Shine Music School has a host of impressive and talented teachers. Many of whom are working on new music. Our teachers are often recording albums or performing, and continue to practice and learn everyday. They bring these talents and expertise into the classroom and each of their students can benefit from their knowledge.
Check out some of their new work!
photo by @andregaetano
Gian Carlo Scevola is one of our brilliant guitar teachers. He has been teaching with Shine since its humble beginnings in Barcelona, almost 10 years ago! Visit his profile to learn more about him, or sign up for lessons with Gian Carlo. Gian Carlo recently made it to the final of the International Music Competition of Cambra d ‘ Andorra, Amics Cambra Romànica with the Trío Desconcierto. Here is some of his new music with his Scevola Ensemble:
A new album by the accomplished César Munera titled Wood Mirror is out now. Cesar teaches guitar, specialising in fingerstyle guitar, classical guitar and flamenco guitar at Shine. Follow him on Instagram and enjoy frequent videos of his playing or contact us for a lesson. You can purchase his album on amazon or listen on Spotify.
Sebastian Pan, another of our superb guitar teaches plays in collaboration with Antonio Monasterio Ensemble in the video below. Sebastian frequently shares great videos performing on his really cool travel sized electric guitar on his Instagram. He teaches electric guitar at Shine. Contact us if you would like to do some lessons with Sebastian.
Music is an important part of the human experience. Be it through song and dance, listening to music in a cafe or at home, going to a concert with your friends, or jamming with your band. People connect through music. Sound and rhythm are learned from early childhood, in fact babies start to hear and feel sound in the womb. Music helps us to develop and learn language as toddlers. It is part of our daily life, through movies, radio, and other places. You can sit on a terraza and buskers may pass you, playing on their instruments or singing. Music is such an integral part of being human.
As a parent you probably want to encourage a love of music, or as an individual maybe it is a hobby you would like to take up. Music can be an interesting career, with many aspects. From music production to teaching and performing. As a music school we understand the benefits of studying music and creating an environment where we can enjoy learning.
But studying music can also be daunting for a beginner, and without expert advice, it can be expensive and at worst, not a positive experience! With so many health benefits, from improving your cognitive abilities to actually being a physical workout and a stress reliever, studying music or learning an instrument should not be scary.
One vital aspect is your instrument! At Shine we offer fantastic rental instruments from our instrument rental department.
Imagine that your child wishes to start playing a musical instrument, or it’s been your dream to take a guitar class, but you just don’t know where to start. Perhaps you are spending a semester in Spain and don’t want to stop playing music, but shipping or flying with your instrument is not an option. Whatever situation you find yourself in, playing an instrument can be an expensive and often confusing endeavour as any professional musician will tell you.
This makes so much sense!
Test & Try
Hiring a musical instrument instead of buying one is an option that just adds up for multitude reasons. Not only can you try and test out a variety of instruments, but you also don’t have to make a huge investment in an instrument without some musical knowledge and know-how.
Grow with your Instrument
This is especially relevant when looking into instruments for children. More often than not, the instrument has to grow with your child. This can mean buying numerous instruments as your child requires a bigger size. A disaster if your kids decide they don’t want to play anymore, and also extra work if you have to keep buying and selling instruments.
Quality Instruments
Unfortunately as you will quickly discover, cheap instruments are difficult to play, tricky to tune, often sound bad, and in the end a cheap instrument regularly results in the player getting frustrated and not wanting to play. What a lost opportunity for musical discovery!
All your questions answered!
Long-term instrument rental is an affordable and flexible way to play an instrument. Hiring a digital piano or cello to play at home makes practice easy and practical. If you happen to move, you don’t have to lug a heavy or expensive instrument with you! You find that your musical experience will improve when you don’t have to worry about your instrument. If you are interested in finding out more, get in touch with us or head directly over to our website, where you can hire your instrument online through a few easy steps!
We have a wide array of instruments from quality brands, from beginner instruments to advanced instruments.
Connecting through music is an important part of the human experience. From the first moments that our ears develop in the womb, we are exposed to sounds. Heartbeats, breathing, and the sound of our mothers voice.
