Archive for baltimore

Music education in schools shouldn’t ever be cut

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , on March 11, 2010 by cvalenzuela

The guys over at WTMD put up an interesting blog post about a young children’s chorus based in a Staten Island public school.  They included an amazingly captivating video of them performing Phoenix’s “Lisztomania” as well:

I love how visibly passionate these kids are about singing. It really seems like the eccentricity of their music teacher rubs off strongly on them.

On a more serious note, this video also makes me think about the many children in our country that have been deprived of music education due to school budget cuts or, even worse, because their school never had music classes to begin with.

That simply just cannot be.

Music classes should be mandatory not only in elementary school, but throughout the entirety of a student’s school career. Without it, a child’s academic and personal growth will undoubtedly suffer.

There have been many studies conducted by leading universities that have found that students who received music education are substantially ahead in reading and math skills than those who had not received any music education.

Not only that, but it boosts a young child’s self-esteem and overall confidence in themselves by knowing how to sing or play an instrument. And as you can plainly see in the video, music promotes teamwork which is a much needed trait when it comes to future employment.

I plan on focusing more on this topic in the coming weeks by checking out how the music curriculums in Baltimore and D.C. public schools are currently fairing. So stay tuned for that.

Wow, what a truly awesome idea

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , on September 24, 2009 by cvalenzuela

I was reading the Baltimore City Paper’s Best of Baltimore issue earlier today and obviously went straight to the section with the Arts and Entertainment winners. I skimmed through most of the winners like Best Song, Best Local Music Blog (which is Aural States, a great blog that I myself follow and you really should too),  and Best Rock Club. Then I came across their Best Idea winner. And, I’ve got to say, it really is one of the best ideas I’ve heard.

awesome idea

The idea is ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM. This website is really something else. It’s a site that’s dedicated to hip-hop music in the Baltimore area.. and that’s it. As soon as you log onto it, you’re instantly jamming out to one of Baltimore’s top 15 hip-hop beats.

There are no reviews. No commentary. No random tidbits. It’s just local hip-hop music. And it’s awesome.

The website is a great way for rising Baltimore rap artists to gain exposure. Sure, there are places such as PureVolume that allow bands and individuals to get their music out there, but there aren’t really any websites that focus solely on local artists and, more importantly, their music.

I’m glad the City Paper acknowledged this website. Yeah, it focuses only on rap. But hopefully other people see it and make websites just like these for all genres of music in their local areas.

Let’s get this baby started

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , on September 8, 2009 by cvalenzuela

I absolutely love music.

And not just a few certain genres of music. I’m talking about anything that can make my head bob up and down. Anything I can sing along to. Anything that can hold a beat.

I don’t care what instruments are used or how voices sound or what lyrics are said, as long as it qualifies as music I’m down with it.

This is why I’ve created this blog to not only express my love of music, but, more importantly, yours as well. I will use this blog as a platform to share anything and everything that involves music including both local (D.C. and Baltimore) and national news, up-and-coming/small-time musician profiles, original and cover songs made by you and me, concert details, location of venues with open mics to show off your musical talents, and much much more.

I’ll be going out to find people and music that very few or even no one knows about. Hopefully as my blog progresses I’ll be getting stuff from you guys to put on here. And don’t be shy (hell, I just posted up a link to my awful singing) because hey, if it’s music, I’m all earz.

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