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Learning to play music has much to offer individuals–from simple, everyday things (like learning to break down big goals into little ones) to scientific things (like increasing the speed at which neurological pathways are formed in our brains). Aside from what music has to offer individuals, what are the benefits of engaging in music activities as a group? Today we find out!

Have you ever heard of oxytocin? It’s a chemical in our brains that correlates with long-term happiness. More oxytocin means more joy–not a fleeting moment of pleasure, but a true enjoyment of living.

But what does this have to do with music groups? EVERYTHING! You see, oxytocin is released by developing safe, deep, lasting relationships. (All types, including simple friendships.) Want to know a good way to nurture a relationship? You got it! Music. Singing, dancing, drumming, and playing musical games together capitalize on the psychology of group participation. As human beings, we have a need to belong and feel appreciated. That’s exactly what groups offer: belonging and appreciation. Music groups can also positively influence correct and uplifting beliefs about practicing and performing in a subtle yet influential way.

Enjoying music together–especially creating music together–is a great way to put two love languages into action that increase oxytocin: quality time and physical touch. The physical touch can be as simple as dancing with a partner, high-fiving someone who just tried something new, or even cuddling a child while singing softly in her ear. The “quality” in “quality time” comes from undivided attention. Putting away distractions (including mental ones) helps us focus our attention on others so our time spent together is of the highest quality. Five minutes of high-quality time spent with others has a far greater influence than twenty minutes of split attention.

In addition to long-term happiness, enjoying music in a group can also release dopamine: the chemical responsible for immediate pleasure. In moderate amounts, that’s a GREAT thing! It’s the excitement of accomplishing a goal, the reward of a congratulatory applause, the satisfaction of recognition. Music groups help us feel our progress emotionally, which encourages us to keep doing the hard or monotonous things required for continued growth.

It’s the release of dopamine, like a high-carb snack before a sports game, that gives us a burst of energy in a moment of need. But just as we need a well-balanced diet, we need well-balanced chemicals–and just as carbohydrates should only make up a small portion of our diet, dopamine is healthiest in small doses.

Oxytocin takes time to build up, much like the steadiness of the rising sun, versus dopamine, which is like flipping on the lightswitch. For true happiness, we must be patient so that the oxytocin can be released. If the first day with a music group doesn’t seem to have immediate results, that doesn’t mean it’s not for you. Be patient! Be active! PARTICIPATE! Over time, you will see the results: belonging, appreciation, meaningful relationships, and with those, the release of oxytocin, resulting in a deep-rooted happiness you just can’t describe.

Music alone is fun and full of potential. Music with a group can be life-changing!

by Maree Zollinger

It’s a happy day!  You are about to attend your first music lesson and you are excited and filled with hope and anticipation!  You have a goal, you want to be able to make music, and you are looking forward to the day when you can.  You know you will need to work hard – you are OK with that. So you show up to your first lesson and leave with some things to practice and learn, and you are MOTIVATED!

Now, jump ahead a few months, or weeks, or even days.  You’ve seen the scenario. Now, your attitude is not quite as spunky and hopeful as it was.  You’ve experienced some opposition and found that this is going to be harder than you thought.  Maybe you are even questioning whether you really want to do this…?

Guess what?  Truth: MUSIC IS FUN WHEN YOU CAN ACTUALLY DO IT WELL!  

Truth:  Few musicians love playing a piece when they can’t play it well – when they are still in the early learning stages.  

Truth:  When you can’t play a piece yet, it’s hard, and frustrating, and your rendition of the piece does NOT match the sound you pictured in your head.  Ugh.

But how can you “actually do it” (play music well) when you are just a beginner, or just learning a new piece?  You are not yet able to play like a pro, and this lack of fun is sapping your energy and, therefore, your motivation.  

This is how:  When you are learning something new, it is so important that you keep POSITIVE ENERGY flowing, otherwise, you will quit.  80% of piano students quit in the first two years – that is the national average in the U.S. WHAT?!?!?! How is this OK?!?!?  IT. IS. NOT. OKAY.  

So why do so many students quit?  Research tells us that the reason why students quit is because They Feel They Are Not Progressing.  This is why it is so important to keep positive energy flowing, by making and noting progress.

Parents! This is a great place for you to jump in with attention, rewards, and encouragement. When your child has a new piece of music to learn, capitalize on that novelty! Be excited about their new piece while they are still excited about it. Do what you can to help them learn it quickly so they get to the fun part!

