(Note from Sylvia. Find more information about forScore on my website.)

Felice Pomeranz (Professor of Harp at Berklee College of Music):

We use a couple of Apps that might be of interest: Drum School and DrumGenius.
They are great for practicing pieces that need a groove, so that you internalize the feel of the rhythm. Sylvia has two new arrangements of Beatles' songs. What better way to practice them than with Ringo drumming for you? He is featured on Drum Genius! They have many grooves, like rock, swing, Latin, etc., and in different time signatures, too. You can pick the speed and pick it up when you've gotten one speed down. Truly fun way to practice!

You can find more app suggestions in my August 2016 newsletter.

March 27. Modacity is totally amazing. I have read much about deliberate practice. I know that I work better with specific assignments and targets . . . but somehow I don't have the discipline to do it. Modacity is going to provide exactly the structure I need. Sylvia, I am so grateful for the discount you managed to get for us, PLUS I am grateful that you mentioned a little about the developer, Marc Gelfo. You and he are exactly the kind of people that I need more of in my life, and that I want to support.

April 6. The Modacity app is transforming my practice, my relationship with music, even my life, as my music changes.   Here are two points:   

 

April 19. Here are two more unexpected benefits of using the Modacity app.

     1) Wave forms (the diagrams showing volume as spikes along a line over time)  are part of the Modacity practice page screen.  When I listen to my harp playing, the aspect I hate the most is what my teacher calls "aggressive attack."  When I played the piano, I called it "pounding."  Now that I play the harp, my playing has that same aggressive, offensive, un-lyrical tone to it.  I was puzzled.  Then suddenly I thought, "Does that wave form SHOW me what I am doing to create that dreadful noise?"  I asked my teacher to send me a wave form of him beautifully playing the music I was playing.  By comparing, by practicing, listening, looking . . .  I am beginning to create a more beautiful sound.   

     2) The second thing is that because I am more engaged in my music, I believe my teacher is more engaged in teaching me.  Last fall, I cut back from one hour lessons to half hour lessons because there just didn't seem to be enough to talk about for one hour.  Yesterday, we were both eager to spend at least an hour working together.  If other students respond to Modacity the way I do, their teachers will love teaching even more.

 

-Martha

 

P.S. One note of caution for anyone using Modacity:  It sucks power.  Never leave Modacity running in the background on your iPad.  I did that once, by mistake, and within 24 hours, with the iPad closed and disconnected from WiFi, it drained the battery from about 80% down to zero. So be sure to shut down the app when your practice session is finished.    

 

NOTE FROM SYLVIA: When I received Martha's note about the battery issue, I immediately emailed Marc, the co-founder of Modacity. Here is his reply:

We are aware of the battery issue but need to collect more data before we can fix it. She is right though, in some cases it seems to take power in the background. Please tell your customers that we're aware of it and should have a fix in the coming month.  

 

Special Discount Code: If Modacity piques your interest, I suggest that you download the FREE Modacity app and check it out.  If you love it, and want to upgrade, Modacity has created a special lifetime subscription offer for Sylvia Woods Harp Center Customers.

Modacity subscriptions are $8.99/month in the app. A year of Modacity Premium costs $107 

(less than a single music lesson in many cities). But we have a special offer for Sylvia Woods Harp Center customers.  

For a one-time PayPal payment of just $115, you can get lifetime Modacity Premium! Just go to: https://modacity.co/harpjoy and sign up for this special offer.  

This offer is now good through May 31, 2019. 

Anyone who drove through the heartland of America during the 1930s through 1950s will remember the Burma-Shave signs. These ads consisted of a series of small red signs that made up a short humorous jingle.  The last sign always said "Burma Shave." 

We traveled by car a lot when I was a kid, and we were always excited when we saw Burma-Shave signs ahead.  I also remember looking out the back window when the signs were facing the wrong way.  We'd read them from the last sign to the first, and then put the phrase together correctly. That was even more fun than reading them in the right order!

Sometimes the poems were ads for their shaving cream.

A shave / That's real / No cuts to heal / A soothing / Velvet after-feel / Burma-Shave.

Every shaver / Now can snore / Six more minutes / Than before / By using / Burma-Shave.

And others were safety messages.

Hardly a driver / Is now alive / Who passed / On hills / At 75 / Burma-Shave.

Past / Schoolhouses / Take it slow / Let the little / Shavers grow / Burma-Shave.

Recently, I received an email from my cousin Sharon, including some amusing Burma-Shave jingles from the Burma Shave website. She pointed out a safety one about heavenly harps! 

"Old-timers might still remember the introduction from 'The Shadow' radio program: 'Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!' Jerome Freitas is a retired State Department of Transportation worker who is now better known as Da Shadow. Since 2004, he has been meeting with government representatives about problems he has discovered or that have been reported to him, and reporting the county's responses."

When my friend Patti was visiting me in February, I told her this story the first time we drove by the sign.  When we drove past it about week later she said "I think it has changed."  And she was right!  Because of my email, with help from Da Shadow, the sign is now correct.  It is 4.2 miles to Hanalei.

One person (with a little help) can make a difference . . . especially on a small island.