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 With the colder, drier months here, wooden instruments start to go through some changes. A common winter complaint for string players are that pegs no longer turn smoothly.
Traditional friction pegs are wood on wood (peg against peg box). As wood expands and contracts with the changing elements, pegs will no longer operate well. If you have been having problems with your pegs and have tried peg dope or refitting the pegs or peg box, another option is perfection pegs. Perfection pegs look just like friction pegs. However, perfection pegs operate on a 4-to-1 gear ratio and turn like planets. Perfection pegs are not affected by the changes in weather, and therefore, do not slip or stick. Since you are not forcing a stuck wooden peg to move, you are not risking any damage to the peg box or pressure cracks.
When you go to a concert that has a spectacular pyrotechnic display, complete with lights and lasers, that take a crew 15 hours to set up, what are you expecting to hear? What about when the guitarists come in with long hair and you see famous musicians like Aerosmith and Joan Jett joining them on stage? Are you expecting to hear classical music? Probably not, but that is just what you will get with The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. (Listen to some selections below.)
 With the snow starting to fly (grr) and heaters turning on, wooden instruments are suffering because of the lack of humidity in the air. Tuning pegs are starting to slip or stick. Instruments that originally had no trouble staying in tune now need to be tuned constantly. The best thing to do right now to keep your instrument happy is to keep it humidified.
Dampits are the best thing to use during the winter months. Dampits typically start at about $9.00. They are a long, green sponge that can be inserted in the f-hole of your instrument. Simply soak the Dampit, wipe off the excess water, and carefully slide it into your instrument.
 When learning to play a stringed instrument parents and students have the option of taking traditional lessons or Suzuki lessons. Most people understand what traditional lessons are, but what exactly are Suzuki lessons?
The Suzuki method was developed by Shinichi Suzuki after World War II. Mr. Suzuki desired to create beauty in the world again after the devastations of the war and knew that children would be the best place to start.
 Every time a book opens, an angel coughs up a hairball. -- Bart Yates
Here at West Music in Marion and Coralville, IA we are very fortunate to have the multi-talented Bart Yates as one of our studio teachers. Bart offers lessons on the clarinet, saxophone, and bass guitar. Bart is originally from Cheyenne, WY but moved to Iowa in 1969. After graduating from Lamoni High School Bart got his degree in clarinet performance from Drake University in 1985. He then moved to Massachusetts and earned a master’s degree in woodwind performance from Boston University. He began teaching in the New England area in 1989. Ten years later he moved back to Iowa.
Let’s face it, music can be hard. Your brain has to decipher all of those little symbols and tell your hands what to do. Then, your ear has to hear it and tell your brain whether or not it's in tune. If it isn't, then your brain tells your hands to make some sort of adjustments. Your ear hears the changes and tells the brain if it is right. Then you move on to the next note. And all of this has to be done in fractions of a second. Not a problem when you are in a practice room but what about when you are performing in an ensemble?
 On June 27th, the West Music store in Marion held it's first ever Weststock concert. The purpose of this outdoor concert was to give young, amateur bands a place to play and gain some performance experience.
9 bands filled out an application and submitted a CD of some of their best songs. Each band was given tickets to sell to this event. The bands received half of their ticket sales back in the form of a West Music gift card and the band with the most ticket sales also received an additional $100.00 gift card. The bands could also sell promotional items of their own. Hy-Vee was there providing food and drinks.
The bands ranged in ages from 10-45. Some bands have been playing together for a few years and others only a few weeks. Styles ranged from Christian rock to heavy metal. The best thing about the day was how talented every band was, even though most of the musicians were teenagers who hadn't been studying their instruments for very long and had trouble finding places to practice and perform. The kids formed their bands on their own, ran their own rehearsals, and chose their own songs. Some bands even wrote their own music! How many kids do you know that can do all of that?
www.supportmusic.com In schools across the country, more-and-more music programs are being cut as budgets are slashed, class sizes expand, and quality teachers are scarce. Most people agree that music is important and the “No Child Left Behind” act has included arts education as a core curriculum. Study-after-study shows that children who study music score higher on tests, have fewer behavioral problems, stay in school, are less likely to engage in destructive or illegal activities, are more likely to be accepted into college and get better jobs. What parent wouldn’t want that for their child? But what are you to do if your school’s music program is in danger?
The Coda Bow Company was founded in 1993 by Roger Zabinski and Jeff Van Fossen in Winona, Minnesota. Van Fossen used his degree from Princeton in mechanical and aerospace engineering to help design the latest in bow technology-carbon fiber bows. Carbon fiber bows are great because they are light yet stronger and more flexible then the traditional pernambuco bows. The Diamond Coda series contain a Kevlar core which provides power and a braided carbon fiber stick to give the bow its flexibility. The Diamond series has 3 different bows-nickel, silver, and gold.
I asked my studio teachers one day their number one issue with parents of their students. Their response was that parents felt they could be of no help in their child's musical instruction because they are not musicians. I hear many parents say things like, "I can't carry a tune in a bucket", "I've never even heard of a viola before", "I can't tell the difference between a flute and a clarinet". Just because you are not a musician, that doesn't mean you can't help your child! Probably the most important thing you can do for your child is to provide encouragement. Learning a new instrument can be difficult and frustrating. Don't let your child quit after only a few weeks because they think they'll never get it.
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West Music Staff Blogs
