Originally posted by David Arnold on April 8, 2016 Growing as a musician is more than practicing scales and etudes. It involves developing the mind as well as the body. In my years of playing music I have been profoundly moved by the following three books. Each one dramatically changed my course of learning, catapulting me in exciting new directions. 1. Effortless Mastery – Kenny Werner. This book addresses the tendency of musicians to play in a state of mind where they are afraid to sound bad. Werner calls this “fear based playing”. We have all been there; when the harder we try to impress ..read more

Originally posted by David Arnold on June 19, 2016 One of the most useful and over-looked tools a musician can have is a pencil. My first saxophone instructor was a never-ending advocate of marking your music. The idea was this: you can’t possibly remember everything so you need to write it down. From that point on I began marking all of my current projects with all sorts of subtle reminders. Of course there is the obvious sharp and flat notes; but there were matters of dynamics and phrasing that needed noting as well. I would also leave myself stylistic reminders by writing the names of famo ..read more

Entry Deadline Extension: Now October 11, 2019! Here at the Marion Music Academy, we believe that learning music helps students in multiple aspects of life, not simply music! In order to promote music and the arts, we are pleased to offer our Scholarship Essay contest again this year! We are offering two 6-month (24 lessons) scholarships, one for a student in grades 1-5, one for a student in grades 6-12. To be eligible to win a scholarship, students should write a short essay of 500 words or fewer expressing what music means to them, and why they want to take music lessons. We'll select ..read more

This year, the Marion Music Academy is once again offering two six-month scholarships to all area students! We're asking students to write a short essay of 500 to 750 words. Two winners, one from grades 1-5 and one from grades 6-12, will be chosen from the submitted essays.   Essay prompt for grades 1-5: What instrument do you want to play, and why? 
Essay prompt for grades 6-12: Pick an experience from your own life and explain how it has influenced your musical development. Scholarship recipients will be selected and notified by October 15, 2021, and the selected essays will ..read more

Routines are crucial for musical success, but let’s face it: sometimes we can get stuck in a rut, and need something new to keep music exciting! Here are a few ideas to help make your own practice time, or your child's practice time, a bit more interesting. 1. Pick a different practice time! Early in the morning, late at night: pull out your instrument any time that's not your usual practice time. This is especially useful for when you’re practicing for a recital or an audition, since playing at different times of day helps get you accustomed to making music outside of your comfort zone. 2. G ..read more

Practicing every day can be challenging! It’s easy to let a couple of days slip by without playing your instrument. Practicing only a couple times a week, however, doesn’t allow your brain to make the kinds of connections that results in real musical progress! Creating a practice routine is essential for long-term musical success. Create a Good Practice Space The practice environment can make all the difference in the world for helping a musician stay focused & get things done. The exact practice space will look different for each family, but several basics are universally important. Low ..read more

With our 100 Days of Practice Challenge going strong, I’ve been exploring different ways to make practice both more fun and more effective. Yes, I’ve been a violin teacher for a long time, so you’d think I know a lot about practicing, and I do! But I’m always on the lookout for another good technique or helpful tip. This past weekend, I found Dr. Molly Gebrian’s YouTube series on how current brain science can help musicians practice better. (If you want to watch it, it’s very good! The first video is here.) In her series, Dr. Gebrian talks about how good practicing builds the neural pathways ..read more

The 100 Days of Practice Challenge is returning to the Academy for a third year! Some of you are now experienced challengers! Last year, we had new students meet the challenge, and returning students complete the challenge for a second year in a row! Even students who didn't make it all the way to the end still had fun and learned they could practice more than they thought they could! This February, the challenge returns! If you or your student are participating, you might have a few questions about how the challenge works. Never fear, we have answers here! What’s the 100 Days Challenge? We’r ..read more

Here at the Academy, we're always looking for ways to make your child's musical education even better! As part of that ongoing effort, we're going to be switching to Zoom as our new online lesson platform, starting this coming Monday, January 11th! What's New: -You can join the lesson BEFORE your teacher. No more having to click the link repeatedly if your teacher isn't quite ready yet! -You'll use the same link every week. No need to wait on an invitation each lesson! -It’s familiar! With many of our students using Zoom for school and parents using it for work, we're happy to use a platform ..read more

Want to know what be prepared for ahead of time for our music recitals? Here's what you want to know! VIRTUAL RECITALS We will be hosting four virtual recitals on December 5, and we've just added a new virtual recital on December 12, for anyone who was signed up for in-person recitals who would rather switch to virtual. (The Sign-up Genius link for that is here.) Here's how to prepare for your virtual recital: Make sure you've updated to the most current version of Webex ahead of time! Test your setup before: can the camera see you? Can you see your music? If you're using an accompaniment tr ..read more