article they explain a bit more about the technology and where its leading to next. FOVE and the University of Tsukuba are now seeking funding to help distribute this technology to schools for the physically impaired. Presumably this will start in Japan and hopefully soon spread to the rest of the world. Personally I can't wait to see what future capabilities develop through this as the technology continues to evolve and becomes available to more children and adults who can benefit from it.

That's our musical tech tidbit for the day. We hope you all had a great week and will be back with another post early in the week. Stay warm (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) and stay safe!

Peace, Love & Music,

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

How Do You Keep Teenagers Interested in Music Lessons???

Many times children will start out learning to play an instrument when they are in elementary school. Very often it will be piano lessons at home, or perhaps a band instrument at school including trumpet, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trombone and drums/percussion being the most popular. However, by the time these same children become teenagers and begin entering high school, their interest in music and music lessons often begins to fade.

There a number of reasons for this of course, not the least of which the number of distractions now presenting themselves these days. Teenagers now have computers, laptops, tablets, cell phones, cable TV, Netflix, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Tumbler, and the grand daddy of all social media Facebook. With all of these entertainment options and distractions now available is it any wonder that teenagers today have a hard time wanting to stay focused on music and continue learning their instrument.

I can think of several ways to try and rekindle the interest of your teen (or perhaps yourself) in music lessons and music in general. Not in any particular order, here are a few:

• Try learning a new instrument you haven't played before - Sometimes we get stuck in a rut playing the same instrument for years, and if we just try learning how to play something new maybe an instrument you've always wanted to play this would do the trick.
• Consider learning songs in a different genre - If you've been taking classical piano lessons for years and perhaps you're tired of it, try beginning to learn how to play popular songs from the radio and YouTube. This is a whole different experience and playing songs that are more familiar to you may help recharge your musical batteries.
• Try learning from a new teacher - It can be difficult to tell a teacher you've had for a while that you want to move on and try something different but sometimes that what you need to do. Get a new and different perspective from someone else who will undoubtedly have a different style of teaching. In fact don't be afraid to take lessons from several different teachers over time as you'll be amazed what different techniques and tips you'll learn from each one.
• Start learning how to write your own songs or instrumental compositions - If pop, country or R&B music is your favorite style then try your hand at writing some original songs; if jazz or classical is your specialty then write a few instrumental musical pieces in those genres. Learning the process of how to write your own music will open up your eyes and musical hearts to so many different possibilities.

That's all the ideas I can think of for now, but I'm sure we will add to this list over time. I got this idea for today's post from an article in the Irish Times about how to keep teenagers interested in music. One major theme they discuss is to share with your music students the social importance and impact of playing an instrument. Playing music with others either in a band, an ensemble or any type of musical group can be one of the most satisfying experiences you will ever have. To learn more about what Music Generations and Limerick Voices are doing over in Ireland to help teens stay interested please read Irish Times - How to Stop Teenagers from Tuning Out of Music Lessons

That's all for today boys and girls - Stop back in a few days for our next post. In the meantime go find a quiet spot and play some music, or better yet call some bands and do a jam session.

Music, Love & Laughter,

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

This is your BRAIN on GUITAR!

In a 2012 study in Berlin, Germany, researchers hooked up 12 guitar players to brain scanners and learned some pretty amazing things. They had the guitarists all play the same piece together (ie. like a big guitar band), and what they saw was that their brain waves synchronized together while playing the piece. Even more interesting was the fact that their brain waves actually synchronized slightly before they started to play (like they were all coming to starting gates of a race at the same time).

Being more of a keyboard/piano player myself, I wonder what the brain scans would look like for musicians playing other instruments playing the same piece of music. What if you had a full band with different instruments, say piano, guitar, bass, drums and maybe a horn section? If they were all playing the same piece with the same notes written out would their brains synchronize as well? Or is there something different about guitar player brains as a recent article in The Open Mind suggests.

I do agree with the article when it claims that that guitarists often tend to be the more creative musicians. Maybe its the years of trying to emulate and outdo guitar solos from the all the guitar virtuosos from the last 40-50 years starting with Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, BB King, Jimmy Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Slash and a host of others. When you are trying to play what you hope is an exceptional guitar solo (or any instrument for that matter), at some point you let go of your conscious mind to see where you're creative brain waves will take you on their own. I know myself I have written some of my very best pieces of music when I forced myself to not think about what I was doing, but instead just let my hands and fingers go where they wanted. Sometimes our best path to discovery of any kind is to let go and see what floats back into our being from the universe (I'm getting a bit spiritual here I know, no apologies :)).

