BY DEB HEDLEY
ISSUE NO. 52 | JUNE 2023
Modern Day Musings
Happy June! As another school year comes to an end, we want to congratulate all of our students who will be graduating this month! We wish you the best on all of your future endeavors! This month’s newsletter is all about practicing your instrument and staying inspired during the summer!
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF MODERN DAY MUSIC SCHOOL
Even though school is ending, your practice time should not! Lessons at MDM will still be going strong all summer long! Take advantage of the extra time you have this summer to improve! There are endless ways to continue to practice and stay motivated during the summer! Start by practicing early in the morning! Set a reminder to start practice early! Get it out of the way so you don’t have to worry about it the rest of the day!
School's out!
Play your instrument outdoors! If you play an instrument such as the guitar or ukulele, playing outdoors is a great way to switch things up and take advantage of the beautiful summer weather! You could invite family and friends over for a mini concert or play at your local farmers market! Stay motivated with your musical instrument this summer by setting weekly goals! One of the best ways to stay on track is to set goals for yourself! While setting up a practice schedule for yourself, start writing down some of your goals! Having goals written down will help motivate and keep you on track. If you need help, please ask your coach how to set some goals for yourself! Joining a summer music camp is another great way to stay involved in music over the summer months! Local colleges such as Saint Rose and SUNY Schenectady County Community College offer wonderful music camps that will help continue to inspire and grow you as a musician! Lastly, use your phone! Your phone can be used as a helpful tool for many different things! Use it to record yourself! Listening to yourself is a healthy practice technique.
school's out!
CONT...
It can help you along the way while practicing! Download a metronome app! The metronome is an essential tool for musicians to use to help keep time and lock in tricky rhythms! You can also use it to download sheet music and tabs on the go! Another fun thing to try this summer is to record your music! Set up a recording session with Ben Zoleski at MDM or record on your own just for fun! Below are a list of essential apps to use as a musician. Check them out! Top apps for musicians: Pro Metronome: A free metronome at your fingertips! Use this to check your tempo and rhythm! GarageBand: You can download this app on your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook. This is such a fun way to create and record a new tune! Have fun and stay creative! GuitarTuna: Keep your strings in tune! This app not only tunes guitars, but can tune up to 14 additional string instruments including the ukulele, violin, banjo, and bass! Ultimate Guitar Tabs: This app gives you thousands of tabs at your fingertips! Just type in the song you are looking to play and begin to strum away! Pianists can also use this app and change the chord setting to keys! MusicNotes: You may have a pay a few dollars for your sheet music... but Music Notes will give you the most variety and accurate scores! This is a great app for pianists who constantly use sheet music! This month we were so excited to interview one of our keyboard students, Jimmy Fox. Jimmy has been taking lessons with Tony Garza now for over a year and we are so excited to hear all about it how it has been going!
Student Spotlight - Jimmy Fox How did you first get started with music? I first got started with music when my parents had me listening to MTV. My Uncle was in a band called “China White” and they played at his wedding. I got my first keyboard from a waitress named Sandy at Friday’s and my mother started to teach me how to play. When did you start taking lessons at MDM? My parents gave me a gift certificate for Christmas (December 2021) for keyboard lessons at MDM. I started taking lessons in February 2022. What instrument(s) do you play? I play the keyboard. What is your favorite thing(s) about MDM? My favorite thing about MDM is the lessons. Tony has been teaching me chords and has taught me a lot of stuff and we have a great time.
Who inspires you (musically)? Tony my teacher gives me a lot of ideas for playing my keyboard and learning many things about music for my keyboard. What is your favorite genre? Why? I listen to many types of music with my mom who likes the oldies and 70’s music on our XM radio. Mostly I like the 80’s. I really don’t like country. Advice to give to other students? To practice your music everyday and achieve your dreams. Don’t let anybody tell you that you cannot do something. Thank you so much for your time, Jimmy! We are lucky to have you a part of MDM.
M: Which upcoming gig(s) are you most looking forward to and why? D: I have a monthly gig called “Psykick Dancehall” the first Saturday of every month at a little bar called Pint Sized in Saratoga from 8pm-12am. It’s a lot of fun DJing a mix of Soul, Reggae and even a little early Punk and Rock n roll. I think we can all assume that David is very involved in music outside of MDM, but that is not the only thing! He is also a loving husband and father and tries to spend as much time as possible with his wife and son when he is not at MDM. David’s shared that “I can say without a doubt I would not be where I am today without their love and support!” They have supported David in innumerable ways over the recent months as he took on this new role at MDM, and they were even a part of the MDM family long before that! David’s son was a member of our Little Rockers program for a number of sessions before testing out private lessons where he caught on to everything very quickly. Even back then, David and his family were thrilled to be a part of MDM, and the experience also gave David a look at what things are like from the student perspective. Now that his son is a little bit more mature at age 7, he plans to start private piano lessons in the fall! David’s son loves playing piano in his room and we can’t wait to see where he goes in his private lessons. He also takes after his dad and started his own record collection, which he spends much of his time listening to. David is so proud, and we can tell that music definitely does run in the family! We are all so excited to have David on board, are are looking forward to many great years to come. There are so many possible directions for the future of MDM, but we know that no matter what, that direction will be up!
David's Corner
1 - Lucid Street (Cait Tizzone) T-Shirt Factory (Glens Falls on the Rockhill Stage) 4:30pm-8:00pm 2- PsyKick Dancehall at Pint Sized Saratoga w/ Selector David Suede 8pm-12am! All vinyl rebel sounds spinning the best in Reggae, Punk, and 60’s junk! 2- Under the Den (Ben) @ Jay St. Pub (Schenectady) 10pm-1am 3- Under the Den (Ben) with Joe Mansman & TMRB @ Bebob’s (Lake George) 3 - Lucid Street (Cait Tizzone) Blackthorne Resort (Cairo) 9:00 PM 4- Selector David Suede DJing funky tunes for Leahs Bakery 10 year anniversary party held at The Round Lake Auditorium 2pm-5pm! 9- Under the Den (Ben) @ Spa City Tap and Barrel (Saratoga) 10pm-2am 9- David at Savoy Soul Club. Albany’s only all 60’s Soul dance night 8pm-12am 10 - Lucid Street (Cait Tizzone) Turquoise Tiger @ Turning Stone Casino (Verona) 9:30 PM 14- Flag Day 16- Ben Zoleski and Gianna Robustiano @ JJ Rafferty’s 7-10 18- Father’s Day 19- Juneteenth 21- Summer Solstice 21- World Music Day 23- Under the Den (Ben) at the FuzeBox w/ Platinum Moon 23 - Lucid Street (Cait Tizzone) Tap & Barrel (Saratoga) 10:00 PM 24- Ben Zoleski Solo at Spa City Tap and Barrel 6:30pm-9:30pm 29- Under the Den (Ben) at the Shirt Factory (Glens Falls)
june CALENDAR
Hello everyone! I just wanted to wish everyone a happy June and to remind you all that we are now offering Violin Lessons here at MDM! I’d also like to mention that if you or your child are happy with your coaches and lessons to please give us a positive review on Google! It really helps us! Thank you all!
A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR NEW STUDENTS in may!
Lucianna B Nathan R Kiara R Sebastian L Natalie L Madeline L Alex K Carter P Hunter R Baron B Madilyn E Alicia P Gwen F Matthew P Megan P Eleanor A Steve J Kailee S Liam S Henry F Gwendolyn T Chloe C Cameron M Lauren B Robb M Tyler S Trinity E
1673 RT9, Clifton Park, NY 12065 ~ 518-261-1920 ~ www.moderndaymusicschool.com
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA!