I recently heard about an very interesting musical event – a concert in aid of Link Emergency Aid & Development of Burma, which brings young Western composers and classical musicians together to play traditional music, and music inspired by Burma.

Burma (officially now called Myanmar) is a country of about 50 million people, bordering China to the North and Thailand to the East. It has an ancient musical tradition, which in recent years has been adapted to accommodate first Western classical music, then rock, and most recently hip-hop and rap.

The concert, “Musical Bridge”, is the brainchild of Zaw Lu Aung, a Londoner who was born and raised in Burma and has been speaking and writing on Burmese issues for several years. I won’t attempt to address the political and social situation in Burma here – but please follow some of the links at the bottom of this post to read more about it, and learn how some young people in Burma are speaking out through music.

A brief audio glimpse

I was intrigued by the concert’s concept, and not knowing much about the music of Myanmar, I set out to explore – with Spotify as my atlas. Click to read the rest…

This Friday marks the premier of Sabrina Peña Young’s new work, ‘Creation’, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Decatur, Illinois.

Open Your Ears

This is the first post in a new series, “Open Your Ears”, which will highlight interesting and exciting music which will stretch your ears and expand your musical horizons.

We’ve all had the experience: we hear a new song or piece of music and our initial reaction is confusion – “what is this?! “. It’s easy to switch off, skip the song, change the station.

But, if you’re patient and listen actively, you find the real value in the music, which was initially hidden to you, begin to emerge.

“I used to hate this track. But now I think it’s really cool!”
“I didn’t really get jazz before, but after listening to Kind of Blue for the 5th time…”
“Lately I’ve realised that there’s much more to 80s pop than just cheese!”

As your ears develop this new appreciation, you find it empowers you to hear new things in other music too. So the benefits of experiencing new sounds and musical genres really aren’t to be underestimated – opening your ears should be a key part of your ear training!

The ‘Open Your Ears’ series aims to bring you new music of all kinds to help you stretch your ears in different directions and fill your world with a greater variety of wonderful sounds.

Creation

‘Creation’ is not your typical concert piece. Commissioned by Millikin State University, and to be performed in its premier by their 60-member-strong Women’s Chorale and Percussion Ensemble, the multimedia oratorio is a “celebration of culture, life, humanity, and the female body” which features computer animated video illustration, created by the composer.

Speaking of the composer – she may be familiar to you! Sabrina has been writing articles here at EasyEarTraining.com since its launch and we’re delighted to have this chance to highlight her musical talent. Her creative works know no bounds, as evidenced by over 100 compositions for all manner of instrument and technology, and her recent album ‘Origins’.

You can find out more about Creation, and this Friday’s premier here:

The performance is free to attend, with donations taken afterwards. Don’t miss this chance to attend the premier of an exciting new musical work!

Be sure to let us know if you attend the concert. If you have suggestions for future ‘Open Your Ears’ posts, drop us a line at openyourears@EasyEarTraining.com!

Hello! My name is Joseph DuBose and I am a composer currently living in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. My musical training began when I started taking piano lessons in middle school. It was in high school, though, when music became my passion in life.

It was at this time that I began to compose music as well as studying anything I could get my hands on related to music. I studied music theory and composition at Appalachian State University. My interests are mostly in classical music prior to 1900. I consider myself a true Romantic, in its fullest artistic and philosophical sense. Currently, I continue to compose and have recently ventured into writing about music. Feel free to check out my composition blog at http://jsdmusic.wordpress.com.

As I’ll explain later in one of my articles, my experience with ear training in college was far from beneficial. My recent adventures into ear training, therefore, have been an effort to improve myself as a musician and as a composer. In trying to find what works best for me, I’ve structured my approach to ear training similar to my approach to practicing my instrument. In other words, I’ve focused on building upon key principals of ear training in the same way I would center my instrumental practice on fundamental exercises. Thus, my articles will focus around the solid foundation necessary to be successful in ear training. Some things may sound a little elementary and other may seem a little unorthodox, but I hope that through sharing my personal experiences you will gain some basic principles that will help you in your own adventures into ear training.

Joseph’s articles start tomorrow with “Ear Training and How We Learn” – essential reading for making sure your time spent with ear training is effective!