Marcel Moyse is considered one of the greatest flutists and teachers of the 20th century. At age 14, he played in an orchestra conducted by Rimsky- Korsakov, a member of the famous composer group known as “The Five.” When he was 24 years old, he toured the United States with the great Australian soprano, Nellie Melba. Throughout his European career (1910-1949), he was widely sought after as an orchestral flutist and played under the batons of many famous conductors such as Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Strauss, Straram, Koussevitsky, and Toscanini. He won several Grand Prix du Disques and was awarded the coveted French Legion of Honor. He was also a professor of flute at the Paris and Geneva Conservatories between 1930 and WWII and produced several teaching books through his publisher, Leduc, which are still widely used today.

Silver-colored flutes may either be silver-plated or made of nickel-silver or solid silver. Solid silver (also known as sterling silver) is silver with a purity of 92.5% and is used for both the tube and the key system.

Golden flutes are made of gold of various different purities, such as 9-carat, 14-carat, and 18-carat gold. The higher the number, the higher the percentage of gold content.

In 14-carat gold, gold, silver, and copper are blended together. Higher levels of copper give the metal a reddish hue, and higher levels of silver produce a yellowish gold. In a concert hall, red 14-carat gold really sparkles like gold.

As a musical instrument, it is important that a flute's sound be beautiful; however, for aesthetic purposes, it is also important the design and the material are also beautiful.

Flutes made out of animal bones were used in Europe in the Paleolithic era. These ancient instruments can be considered the flute ancestors. It was not until the Renaissance period that the prototype of the modern flute emerged and came into wide use.

The term "flute" was originally applied both to pipe instruments held sideways and pipe instruments held vertically. Thus, the vertically held recorder was also called a "flute." Indeed, up until around the middle of the 18th century (the era of Baroque music), the word "flute" was commonly used to describe the recorder. To distinguish the transverse flute from the recorder, it was referred to in Italian as the flauto traverso, in German as the Querflöte, and in French as the flûte traversière-all of which mean "sideways held flute."

1. Create symbols and assign a sound to each of them. For example, a star symbol can mean “clap,” a circle can mean to “stomp your foot,” a triangle can mean “hit the desk,” and a square can mean “snap your fingers.”

2. Put these instructions on a bulletin board or piece of paper and display it so the children can see. Then have the children compose their own music, using combinations/patterns of the symbols.

3. Then let the children each present their own music on the board and have the others perform their music following the combination/pattern of symbols.

PIANO LESSONS FOR CHILDREN?

Many music educators recommend ages 6-8 as an ideal time to start learning musical instruments. There are developmental reasons to wait at this age as children are more capable of handling structured, formal educational settings. Moving fingers in coordination at an independent manner also increases fine motor skills during this period of life.

However, it is perfectly fine to start learning piano at an earlier age. With Klassik Arts’s customized teaching, students as young as 4 years old has been proven to excel in our music program.

There is indeed a difference between listening to and playing music. Listening is passive and not as interactive, whereas playing music is active and collaborative. But the good news is that you do not need to have special skills to participate in music creation. A simple act of clapping along and/or singing along is also a form of collaboration in music-making.

Studies have shown that when we try to create music together- such as keeping the beat or singing along- we share positive feelings with those we are synchronizing with.

It is not yet an exact science, but it may be attributed to the release of endorphins, which results from coordinating movement with others. In other words, making music causes our brains to create warm, positive feelings.

Although music is usually not a priority when considering a child’s education, music education holds countless benefits for child development. Music makes a huge difference in a child’s overall growth since it is an outstanding tool in heightening student understanding and is crucial in guiding students towards academic success.

Learning music helps to work the brain extensively to develop emotionally and cognitively. By learning to read music or by playing the piano or any other instrument, children are able to obtain many different ways of expression and broaden their perspectives on the world. Studies show that music classes can be applied to teaching other subject areas and actually enhances student success in subject areas such as math, science, and language.