We want to wish all of our readers a Happy Valentine’s Day! Remember to start your Romantic Day right by listening to Classical music which has the power to improve your mood, make you smarter, help you work faster with more accuracy, improves health and healing, grows healthier plants in fewer days, increases sales in stores, and can soothe your mind preventing crime. If school cafeterias and school buses played
Classical Music, the students would be calmer and more focused without violent tendencies.
If anyone has an experience they would like to share with our readers on the benefits of classical music please send it and we will include it in the March 2012 newsletter.
February’s articles of the month: First Impressions are so important for all of us so our article of the month is “Have You Ever Left an Interview Wishing You Could Make a New First Impression?” by Dr. Madeline Frank
http://goo.gl/XLeQp
For other articles by Dr. Madeline Frank click on the following link:
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Madeline_Frank
Dr. Madeline Frank’s new book “Leadership on a Shoestring Budget” is now available through amazon.com. Click on the following Amazon.com link to order your copy of “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget”
Madeline’s Musical One Minute Radio Show for February 2012
How did Classical music play a part of Henri Matisse’s life as an artist and musician and what musical instrument did he play?
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/madelines-one-minute-radio-show/
Who is Henri Matisse?
Henri Matisse was born December 31, 1869 in northern Le Cateau-Cambresis, Nord, France. He was a painter, sculptor, musician, husband, father of three children, grandfather, and great- grandfather. Henri’s father was a merchant and his mother was an amateur painter. Henri Matisse played the violin as a child and as an adult says, he “took violin lessons for a year and often spent six hours a day playing. The result is that now I and on occasion my friends can get some enjoyment out of my playing (Boyd, 2008, pp.358-359).” “Amateur String Players: Pleasure Seekers” (Dec. 2008) by Martin Boyd from The Strad Magazine
His parents owned a flower shop in Bohain-en- Vermandois, Picardie, France where he grew up. “He was their first son.” Henry was sent to Paris in 1887 “to study law” and worked “as a court administrator in Le Cateau-Cambresis after gaining his qualification.”
Henri Matisse began painting in 1889, at 20 years of age, after “after his mother brought him art supplies during a period of convalescence following an attack of appendicitis.” Matisse described painting as “a kind of paradise”. He “decided to become an artist, deeply disappointing his father.”
http://wiki.ask.com/Henri_Matisse#Early_life_and_education
Returning to Paris in 1891, Henry Matisse studied “art at the Academia Julian” becoming “a student of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave Moreau.” In the “traditional style” Henri began painting landscapes and still life and was influenced by”earlier” master painters Antoine Watteau, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, and Niciolas Poussin. Other influences were modern artist Edouard Manet and Japanese artists.
http://wiki.ask.com/Henri_Matisse#Early_life_and_education
Henri Matisse admired Chardin’s works so much that he copied four of Chardin’s paintings at the Louvre.
“In 1896 and 1897, Matisse visited the painter John Peter Russell on the island Belle Ile off the coast of Brittany. Russell introduced him to Impressionism and to the work of van Gogh, who had been a friend of Russell but was completely unknown at the time. Matisse’s style changed completely, Matisse later said “Russell was my teacher, and Russell explained color theory to me.”
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ma-Mo/Matisse-Henri.html#ixzz1iJyQhBUC
Henri Matisse was married to Amélie Noellie Parayre. They had three children. Matisse’s oldest child, Marguerite, worked for the French Resistance during WW11 and was imprisoned, almost dying when she escaped in 1945. Matisse and his wife also had two sons, Jean and Pierre.
Matisse’s artistic handbook and teaching:
Henri Matisse’s “Notes of a Painter,” published in La Grande revue in 1908, became the artistic handbook of a whole generation. Matisse was a pleasant man who looked more like a shy government official than an artist. He never accepted any fees for his teaching so that he was not obligated to staying in one place. He did not want commitments to interfere with his creative activity.”
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ma-Mo/Matisse-Henri.html#ixzz1iJyQhBUC
Henri Matisse won many honors and commissions:
In 1925 Matisse was made chevalier, member of the Legion of Honor, and in 1927 he received the first prize at the Carnegie International Exhibition at Pittsburgh. After a visit to Tahiti, Matisse was a guest at the Barnes Foundation at Merion, Pennsylvania, and accepted Dr. Barnes’s commission to paint a mural, The Dance (1932–1933), for the hall of the foundation. During the next years he produced paintings, drawings, book illustrations (etchings and lithographs), sculptures (he made fifty-four bronzes altogether), ballet sets, and designs for tapestry and glass. In 1944 Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) arranged for him to be represented in the Salon d’Automne to celebrate the liberation of Paris from Nazi rule.”
Matisse was most proud of designing and decorating “the Chapel of the Rosary for the Dominican nuns at Vence, France (1948?1951). He designed the black-and-white tile pictures, stained glass, altar crucifix, and vestments (ceremonial robes). At the time of the consecration (declaration of sacredness) of the Vence chapel, Matisse held a large retrospective exhibition (a look back at the work he created) in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.”
Henri Matisse died on November 3, 1954 in Cimiez, France.
“Even When Speech Is Impaired, Singing Often Possible” (Dec. 20, 2011) by Sonya English from The Desert Sun. “Getting the voice back through SongShine: SongShine founder Ruthanna Metzgar uses music based vocal therapy to help her students with Parkinson’s, stroke, other neurological disorders and aging voices to strengthen their speech.”