The way you do this is by learning how to break a piece down into not only small daily goals, but very tiny “Minute Goals” (a goal you can get in a minute).  

The Process:  Take ONE measure, or however much you (or your child) can learn in one minute.  If you are studying piano, play the left hand first (because it lays the harmonic foundation for the right hand – it is the foundation for whatever else is there).  

1 – PATTERNS (intellectual memory).  Notice (maybe even write in the music) the patterns you see.  If you know music terminology and analysis, use that language.  If you don’t, it’s fine, just write what makes sense to you: ie) this note moves up; this is the same as measure 4; even drawing squiggles representing the shape is effective.

2 – PLAY (kinesthetic, visual, and aural memory).  Play this left hand passage over and over, allowing it to feel as easy and effortless as possible in your hand.  As you play, look at your hand playing it on the keyboard, and “memorize” what that looks like.  As you play, listen to how it sounds – what are all the parts and pieces of the sound – bass notes, filler, etc.  

THIS WHOLE PROCESS ONLY TAKES A FEW SECONDS when you get used to doing it.

3 – Do the same for the right hand.

4 – Put the hands together and repeat playing it over and over – thinking about the patterns while also feeling, looking, and hearing what you are doing.  BECAUSE YOU ONLY DID A VERY SMALL PORTION, you can do this quickly. (You can do anything hard for one minute!!!!)  And now … you love to play that part, and oh boy, do you ever sound awesome!!!!  

Now, your brain rationalizes that if you can learn one measure that quickly, and sound that great, and have that much fun, then you can do it for the whole piece, one measure at a time.  Do the math. At this rate, how many days will it take to play one page or even the whole piece?  The old adage is true: how do you eat an elephant – one bite at a time!

It’s a happy day!  You have been in lessons a while now and you just finished showing a friend what you can play.  They actually smiled, and so did you!  You feel pleased with your accomplishment – you are progressing and learning and just maybe, you can play that really awesome piece you want to play … someday.  But more importantly, you WANT to keep playing. Why? Because you are someone who sets and gets goals! You feel good inside sharing music with others, and this also motivates you and gives purpose to your efforts.  Your brain rationalizes – “I LOVE MUSIC!”

Nathan Bodrero has been with Harmony Arts since childhood and graduated from the Musikgarten Program. He has studied piano with Nan Croney since 2013, and assisted classes and in the lab since 2017.

He is the oldest of seven children, five of which are boys. He loves to play soccer, as well as playing the piano and ukulele. He is great with kids, and is friendly, charismatic, and ready to help you have fun!

One of the many things we love about Nathan, is that he is a self-starter. When he sees something that needs to be done, he figures out how to do it and gets the job done. Nathan has exceptional music skills and great intuition when it comes to figuring out how to help students.

Nathan works at Harmony Arts Academy as a Lab Assistant, Office Help and as a Teaching Assistant in Keyboard Classes.

I’ve been following the tips for using my vision board every day, but it’s still taking a long time to reach my goals. I am I doing something wrong? Does a vision board just not work for me?”  If you’ve had either of these questions, this article is for you!

As you may recall from our introductory article “Vision Boards: Harnessing the Power of the Mind,” one important purpose of vision boards is to help us do just that: harness the power of our minds. We have the potential to create anything we can imagine, but fortunately for us, simply imagining something doesn’t cause it to happen right away. This delay between thinking and creating protects us from our own negative thoughts. We must learn to bridle our thoughts, especially so that we intentionally respond positively when we feel upset, disappointed, sad, etc.

The time it takes to retrieve a goal from our vision boards serves as a buffer between ourselves and the negative things we may be unintentionally creating and/or inviting into our lives. With that in mind, if you want to lessen the time it takes to reach a goal, you must improve your ability to guide your thoughts. Though this may sound daunting, there are some simple things you can do that, if done consistently, will make a world of difference.

Improve your input. What we watch, listen to, and surround ourselves with naturally influences our thoughts. Control what you can control–and be intentional about your choice. Choose input that builds, inspires, motivates, encourages, and uplifts. Find people, entertainment, and activities that exhibit and promote the positivity you want to embody. Consistently improve your input and your output will naturally improve as well.