To learn more about the Berlin research please check out this article on The Open Mind website: The Open Mind: This is Your Brain On Guitar

Stop back this weekend for an update on how our visit to the John Lennon Education Bus went this week - in short it was pretty amazing but we'll have more details and pictures to share. For now have a great Fridayyyy (almost) and will be back this weekend with our next post.

Love, Music & Laughter,

~Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com www.facebook.com/KeepMusicAliveMission

Music helps teacher speak again after brain surgery

Allison Woyiwada is a music teacher from Ottawa, Canada, and had literally taught thousands of elementary school students in her 28 year career. In 2012, she was diagnosed with an brain aneurysm which required a very delicate and risky surgery. When she emerged from the surgery, her family quickly realized that she had lost most of her motor and speech skills. Two months after the surgery she basically had the skills of toddler, unable to even put two words together.

Then a miracle happened. Her daughter was pushing Allison in a wheelchair through a hospital waiting area and saw a piano. She wheeled her mom up to the piano and then something amazing happened. Allison started to play the piano, and not just any song. She began to play the Beethoven Sonata sheet music that was sitting on the piano at the time. Her daughter and everyone around was absolutely astonished. Allison soon began working with a music therapist who used a method called "melodic intonation therapy" to help bring back her speech. Today, just two years after the surgery, Allison is almost fully recovered and is once again teaching music and even sings in French, German and English.

Stories like Allison's never cease to amaze me. Once again, musical therapy has proven to be a sometimes miraculously tool when someone is up against something seemingly insurmountable. For the full account of Allison's amazing journey and recovery thanks to music, I invite you to check out the newly published book entitled "Allison's Brain" by author Robert McMechan found on Amazon.com right here: Allison's Brain - Amazon.com

I first learned of this story through CBCNews and CBC Radio in Ottawa. Here's a link to the CBC Radio story in Ottawa by Anna Maria Tremonte Allisons Brain Documentary

That's our inspirational story of the week, and I hope you liked it as much as we did. We'll be back tomorrow night with a new post, and if you've got an inspirational story to share please let us know about it. Thanks and goooood nite all!

Music, Love & Laughter,

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

Let Your Kids Study Music - says Forbes!

The folks who write for and read Forbes Magazine generally know a thing or two about succeeding in our highly competitive world, and a recent Forbes article trumpets the cause of allowing, wait, encouraging kids to study music. We're not talking just having kids play music while they are growing up, but encouraging them to study music in college say instead of generally more preferred careers like engineering, computer science, math and other STEM subjects.

The article talks about how we really need to let our kids follow their own path and if that path happens to be music then absolutely encourage them. A little known fact is that many kids that go to school for music eventually end up in other highly successful careers like lawyers, doctors, scientists and more. It's very interesting, because most of us myself included always thought that going to school for music meant a lifetime of either teaching music or trying to scratch out a living as a touring musician living forever on the road. It turns out that many of these kids going to college for music are also some of the smartest and motivated kids there. After their well-rounded 4 years of liberal arts education, many go on to advanced degrees or sometimes end up in highly sought after positions in business and banking. This realization definitely aligns with what I have always said. It doesn't matter where you go to school or often even what you go to school for. It's what you know, what you're willing to learn and your ability to network and strive to be better that will be the ultimately be the deciding factor in your success.

I have to say this article caught my attention because it brought me back a few decades to when I was deciding where I wanted to go to college and for what major. I had my heart and mind set on going to West Chester University to study music, however the folks at home gently swayed me toward what they thought was a more practical course: engineering. At this point I would never go back and change the path I took, simply because it gave me the interactions and ultimately the beautiful family that I have today (although incidentally I met my beautiful wife through music many years after college). I do however occasionally ponder for just a moment what my life would have been like if I had gone to college for music instead of engineering. We'll never know, but what I do know is that for my children I will absolutely encourage them to follow their dream path whatever it may be. Follow your passion with all of your heart, might and soul and see where it leads.

Here's a link to this very interesting and informative article by writer Liz Ryan for Forbes Magazine:

Let the Kid Study Music, Already! Forbes Magazine

I'll leave you with this picture of an incredible piano & violin shaped building in China - apparently you enter the main piano shaped building via an elevator in the violin. Boy would I love to visit this place :)

Have a great day everyone and stop back tomorrow for another post - yep I'm gonna try and go for two in a row!!

Music, Love & Laughter,

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

p.s. LoveSongs.com is looking for YOUR Music Story - "How Has Music Changed YOUR Life??" - For more information please visit www.LoveSongs.com/keepmusicalive