“Music Can Help With Therapy” (Dec 19, 2011) Local 10.com, South Florida Health. “Patients listen to music while going through therapy, stressed-out office workers play music to relax and yogis use music find meditation. Studies suggest that music affects the body. Fast tempos improve concentration. Slower beats promote relaxation. Music can lower blood pressure and ease muscle tension. Many people report that listening to music boosts their mood and creates a more positive state of mind. Mozart helps ease tension in infants -; studies show that children can begin recognizing classical compositions while still in the womb. Listening to music stimulates brain activity, perhaps leading to greater intellectual prowess later in life.”
Music is a power tool for healing. Roman Alexander is the lead singer for the band, The Robbery, based in Orange County, California. “Roman Alexander, turned to music after an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a congenital condition, forced him into brain surgery. Unable to walk, Alexander relearned to play the guitar as part of his recovery. Alexander used music to heal himself. Now, his band is working to promote healthy optimism in its songwriting.” Alexander says, “Music is a way to hit the listener -; it’s the perfect outlet. Changing the world begins with the man in mirror.” Alexander and his band are focusing “on music as a healing medium” which “recently led them to use lyrics written by Alexandra Irving, age 9, upon the death of her beloved grandfather.” Alexander says, “There’s nothing more candid than a child’s song. It’s raw; it’s what needed to be said.” The Band is “setting Irving’s lyrics to a rock-influenced lullaby. Roman Alexander and the Robbery hope to use her words to help comfort and heal all those dealing with the loss of a loved one. The band hopes to reach 20,000 to 60,000 fans at the OC Music Fest.”
“Pre-K Violinists Hone Skills That Can Aid In Math, Reading” (Jan. 2, 2012) by David Breen from theOrlando Sentinel. “About 80 at-risk kids, 4 years of age, have embarked on the music program — offered at Chambers Park Community Center, Boggy Creek Elementary and the Poinciana Academy of Fine Arts — to develop skills that will help them in kindergarten and beyond. Brain research indicates that string instruction can help preschool-age children with language, motor, social and other skills, as well as aiding focus and attention span.”
Rosemary Marcano, the student’s teacher for their other classes, is learning to play the violin with her students. She says, “It’s an awesome experience because you grow with them and you see differences in reading, math and concentration. They pay more attention. The kids are better able to focus and see patterns, recognize letters and count since they began the lessons in late September. The children are already at a point in their literacy that they normally wouldn’t reach until after the Christmas holidays.”
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-prek-violin-learning-20120102,0,6967662.story
“Roundup: Orchestra at Hospitals, Link Live, Starlab, El Dub, Movie Release” (Dec. 29, 2011) by Jay Kirschenmann from the ArgusLeader.com. Music is a powerful force for healing. “The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra kicks off its “Music as Medicine” program on Wednesday at two area hospitals. The orchestra partnered with Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center and Sanford Health to bring classical music and musicians to the campuses of both facilities through the new program.”
http://goo.gl/2R2R3
“Despite Critics, Colonics Gain Grass-roots Fans” (Dec. 14, 2011) by Elisabeth Dunham from TheOregonian, Health and Fitness News, OregonLive.com. “Soft strains of classical music fill the waiting room as a smiling woman in a white lab coat hands you a form to fill out and asks if you’d like some organic lemon ginger tea or water. Relaxing into a leather recliner with your pen and paper, you might feel as if you’ve landed in an upscale spa. But in fact you’ve come here, to Colon Care, for one reason and one reason only: to have 23 gallons of water released into — and out of — your large intestine.”
http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2011/12/despite_critics_colonics_gain.html
“The Dancer: A Man Finds Cure For Symptoms Of Parkinson’s Disease In Ballroom Dancing” (Dec. 18, 2011) by Ed Komenda, from The Patriot-News “Clyde Cressler ,who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, takes weekly ballroom dance lessons with his wife Carol at Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Lemoyne from dance instructor Elaine Seckar. To Cressler ballroom dancing is like a temporary cure because symptoms seem to disappear.”
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/12/ballroom_dancing_relieves_the.html
Evidence & Articles supporting the benefits of classical music in your daily life, in the Public School Classrooms, and while doing homework after school:
Mrs. S teaches 7th grade Math at Davis Middle School in Hampton, VA.: “Students perform better on tests and quizzes while listening to Mozart Symphonies in the background.”
Mrs. C’s high school math class in Colorado: “The students asked for music in class. I told them I would play only Mozart. At first they objected but soon decided they liked the music, because it made them feel better and able to focus more on their lessons. Consequently, not only did the grades get better, so did the discipline. Then the students began requesting Mozart.”
Mrs. G had her fifth grade students listening to classical music, played softly, while the children did creative writing assignments and when they did problem solving in math. It created a calm atmosphere conducive to problem solving and creative thinking as well as an appreciation of music that they might not have experienced. The results were so good that she incorporated this into her teaching for the last five years of her teaching career.
Mrs. JC had her fourth grade reading class of 22 students, listening to Mozart and other classical music during class for the entire school year .The children have consistently made 100’s on tests and work. These are just average students not exceptional.
Mrs. J has 4 children, ages 19, 16, 12 and 8 who have been listening to Mozart and other classical music while doing their homework after school since March 05. She has seen them become more focused and relaxed, finishing homework quicker, with more accuracy which has led to higher grades.
Northside Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia is using classical music in halls and class rooms with very good success. “Classical Music Plays at Norfolk School”
For more scientific evidence, medical evidence, test results, and true stories of the world’s scientists, medical doctors, and mathematicians who have studied and played musical instruments since they were children read “The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music” by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. Click on the link: https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/the-secret-of-teaching-science-and-math-through-music/
“Musical Notes On Math” by Dr. Madeline Frank teaches your child fractions and decimals, the fun way, through the rhythm of music, Winner of the Parent To Parent Adding Wisdom Award. For more information click on the following link: https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/musical-notes-on-math/
For Tips on how to use “Musical Notes On Math” click on the following link:https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/pg47.pdf