Keep a journal. Keeping a journal helps us pay closer attention so that we recognize those negative thoughts more readily, which in turn enables us to do something about them. Please note, it is essential that no one, not even you, ever reads what you’ve written in this particular journal. Some people prefer the “write and burn,” method. Just as it sounds, the writer burns the pages after writing them. This may be for you if you think you may feel tempted to read past entries.

Create declarations. Declarations are true statements that correct negative thoughts or beliefs. Be sure to word them in the affirmative by avoiding words such as “don’t,” “won’t,” “can’t,” and “never.” Focus on what you want to think, do, and become. For example, instead of saying, “I don’t lose my patience with my children,” I might say, “I take a deep breath and respond with love, so my children see me as an example of patience.” Notice the wording is in present tense and emphasizes what I DO want rather than what I don’t.

By improving your input, learning to recognize negative thoughts (by journaling), and replacing them (with declarations), you can diminish the need for a buffer between yourself and your thoughts. Doing so will decrease the delay between the setting of your goals and your achievement of them. As you increase the positivity that you generate, you will be amazed how quickly images come off your board and fill up your binder of success stories.

by Maree Zollinger

There are several ways to use a vision board, but today we’d like to share a few tips that will help you use yours effectively. To get started, choose a time you can look at it every day. (First thing in the morning or right before bed are great times!) Pick a time you can be consistent at, so you develop the habit–feel free to set an alarm as a reminder.

There’s no length of time required for using your vision board, but 30 seconds per picture is a good place to start if this is your first time. Though looking at the pictures you’ve chosen is a good start, it’s not likely to get you very far. If you really want to start achieving your goals, here are three simple things you can do with your vision board: tell stories, listen to music, and use a notebook.

Tell Stories – Talk about your goals in present or past tense (implying that you are achieving or have achieved them). Describe the experience in detail. Who was present? What could you see, hear, smell? Be as specific as you can! Feel free to write down your story to help signal its reality to your brain. Be careful not to set expectations about how long your stories need to be. Your story can be 30 seconds or 3 minutes and its length can change each time. Use big motions and expressive tones as you tell your story–just as you will tell it when it really happens.

Listen to Music – Music is a great tool that helps unify both hemispheres of the brain to work toward your goal. It’s also a fantastic way to raise your energy and motivation when you’re in a slump. Listening to “epic” music while you work your vision board helps the brain associate positive emotions with working on your goals, which in turn helps you stay more focused and achieve them faster! Choose music that lightens your mood, builds your self-esteem, or reminds you of important truths that will sustain you as you work on your goals.

Use a Notebook – As you look at your vision board, ask yourself questions such as:

Do I know anyone who…

    …can teach me a skill that will help me accomplish my goal?”

    …might help me gain access to tools, services, etc. that I need?

    …has accomplished this goal already and can teach me how?

You can also consider if you need to do any research, earn money, develop skills or any other necessary action to acquire the item on your board. Write down the thoughts that come to mind and use them to create action steps. For example, if you need to earn money, write down what you’re going to do to earn it and break it into weekly or daily steps. If you thought of someone who can serve as a mentor, your action step might be to contact that individual. You don’t need to set requirements for using a notebook; it’s simply for recording ideas as they come. Some days you might have several ideas and on others you have none at all. That’s ok!

Telling stories, listening to music, and recording ideas in a notebook are simple things that lead to big results. Calling upon one or more of these a couple times a week as you work your vision board will help you gain momentum and reach your goals!

by Maree Zollinger

Vision boards are simple yet powerful tools that anyone of any age can learn to use effectively. The simplest way to get started is to make a square on the wall using painter’s tape. 

Whatever you choose to use, keeping the means of adding and removing items to and from your vision board simple will serve you best. Avoid using things like glue that aren’t meant to come off. That adds additional work for you and suggests to your mind that your goal is stuck out of your reach.

Set yourself up to succeed by placing your vision board somewhere easily visible and accessible. Hiding it in places that are hard to see or get to increases the opposition of using it daily.

Once your vision board is in place, choose a picture of one thing you want to acquire. It can be a physical item, a quality, a vacation… anything! Print it, cut it out of a magazine, or draw it yourself–whatever you need to do to get a picture of your goal. Using pictures stimulates the right hemisphere of the brain–the side associated with creativity, spontaneity, and freedom. This will help you generate ideas as you work your vision board.

