Private Lesson Teachers

            Private lesson teachers are costly, but effective.   To become better in music, it is almost necessary to invest in it.  Private lesson teachers are like coaches that keep track of how much you do and what you need to do to improve in music.  While it may seem like a waste of time (which sometimes it can be), it is needed to for even the best musicians that want to become better. 
            Private lesson teachers hold you accountable and can tell if you have practiced or not, they are like a weight scale when someone is on a diet.  If you step on the scale and the number goes up, the results would show that you haven’t truly put much effort into it.  It you step on the scale and the number goes down, it would show improvement and that practice or in this case exercise has been used to help a person get better.
            Private lesson teachers can be like your best friends and always chatty about the latest gossip during a lesson or they can be strict and always focused on music during the lesson.  I prefer in-between, but that type of person is hard to find.  Private lesson teachers can seem to be the most critical on you, but they are paid to tell you what you need to do to improve.  The truth can hurt sometimes, but often it is needed.  For a person to be a private lesson teacher, they would have to be musically qualified and better than the person they are teaching (otherwise both people are clueless).  Private lesson teachers can also encourage and support a person when they are going to do a competition or a performance. 
           During practice they may ask you to play scales, solos, or individual warm-ups.  A lesson is only as good as the person who is paying for it makes it to be.  If no time is put in between lessons, then the lesson would only focus on a particular thing until it gets better, and it would take more time for the lesson to progress onto other things.  Private lesson teachers are amazing and help each individual person become a better player.  It is definitely worth the investment and time.

Just Dance

                Just Dance is a fun game to play by yourself or with friends.  With many different types of Just Dance, there are plenty of songs to choose from that each person will like.  Just Dance is similar to Zumba, but is focused more on having fun and dancing to popular songs, rather than dancing just for exercise.  There is an option of Just Sweat that can be considered an exercise program that calculates how much a person sweats and the amount of calories burned.  On the screen there is normally an animated person showing the dance moves and a bar on the bottom that shows the type of move before the person does it. 
                Just Dance can be competitive and just like any other game, there are points to be earned and things to be unlocked.  Depending on how well a person does during a song, points would be added up and contribute to the overall level that a person is on.  The better a person does, the more points they get.  If a person doesn’t do the dance move correctly or at all, the person would get an x for that move.  If they do the move the next grading would be based on how well it was performed. There is ok, good, and then PERFECT.
                Just Dance can have up to four players competing with each other.  It can depend on the gaming system and the song that is being played for how many players can actually do it.  With the Wii, a person would hold the controller and dance with it for the gaming system to register how well they performed.  I have Just Dance on the Wii and can honestly say that it is easy to cheat on it.  With the Wii remote only in a person’s hand, the device wouldn’t be able to register if a person is moving the whole body the dance move or not.  I also have Just Dance for the Xbox 360 Kinect and it is hard to cheat on it.  The device has an actual camera that register the dance move and can see if the move is being completely done correctly.  Both ways are fun, the only thing that really matters is winning while dancing and singing.  There are also lyrics displayed in the lower left hand corner and if a person chooses to, they can sing and dance along to the song which is always fun. 
                Just Dance is just another great music device that allows people to compete with each other while listening to music and dancing.  With so many different songs, there are endless hours of fun and laughing with friends.  I would highly recommend that anyone and everyone try it.  For more background information on Just Dance, click on the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Dance_(video_game)

Headphones

               Headphones can be necessary for listening to music while in a place occupied by other people.  There are several different types of headphones meant for different types of listening and different people.  When purchasing a set of headphones, a person would want to consider how comfortable they would be and how the style would fit the individual person.  Headphones can vary greatly in price depending on the brand and the style or form that the headphones make.  Beats by Dre can cost more than a hundred dollars just for one pair, while some headphones can cost as much as one dollar. 
                The headphones that aren’t connected from a bar going across the top of a person’s head are convenient when wanting to listen to something with a friend.  The person on the left would put in the right headphone and listen while the person on the right would put in the left headphone and listen.  Headphones that are connected with a bar going across the top of a person’s head are convenient when a person just wants to listen to something alone and not have too much outside noise sneak in.  There are also the headphones that have voice speakers in them for talking into when on the phone.  With so many different types of headphones, each type would fit a different person depending on how they decide to use them. 
                If you get headphones that go inside the ear, they can be hard plastic that just stay in the opening of the ear or there can be the squishy rubber that can be more comfortable and inserted deeper in the ear.  Some people have sensitive ears and don’t like having things go inside them, so it all depends on what works best for you.  Some headphone can even curl around the ear and create less stress on the inner ear. 
                While headphones may be convenient when wanting to listen to music and not disturb other people, they can also be harmful because it would be up close sound going directly into the ear that could cause damage.  Along with causing damage, the headphones can get disgusting if they are not cleaned or if a person does not clean their ears.  Earwax can cling to the headphones and be spread from person to person if the headphones are shared and not cleaned regularly after each use. 
                Headphones are essential and needed by every music lover on the go.  They provide music to each person individually while not upsetting other people around them by playing certain music (unless of course the person is playing it so loud that the people around them can hear it also). 

