West Music Staff Blogs
Our Mission: To enrich people's lives through the participation in music!
Tag >> Cedar Falls
 Tuesday March 30th Jameson’s in Waterloo is going to be invaded by West Music’s Weekend Warriors.
At 7:00PM the teen band “Dead Innocence,” made up of local talent, will take the stage to wow the crowd with current and classic hard rock hits including “Enter Sandman” and “21st Century Break Down.” Dead Innocence premiers with Conner Andrews on drums, Tyler Russell and Chris Woodruff on guitar, Tom Bartlett rocks out on bass guitar, vocalist Nathan Carignan rounds out the band. Come early to get a good seat to see this band!
Minimusic, a program for 4-6 year olds preps them for traditional music lessons, is in full swing at Cedar Falls. The program runs the length of the school year and teaches music fundamentals in a group setting. In the Video clip, West Music Associate Jom VanGelder demonstrates the percussion group for instructor Naomi Palmer and her Minimusic students. Students are introduced to different instrument families throughout their lessons.
Posted by: Teresa Heitman in Twitter, Strings, Print Music, Piano and Keyboards, Percussion, Music Instruction, Music Education, Moline, Marion, Holiday, Hal Leonard, Guitar Accessories, Guitar, General Music, Facebook, Early Childhood, Drums, Coralville, Combo, Christmas, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Band and Orchestra, Amp, Accessories on
Nov 16, 2009
 27% of online shoppers who plan to buy holiday gifts online this year will look for ideas about what friends and family want on sites such as Facebook. And nearly one-half will use social networks to research items, compare prices, & look for special offers like free shipping. (Mashable)
You'll find ideas, deals, & free shipping at West Music this season. Give the gift of music...and be sure to bookmark your favorite West Music Facebook Page.
20 students, 2 guests, and 4 employees colored pictures of pumpkins to decorate the Conservatory Hallway. There were a total of 31 pumpkin pictures in all and everyone had a great time...so now we have Turkey and Cornucopia pictures available for coloring for Thanksgiving, so come on by! 
Minimusic is an exciting new program coming to Cedar Falls West Music Conservatory. Designed for children ages 4-6, it prepares younger students for traditional private lessons in most instruments including piano, voice, violin, flute, guitar, drums, and others.
I received a phone call about 4 months ago from Aypryl, a youth librarian at the Cedar Falls Public Library. She explained to me that in order to keep children connected to books and reading during the summer months, the Cedar Falls Public Library would host a 6-week summer program. This summer's theme was MUSIC!
The staff provided weekly contests, crafts, and creative activities for children entering grades 1 - 6. Participants had the opportunity to earn free books by making weekly visits to the library. In addition to these events, free live music performances were held on Thursday evenings. Many local acts were asked to perform, they included Ed East (Latin/Afro-Cuban percussion), Checker and the Bluetones (Classic rock + more), and New Horizons Band (community band for retirees). Other acts included The Ruins of Ooah (didgeridoo group from Oregon), and yes, even a bagpiper!
I spent the day in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this past Saturday for our first ever “Weststock” outdoor concert event. We had 4 great bands made up of young people from the UNI and local schools, great music, great weather, great food…it just could not have been any better. On my drive home, I was thinking about live music and how so many things have changed, and yet how many things have remained the same. I looked back on my own experiences for the past 4 decades and had some extremely pleasant memories. See, when I was only 14 years old, I had been playing guitar for 2 years, and was in my first rock 'n' roll band. It didn’t last very long, maybe 3 gigs, and I moved on to another band, that didn’t last much longer. Then, on to another, and another, etc. We played covers of all the new Top 40 tunes, which was great because at that time, The Beatles and Stones were at the top of the charts, and the music was great. There were so many places to play as most every smaller towns had a community center we could rent for maybe $20.00 for the evening . We’d charge $1 at the door and split the money at the end of the night and most of the time get at least $20.00 each for our labors, but seldom much more than that. That may not sound like a lot by today’s standards, but in 1966 that was a fortune to a 14 year old. Then we’d do it all over again the next Saturday night.
Hi all Federation Teachers out there!
Posted by: James Harding in Yamaha, Steinway, Roland, Quad Cities, Pearl, Moline, Miyazawa, Marion, Iowa City, History, General Music, Fender, Education, Coralville, Cedar Falls, Advocacy on
Jul 05, 2008
West Music is a local, family-owned business founded in 1941 by Pearl West of Iowa City, IA. Since then, West has become the 17th largest music dealer in the country with 6 retail locations (including Coralville, Iowa City, Marion, Cedar Falls, Ottumwa, Iowa and Moline, IL), a retail website department, a special partnership with Amazon.com, and one of the most successful music educator's catalogue departments in the United States. Under its second president, Steve West, West Music has become the exclusive Quad City dealer for the Steinway & Sons Pianos, Boston and Essex Pianos, Yamaha and Roland Digital Pianos. West Music also participated in the creation of the Henry F. Miller piano brand -- a private-label instrument designed by us! Over the years, West has secured relationships with top instrumental name brands such as Steinway, Roland, Yamaha, Pearl, Miyazawa, and Fender. West truly is the best source for any musician's needs. ...and West Music is now the only full-line music store in the Quad Cities.
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