Music has been scientifically proven to benefit us in many ways, studying music develops a multitude of skills as well as actually “working out” our brains, making our synapses fire faster, and helping us to make faster connections. Humans use sound, music, and dance to communicate, and they are vital to developing our emotional abilities. Music is used in therapy, in expression, in connection. And you don’t have to be able to play and instrument or be able to sing to enjoy music, an to share it with others!
As a parent, we find ourselves responsible for encouraging development and facilitating experiences where our children can discover music. Starting early is fantastic but you can include musical activities from any age. Better late than never, just remember it’s all about positive reinforcement. If you are excited about music, your child will naturally develop a love for it too!
Musical Activities to do with Kids
Singingmay not be the easiest for everyone, and not everyone sings well. But singing is proven to be a huge health benefit, and singalongs soften any off-key voice! Take off the pressure! Make a fun and easy kids music playlist and choose a time of day to have a sing-a-long. Bath time is great, or perhaps if you travel by car, you can have a go-to car playlist. Another great way to include music in your day, is a nap time play list. Focus on softer, quieter music, you may even find that certain songs start putting your kids to sleep no matter where they are and can be a huge help in soothing kids if they are not feeling well, or are out of their comfort zone (in a holiday hotel, or needing a nap after a strenuous day)
Play musical games, or set up musical games for them to play with friends. Musical games are perfect for developing rhythm and listening skills. They are also great for getting moving and using up all that boundless energy that kids have. Make up your own games or add music to existing ones.
Have a dance party! This is a great way to expose your kids to different musical genres! You may be surprised by what kind of music they like! Try to include a range or make different playlists for different dance parties. Then for 20 mins or so, pick the smaller kids up and dance with them on your hips, or hold hands or just dance around the house or garden together!
Make Instruments or play on toy instruments. Bang pots and pans, plastic bowls or cups. Make shakers from rice and beans, try create a water xylophone. Play with sound and music. Facilitate an environment where the kids can create their own songs. If they are into videos, you can always incorporate the idea of making a music video. This activity can include other materials, drawing and painting, writing music, thinking about how the music video will look, and filming the whole thing. If the kids are older, it can be a fun idea to add in editing the video. Your kids will be making Tiktok or youtube videos before long anyway!
Take small babies and toddlers to a music sensory group. They will be exposed to different sounds and musical experiences. Repetition, like clapping is great for memory and helps with language development. You can then repeat these games and activities at home and incorporate music into your life. Make up songs for doing chores like tidying up or brushing teeth. It turns these otherwise boring activities into a fun game and can involve other learning like counting or movement!
Watch musical movies. Kids love tv, there’s no doubt! So pick out some movies with great songs that you can sing together, or series about music and bands. If they are older perhaps make movie playlists, have a family movie night, and watch a movie about their favourite band or singer, or even a movie with a great soundtrack! Disney has a whole host of musical movies for all ages.
Get out there! Experience music outside of the home! Take your kids out to the theatre to see a musical, expose them to music festivals or concerts from a young age. You can always buy sound softening headphones for the littlest kids, or choose more family oriented concerts. Not only will they be seeing how great music is in the context of the wider world, but going to a weekend concert is a great event for the whole family.
15 GREAT SONGS FOR KIDS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S__fbCGwOM
The Ants go Marching, is a great counting and rhyming song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAUOQFz9OfE
Der Glumph is so much fun to sing with small children. Just wait for the “laaa de da!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXfTXCIXIq8
A firm favourite for kids who are of all things Ocean!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yUdLV77zN0
This is a classic kids song by Raffi, a famous American Children’s music singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbZSe6N_BXs
Everyone knows “Happy” by Pharrel Williams. It’s a super song with great beat, perfect for a car ride sing along, or dancing around the house!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qho9o4zRwtE
The Wiggles are a Kids band from Australia. They have plenty of perfect kids songs. This one is cool for movement and repetition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rrXR6n0RTY
A Disney Classic. This song has great musicality. The video is also full of colour, sound and different instruments!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JDzlhW3XTM
I wanna be like you is a great way to introduce “Swing music” to kids. It’s an easy song to both sing and play!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbY_aP-alkw
Such a happy song! Perfect for kids and adults alike to enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE
This song is just silly fun. Try making all the weird sounds together!
