How Playing An Instrument Affects Your Brain

Hey!

So, a while back in the first episode of Muse TV I talked about some of the benefits of music education – one of them being how it unites the left and right sides of the brain.

Well, there’s more to the story!

In this video below, by educator Anita Collins as part of the TED ED video series, you will learn just how beneficial playing a musical instrument is to your brain function. It is like no other activity in the way that all parts of the brain are activated, such as those that govern auditory, language, memory and motor functions. It’s like a full-body workout for your grey matter! 

Even listening to music causes a lot of activity but playing and practicing really set all guns ablazing! But what’s even better is that those connections in the brain are transferred to other activities so, in a way, you end up doing everything better! Pretty cool, eh?

Enjoy the video and visit http://ed.ted.com/ for more Ted Ed lessons! 

Don’t forget to add your two cents (or a whole semitone if you want!) in the comments section below. Let us know what music has done for you!

Oh, and a little bit of STM news.

Doodley Doo, one of the songs from my first book for kids, Bad Moods And Seven Other Super Reasons To Sing A Silly Song, was recently featured during Canadian Music Week! 

There are also hard copies available of the new book, Brain Freezes And Seven More Super Reasons To Sing A Silly Song on the STM online store. Get your copy today!

And if you are looking for an inspiring holiday gift, might I suggest A Candle At Both Ends - my first book of uplifting poetry and prose. It's available at Radiance Gifts and The Forks Trading Company in Winnipeg or online at the STM store. 

    

Have a great day! 

Happy Monday Everyone!

Here are some updates from STM/NP land!

Tiffany had the pleasure of being a guest solost at the Joie De Vivre Singers spring concert on April 28th. The audience was wonderful and she thoroughly enjoyed singing a couple of Ukranian folk songs arranged by W.H. Anderson as well as her very popular Magical World.

She's also busy working on a new collection of songs for intermediate vocalists and a musical for young people, Mocha and the Moon, about a jersey cow named Mocha with some astronomically high aspirations!

We thought we'd share with you a poem of Tiffany's that is being set to music for the song collection, the dramatic I Have Lost My Bottle of Faerie Dust. Enjoy!

I Have Lost My Bottle Of Faerie Dust

I have lost my bottle of faerie dust

All seems grey now
The memories are fading of a time when the world was sparkling
Once passions ran wild and free, my heart was alive
I can scarcely feel it beating
Once these feet were caressed by the dewy grass in the glow of morning
Like shards of glass the grass seems now
These eyes fixed on the curves of a leaf that had fallen to the ground.
The scent of jasmine would make me shiver with delight
These lips were enraptured by the sweet taste of a berry’s juice.
Now, tis so bland it is sour.
Laughter that once tickled my ears is tainted with a sinister tone
How cruel it sounds! It mocks me.
The stars don’t sing me to sleep.
The music is gone! The music is gone!
I no longer see my wings in the water’s reflection
I no longer feel their weight
I search in vain for the circles of stones and flowers where I used to play
How have I become separated from my kin, my home, where all was joy, all was love
Where springtime was eternal?
Oh where, where is my bottle of faerie dust?
Before all the memories disappear.
Before all colour and light is extinguished.
I must know that magic again


In NP news, we've put up Part 4 of Tabitha's Magical Voice on our new Notalotabull Press Storytime Blog. When the Grenigots discover that Tabitha's voice can save them from the dreaded nados, they want to hold her captive forever. How is she going to get home?  Download your copy of the ebook at www.tiffanyprochera.com.

Tiffany as also submitted a poem to the CBC Canada Writes Poetry Contest this week so keep your fingers crossed! We would totally post the poem for you all to read but the rules say we can't, so...

Well, that's all for now! Have a great day and keep posted for more!

Our first Ebook for Children - Introducing Tabitha!

Notalotabull Press announces the release of its first ebook for children, Tabitha's Magical Voice, by Tiffany Prochera.

"Tabitha didn’t like her voice. In fact, she more than didn’t like it. She hated it with a passion."

But when a frustrated 12-year-old Tabitha runs off into the woods behind her house during her little sister's birthday party, she encounters a village of little people who call themselves Grenigots and discovers that her voice just might be magical. But will she sing to save the Grenigots from danger?

Tabitha's Magical Voice is a funny and inspiring story about a little girl who overcomes her fear when it matters most.
Check out the book now!