Music and Stress

            To some people, music can be a stress reliever and a great way to relax, but to others it just causes more stress.  To the music players it can be enjoyable to play an instrument for fun, but when competition comes or the music is significant, it can be hectic and  a contributor to more stress.  Being stressed out because of music is not fun because it takes away the freedom and enjoyment that music provides people.  Playing music can make people get lost in the moment and forget about all of the struggles in the world, music provides entertainment and entertainment should help relax people. 

            People normally stress out about music because there is an important event or because there is something more that needs to be done.  A thing to consider would be the people producing music and everyone involved in the process of making music happen.  Music for those people can be extremely stressful because there is an expectation that has to be met, but when the expectation is met and everything is done, the stress is relieved and music once again relaxes people. 

            Watching a person get lost in the moment by playing music is amazing.  Most people sway back and forth and many play like music lives inside of them.  From experience I can say that playing music is a way of life and when a piece of music is mastered it is an accomplishment that is a great stress reliever. 
            Listening and dancing to music can also be a stress reliever because lyrics speak to each person and can bring a person back to simpler times by distracting them from current thoughts.  There is the music that instantly brings a smile to a persons’ face because of a memory that is tied to the music, and smiling is naturally a common stress reliever by releasing endorphins and hormones that make a person feel better. 
            Music is just an amazing thing and can both beneficial and harmful.  Please leave any comments below and share how music relieves or causes stress for you.

Clinicians

                Clinicians can be helpful and annoying at the same time.  Clinicians usually come into a musical group or even a sport to provide insight on what they think needs to be improved and ways that they can be better.  In band, clinicians are critical for how good a band is.  If a director is the only one that hears the band, then he or she might not know how to make it better.  Clinicians are usually paid because their service was needed and their help was prominent in making the group better than it was before. 
                During a clinic, the clinician initially hears or sees what the band or group has to offer.  Then after that, the real stuff happens. The clinician gets picky and it can be the most repetitive and exhausting practice ever.  At the end though, the results are worth all the work. 
                Clinicians are like the grandparents in the family.  The students are the children who are doing the activity.   The parents would then be the band directors that need help and consulting from the grandparents.  The clinicians are wise and for the most part know what they are talking about.  Clinicians normally aren’t appreciated by the students and are taken advantage of.  I have realized how important they are and how much better a group is if they have clinicians come in and provide tips on making the group better.  A big thank you goes out to all the clinicians out there that make teams and groups better.

Jazz Band

                Jazz band can be fun, but is very difficult compared to full band practice.  First off, there are way less people in jazz band compared to a normal size band (normal size is 30+).  Some people may consider that a positive thing because a smaller group could make for a more effective rehearsal, but I consider it to be stressful because there is more time to focus on individual people rather than a section at a time.  For a normal jazz band, there is one person covering each part.  Example would be that there would be one trombone one, one trombone two, and one trombone three part.  Each person in the band would then have to play out and make sure that their sound is blended in the group.  With that being said, that is one reason why there aren’t as many people in jazz band.  There also aren’t as many people in jazz band because not all instruments are considered to be jazz instruments.  The different instruments also depend on the type of jazz that is being played. Below is a link of the types of jazz instruments expected to be in a jazz band. 
http://www.easystreetband.org/typical-jazz-instruments.htm
                Of course there can always be added instruments and added parts in jazz, but sometimes adding more parts just covers up the harmony of the original parts in a song.  I am currently in jazz band and have been for several years now.  Just recently my jazz band added three flutes to the ensemble.  I don’t agree with this decision, but my band director wants to give everyone an opportunity at jazz.  Surprisingly enough there were flute parts, but none of the parts include the melody because flutes aren’t normally thought to be a jazz instrument.  Rarely in a jazz performance have I seen a flute player, and when I did it was only for a little solo part and that was all that they played. Being a brass player, I already didn’t like screechy woodwinds, but having flutes in my jazz band just adds to my distaste of woodwinds.
                The style of jazz is also very different compared to full band music.  There are many different styles of jazz that can change the way a note is played.  For me, that is the hardest part about jazz band.  A quarter note in full band is not a quarter note in jazz band.  The notes can be held longer or shorter for more emphasis and there are many different ways to play a song.  For more information regarding jazz and its history, please click on the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz
                In jazz music the main styles are rock, swing, and the blues.  All are played a different way and create a diverse atmosphere.  With jazz there is also improvisation.  The blues scale is normally used in improvisation and different rhythms go along with each song.  Improvisation is playing notes that aren’t prepared or written down.  Many people struggle with improvisation because playing random notes and rhythms at the top of the heads’ is difficult and requires creativity and freedom.  Many people worry about playing the wrong rhythm in improvising, but really there is no wrong rhythm because whoever is improvising is making it up as they go along.  There can be really wrong notes though, that is why people need to stick to the blues scale.  The blues scale is just a scale of notes that can match a song, and not be in the wrong key.  Even playing the blues scale note by note can be considered improvisation, if a person wasn’t experienced and didn’t want to mess up on notes and rhythms.  Improvisation can be the scariest thing, but not everyone is meant to be perfect at improvising.  Jazz is a wonderful type of music and isn’t as popular as it used to be, but still has a lasting effect in music today.