Music is known as the universal language. No matter where it comes from, everyone is capable of perceiving the feelings it evokes. Knowing for sure when our ancestors first developed music is still a matter of debate. What we do know is that the history of musical instruments goes back to the beginning of human culture.
Can you imagine then what could have been the first musical instrument created by man?
Although there is no exact date for the creation of the first musical instrument, archaeological finds suggest that there was music from primitive times and that percussion and wind instruments were the first to appear.
The voice was probably the origin of the man’s musical expression through the songs together with the accompaniment of hands and feet following a rhythm, such as a horn to signal success in hunting, or a drum in a religious ceremony. We know that the oldest known drum dates back 30,000 years when man used the stretched skin of animals to create sound.
From archaeological sites in Europe, bamboo flutes, whistles, brawlers and tubes made of short bones have been found that produced sound when blown through them.
The discovery in the cave of Hohle Fels, Germany, of a flute carved from vulture bones more than 35,000 years old, could be the oldest musical instrument created by man. It also demonstrates the presence in Europe of sociable and creative humans, who preceded the Neanderthals.
Some consensus among the scientific community suggests that the first flutes date from about 37,000 years ago. However, most historians believe that it is impossible to determine the specific time of the invention of musical instruments, since many of the first musical instruments were made from animal skins, bones, wood, and other non-durable materials.
Over time, in each society new musical instruments were created and they were adapted to different areas of life. Here are some examples:
The Jewish shofar, a wind instrument made from a hollow animal horn, is still played on Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and must be heard by the congregation.
Since the ancient Chinese empire, the instruments were identified with the cardinal points, with the seasons and with natural phenomena. The use of the bamboo flute or dizi in traditional Chinese music became very popular.
In medieval Europe, trumpets, long associated with military operations, had a ceremonial role in the establishment of European kings and nobles and were in fact considered a sign of nobility.
The harp is known to have been used from early times in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India and was imported to China after the end of the 4th century AD.
In Greece, the standard plucked instrument was the lyre, known in its fully developed form as kithara (or sitara in India). Years later, the Arabs added a neck to the well-known kithara, and baptized the instrument as an alud (lute in Spain), which would later become a vihuela with the arrival of Romans and Arabs to Spanish lands. first musical compositions for guitar.
Drum ensembles reached extraordinary sophistication in Africa, and the small, hand-beaten drum is of great musical importance in West Asia and India. The native cultures of the Americas have always made extensive use of drums, as well as other beaten and shaken instruments.
Bowed instruments came to characterize Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. By the 16th century, the European violin was already distinguished in two ways: the viola (leg violin) and the violin (arm violin). The violin or violin was the smallest of the family, the tenor was simply called viola, while the bass became known as violoncello (diminutive of violone).
Of all the oldest instruments, the organ showed the most remarkable development from the High Middle Ages to the 17th century. Created in ancient Greece in the 3rd century b.C, this instrument evolved from small portable designs for smaller churches to increase in size and carry overlapping keyboards, placing them in boxes like the way we know today.
The clarinet or “small trumpet” emerged in the late 17th century and, like the oboe, gave rise to a family that extended to a double bass clarinet in the 19th century and later to a sub-bass. Clarinets have been in the orchestra since approximately 1780.
In 1845, the Belgian instrumentalist and luthier Antoine-Joseph Sax, built a family of valve instruments called saxhorns, using the cornet as the basis for his invention. Sax invented the saxophone, a single reed instrument like the clarinet but with a conical tube.
By all historical accounts, the Rickenbacker Frying Pan (named for its resemblance to a banjo with a frying pan) was the first electric guitar invented in America by the German immigrant Adolph Rickenbacher during the 1920s. The problem for guitarists in those years was the volume, since the acoustic guitar could not be heard well when used in large bands and orchestras with singers. Years later, the development of the concept of electricity and radio technology facilitated the creation of the instrument we know today.
