Sharing!

So not sure to put this on my oboe or personal site so here goes on both.  Love this guy.  I am not a jazz expert but he has great insight into the craft.  Check it out!

Tour De Fourths by Mike Lebrun

Cool Article-Music is the BEST! ...take oboe lessons! ;)

New study takes note of music’s benefits

Taking lessons at an early age helps brain’s health later

BY AMY ELLIS NUTT THE WASHINGTON POST

Learning to play an instrument in youth helps older people retain listening skills, according to a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

In an experiment at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto, scientists studied 20 adults, ages 55 to 75, half of whom had music training in their youth and half who did not.

All the subjects wore headphones and were tested using electroencephalography for how fast they could identify random speed sounds, the scientists said.

The ability to recognize and comprehend speech diminishes with age even without measurable hearing loss, but in the experiment those who had experience playing an instrument were 20 percent faster in identifying random speech sounds than the nonmusicians, suggesting that music training protects against certain age-related cognitive declines.

“Musical activities are an engaging form of cognitive brain training,” said lead author Gavin Bidelman, now at the University of Memphis, in a news release.

“In our study we were able to predict how well older people classify or identify speech,” he said. “We saw a brain-behavior response that was two to three times better in the older musicians compared to non-musician peers.

“In other words, old musicians’ brains provide a much more detailed, clean and accurate depiction of the speech signal, which is likely why they are much more sensitive and better at understanding speech.”

Bidelman and his team concluded that engaging in formal music training before the age of 14 and continuing for at least a decade produced the most positive changes in the brain.

While the study did not look at learning a musical instrument later in life, the results add to a growing body of evidence that suggests learning to play an instrument at any age is beneficial to brain health.

Earlier this year researchers at the University of Vermont found that the more a child trains on an instrument the better he or she is in attention, management of anxiety and emotional balance.

And in 2013 scientists in Montreal provided evidence suggesting that ages 6 to 8 were a kind of “sweet spot” for music training in terms of producing long-lasting positive effects in motor skill and sensory perception.

“In our study we were able to predict how well older people classify or identify speech.”

— Gavin Bidelman, lead author of the study

Sectional Coaching for LPHS tomorrow

So I am learning some scores for a sectional rehearsal tomorrow for LPHS that I am helping with the Oboe section.  AND this lovely tune came up in my youtube feed while I am trying to find recordings.

I a not a band lit expert (I am an orchestra lit expert). So this might be a super common tune, but I really enjoyed it. SO I am sharing it.

Nice recording too by the North Texas Wind Symphony.  Oh Texas and their great land of bands!

Anyways.  I really enjoy this piece. Nice arches, nice flow, nice movement and use of instrumentation.  I hope you do to.

Oh and some great oboe solos ;)