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The link below has a few traditional songs to listen to. While there are many types of traditional music, the cultures that brought these songs into existence had several things in common. These commonalities lead to a possibility of finding a universal concept system in music.

Sixty traditional cultures worldwide were studied for rhythm and melodic complexity which varies and did not give specific information. However, how religious a song is, how much energy it brings up, and how formal a song was accounted for much of the variability. Lullabies, love songs, dance songs, and healing songs all created different patterns by these three dimensions.

Ask your music student about the traditional music and what they are drawn to, whether it is the type of instruments, the vocals, or the rhythms. How do they feel about the categories and how songs fit into them? Love traditional music and see how it is influenced by the culture that creates it.

Daniel was born and raised in the San Francisco bay area. Growing up, he was very competitive with his older brother, and when he picked up the flute, he had to prove he could do it better. He began to play the flute at the age of 10 and quickly fell in love with all things music. While in high school, Daniel also picked up some of the piano, saxophone, and oboe. 

After high school, Daniel attended Oberlin Conservatory and was lucky to learn from renowned teachers like Alexa Still and Raphael Jimenez. While at Oberlin, he also developed a love for teaching. He taught flute for his fellow students and members of the community, and worked with the staff at the local Central Ohio Youth Orchestra. He was also appointed by the conservatory as a music theory tutor. After graduating from Oberlin, Daniel moved to Columbus and began his journey with Michelle Tuesday Music School!

Daniel plays the flute every day, and loves sharing his love of music with the students at MTMS. He loves seeing young people engage with music and find the joy in it like he has. He is also easily distracted by hearing about all the musical activities his students are up to. In his free time, Daniel enjoys hiking, cooking, and making old media references that his students don’t understand.

Our students comment on our lab themes – and I love reading them. Here are several comments on last month’s theme, 2000s music.

“I noticed how fashion was such an important part of 2000s music.” Daniel

“I liked the part where you couldn’t see who was singing.” Charlie

“I like how 2000s music doesn’t have a lot of real instruments.” Henry

“Every pop song started with yeah yeah yeah.” Emmy

Many students noticed the back beats and bass, the rhyming words, and many of them loved how catchy those tunes were. Once they say it, I can hear all the yeah yeah yeah sections in that time. Do you?

“Haley is kinda burnt out on 2000s pop from hearing her mom play it too much.” (I think I like Haley’s mom.)

Some comments about the music videos – costumes and dance moves and many singers – reminds me of watching MTV when it was music videos. Remember those days? I don’t see as many music videos unless I’m on YouTube. When did you last YouTube your favorite song to see what was done on the video?

The students also noticed the videos have a lot of drama. Many male singers and female dancers are paired together in this time frame. (That could just have been the songs we chose to highlight the time.) Also, Taylor Swift started singing in the 2000s, and she was a teenager. Look where she is now!

MTMS is looking at the summer calendar. Back by popular demand, our annual summer camps are going to be a lot of fun. It’s a great way to learn some new fancy skills, make friends, and beat summer boredom.

Time to look at your summer plans and see which of our music-themed camps your student wants to participate in:

Jun 9-13: Songwriting Camp

Jun 23-27: Swiftie Camp

Jul 14-18: Rock Band Camp

Jul 28-Aug 1: Musical Theatre Camp

Can’t wait? Neither can we! It’s going to be a rockin’ summer. See you there!