In the 60s different styles of music were created, as many artists began to experiment with the use of synthesizers. One of the first to appear was BUCHLA in 1963, by composer Morton Subotnick. Elements of piano and percussion were combined with electronic sounds, thus abandoning the traditional music of always.
It’s clear that humans and music have a deep and long connection that goes back through the centuries. Music is here to stay, and as people continue to play and invent, new and wonderful instruments continue to emerge.
If you are interested in music and learning an instrument, browse our menu and see what sort of sound interests you. Visit our teachers pages and get to know them too! You may be the next inventor of a new age of music!
Sources:
Wikipedia, BBC Mundo, LiveScience, EuropaPress, Britannica, Lacarne Magazine
It’s that time of year. Long summer days are winding down. Everyone is planning last minute getaways and get togethers. As people return to the city after a summer spent in the mountains or on the coast, we return to our routines. Preparations are made to made to return to work and school.
Temperatures are lowering and the leaves are starting to change colour, signalling the beginning of Autumn. We all know that the change in weather brings with it colds and flu and right now that is a bit of a stressful scenario!
This particular September may cause anxiety for some with questions raised about how schools and offices will handle the return amidst the pandemic. At Shine Music School we are fortunate to offer our students classes both from our studios in Barcelona and online lessons.
Teaching students online offers a learning experience that is anxiety free, not only can you stay safe at home, but online lessons can be convenient, economical and intensive, students can accomplish more in a shorter space of time and have the flexibility to learn on the go from anywhere in the world.
How is Catalunya tackling Covid-19?
The Spanish Government has announced measures to minimise the transmission of Covid-19 as everyone returns to work and school. These regulations are applicable throughout Spain with the rules implemented by each autonomous region’s education authorities. Here in Catalunya, the minister of Education, Josep Bargalló has made opening schools a priority. Despite the inherent difficulties caused by the novel corona virus, the government understands the importance that schools play not only in education but also as essential services.
So how does it work?
Face masks will of course be obligatory for all over the age of 6. And smaller children will also be encouraged to wear them. A physical distance of 1.5 m should be observed with everyone outside of your household. Regular hand washing and sanitising of hands and surfaces should be observed. Temperatures will be taken in certain institutions to monitor fever rates. Where possible, outdoor activities will be encouraged.
Schools where group learning takes place will follow “Bubble” guidelines, where interactions with other groups are minimised. Covid 19 will be monitored through the use of apps and a co- ordinated effort between CAPs. Both staff and students will be responsible for maintaining these regulations and their health. If a student or teacher finds themselves unwell they will stay at home and if they show Corona symptoms, they will be subject to a PCR test.
If any tests come back positive all persons in the group or bubble will need to quarantine for 14 days at home. If more than one case is reported at a school, it will close temporarily.
Get Prepared!
Purchase a pack of masks, and small refillable hand sanitiser gel that you can keep with you at all times. Practice healthy and safe social distancing, and remember that you are protecting not only yourself but also your loved ones and colleagues.
At Estudio Shine
Our music lessons are one-on-one and each lesson takes place in separate classrooms. Each room has hand sanitizer gel and students and teachers are expected to wear masks where applicable. We expect all our staff and students to be responsible when entering the school and respectful of each other. During this time we are encouraging online learning in order to protect our teachers and students. We are also implementing measures to reduce foot traffic in our Barcelona studios.
Our teachers are fully equipped to deliver superb one-on-one online music lessons as well as group lessons. We will also start offering online master classes and courses. Shine also offers rental instruments to students who wish to study at home and can help to facilitate buying instruments as well.
Our online school concert was exceptionally successful and we will continue to maximise our online learning experience for the time being.
If you are feeling at all anxious about your music lessons at either of our studios, we encourage you to start learning online with us. Not only is music a proven method to reduce stress, but studying music exercises your brain, helping us to become adaptable, stable and smarter humans.
Don’t let worry or the Corona virus disrupt your life, but make the right changes to improve your situation so we can enjoy music together! Contact the school with any questions you may have!
