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Is It Ever Too Late to Learn Music?

January 22, 2012 | 10:47 AM | By

Flickr:xlibber

By NPR Staff

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But can you teach an old guitarist new licks? How about an old nonguitarist — not even a musician?

Gary Marcus isn’t that old. He’s actually in his early 40s, and he’s a professor of psychology at NYU and an expert on cognitive development. Marcus decided to pick up the guitar to study musical learning, using himself as a guinea pig. His new book, Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning, documents that process. The title is an obvious homage to the video game Guitar Hero; Marcus says playing the game was what spurred him on to try playing music for real.

“Although it’s definitely easier to learn some things when you’re a kid, it’s not the case that you just absolutely lose the ability later in life.”

“I had a little bit of free time because I was actually on sabbatical,” he tells NPR’s Rachel Martin. “I was like, ‘This is the moment. I’m really going to try now. I’m really going to commit myself.’”

Marcus studied language acquisition in graduate school. He says that for a long time, there was a generally accepted theory of “critical periods”: the idea that if you don’t learn a language early in life, you’ll never be able to master it.

“We used to believe that that was the case — that if you didn’t learn by the time you were 16, you’d never become fluent,” Marcus says. “What we know now is that some adults actually do become fluent. And although it’s definitely easier to learn some things when you’re a kid, it’s not Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Culture, Learning Methods, music

Music for the Masses: Apps and Sites for Learning to Play Tunes

March 16, 2011 | 2:22 PM | By

Flickr:NZGabriel

By Audrey Watters

In his remarks at TEDxNYED a couple of weeks ago, education activitist Will Richardson shared an anecdote about coming home one day to the sound of “Don’t Stop Believin’” on the piano. It was his daughter, a novice pianist, who’d placed Will’s laptop next to her and taught herself the song based on a video on YouTube.

It was a testament, Richardson said, to the fact that it’s a great time to be a learner, that anything you want to know about can be found online.

Record and upload a recording of your music and get personalized feedback from music instructors.

But watching a video on how to play a song is just one small part of learning to play an instrument. And it’s just one of many opportunities that music students have now. There are abundant YouTube videos (so your repertoire needn’t just be the classics of the eighties, as awesome as Journey is). There are apps that help you tune your instrument and apps that help you learn fingering. There are websites galore that offer step-by-step guides — online method books, if you will — and videos of how to play guitar, piano, and so on.

ArtistWorks, for example, lets you not just watch and learn online via video, but allows you to record and upload a recording of your music and get personalized feedback from music instructors.

The list of instructors at ArtistWorks is pretty impressive: jazz and gypsy guitarist Andreas Oberg, harmonicist and founding member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Howard Levy, guitarist Martin Taylor, banjo player Tony Trischka, pianist Christie Perry, and “scratcher” DJ Qbert.

ArtistWorks offers a basic series of video lessons, but the company also facilitates what it calls a “video exchange.” Students upload a three- to six-minute video of their practice lessons, along with any questions or problem areas they’re working through. Teachers then respond with their own three- to 12-minute video, helping address particular areas. Both students’ and teachers’ are made available online — to search through and to watch, so that students have a library of instructional material.

ArtistWorks’ Chris DeNatale says the company is eager for the release of the iPad 2 with its built-in video camera as the tablet device is much more mobile and will make the students’ video recording a lot easier. The company is working on building a custom uploader for the iPad 2 so students can easily transfer their video.

ArtistWorks isn’t real-time music instruction. But that’s not necessarily a drawback. This enables students to move at their own pace and it allows the teachers — many of whom are traveling, performing artists — to respond when and where they can.


FILED UNDER: Learning Methods, Teaching With Tech, apps, artistworks, music

Weekly News Roundup

March 11, 2011 | 9:35 AM | By

Flickr:Williac

By Audrey Watters
  • March 8 – 10 marked the inaugural SXSWedu, an education technology conference held in Austin, Texas right before the main South by Southwest event that includes one of the most popular technology conferences in the world. SXSWedu was sponsored by SXSW and TEA, the Texas Education Agency and featured three days of sessions.
  • The FCC unveiled Learning on-the-Go, a $9 million program that will extend broadband Internet access to students off-campus, as well as on. The pilot will involve 20 schools and libraries and will use funds to help promote 24-7 Internet access for students who wouldn’t otherwise have Internet at home.
  • President Obama unveiled a new anti-bullying campaign on Thursday. Aimed at curbing bullying and teen suicide, the President said that everyone — parents, educators, businesses — needed to help provide the support and resources to address the problem. Facebook announced its support for the campaign by introducing several safety improvements, including a “social reporting” feature that allows teens to report content violations not just to Facebook but to their teachers, parents, and others in their support network.
  • Apple released GarageBand for iPad on Thursday. The $4.99 app lets you play dozens of different instruments, record songs, and mix tracks. Technologizer’s Jared Newman has a great review of the app, including its pros and cons, but I’ll echo him in saying this is a fabulous app for music creation. Although the new GarageBand was featured as part of the iPad 2′s unveiling, it actually works on both new and old versions of the device.
  • And to wrap the week up, of course, the iPad 2 goes on sale today, March 11. It’s thinner and lighter, and it boasts 2 cameras — a front and a rear-facing one. The second generation iPad has received good reviews in the press.

Image credit: Flickr user William Clifford

FILED UNDER: fcc, garageband, iPad, Mobile Learning, music, obama, sxsw, weekly roundup