Choose a keyword or phrase to place on your vision board with the picture you have chosen. Words stimulate the left hemisphere of the brain–the side associated with organization, logic, and boundaries. This will allow you to take your ideas and create action steps, which is an essential part of getting things off your vision board, so please don’t skip this step!

What might this look like for a musical goal? Perhaps you have a piano piece containing a phrase with specific fingering that challenges you. Your image might be a copy of that single phrase with the fingering marked to stand out. Your keyword might be something that describes how you want the phrase to sound (“graceful”) or how you want to feel when you play it (“confident”).

Finally, acquire a binder or folder in which you can place the pictures of each item you successfully pull off your vision board. Tracking your successes adds proof of your abilities and evidence of your board’s effectiveness. When the negative voices around you or in your mind try to tear you down and hinder you from reaching your goals, pull out your binder of success stories and remind yourself of the truth: that you accomplish amazing things! 

Start with the one item you have chosen for your vision board if this is your first time. Pouring your focus into one goal allows you to learn how to work your board. Splitting your focus between multiple goals too early can lead to frustration and discouragement. You can always add more when you’re ready, but putting on too much at one time can create an unnecessary struggle.

Choosing something you can achieve within a month at most (though preferably within two weeks) will give you early success. That early success will help build your momentum so that you can learn how to really make the most of your vision board. Pretty soon you’ll see for yourself that a vision board really can work for anyone!

by Maree Zollinger

Why is it that vision boards can have such an impact for some? Why do we at Harmony Arts care about them enough to teach children how to use them? The answer is simple, and Gandhi explained it beautifully when he said, “A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”

Before you let skepticism raise its megaphone, I’d like to share a story. Imagine a freshman on the women’s high school varsity soccer team. She’s clearly the smallest on the pitch and appears at first glance to be the weak link on the team. There are just minutes left on the clock and the opposing team is up 1-0. After back-to-back blocks from her team’s keeper, the petite freshman receives the ball and quickly dribbles up the field. Just after crossing midfield, she’s slide tackled from behind and the whistle blows. Normally the big, strong left back takes the kick from this far out, and the freshman lines up with the defense to try heading the ball into the net. This time, however, the coach yells from the sidelines for the tiny freshman to take the shot. She’s never shot the ball off a free kick from this far out. Can she even make it from here? She closes her eyes and imagines the ball soaring above the players’ heads, past the keeper’s outstretched arms, and into the net. She imagines the ching! of the ball pulling the net tight against the goal and the cheering of the spectators. Her mental practice is interrupted by frantic shouts from the team. “Hurry up! Shoot it! Shoot it! Hurry, hurry, hurry!” She looks at the scoreboard, only to see it counting down the final seconds of the match. 17, 16, 15… Without a second thought, she runs forward and takes the shot… and makes it. Her goal ties the game, requiring overtime to determine the winner. Her team, though previously seconds away from defeat, scores in overtime and ends the game victorious. This is the power of the mind. We are misled if we believe the imagination is a weakness. On the contrary, it can be one of our greatest strengths, but it must be trained. The best time to learn healthy habits is in childhood. Though change is possible, it’s remarkably easier to develop healthy habits and beliefs from the start than to try to correct them later. So, what does this have to do with vision boards? They are simply a tool to train the mind. Having a picture of one’s goal serves to stimulate the imagination so the individual’s mind, vesting it with an increased ability to brainstorm ways to accomplish that goal. The more fully one can become immersed in the imaginative experience, the more real it feels. The more real it feels, the more we empower ourselves to bring it to fruition. This helps us confidently address and work through doubt, criticism, fear, and other hurdles that might otherwise slow us down or even keep us from trying altogether. This is problem solving. Used in conjunction with other tools (such as music, journaling, and verbal affirmations) the vision board helps us access, exercise, and unleash the power of the mind in healthy, progressive ways–thus our reason for including vision boards and declarations in our princess and hero music camps. We are quick to recognize that children have an incredible ability toward imagination. There is no better time to hone the skill and create an abundance of possibilities. But why does a music studio care about harnessing the power of the mind? On the other hand, why teach music if one of our goals is to help children access, develop, and harness the power of their minds? The ability to hear music in one’s head generates the ability to see music notation in one’s head. This requires a great deal of imagination, down to intricate details. If we want to visualize a goal, we need to be able to see it down to the details. Music fosters creativity on many levels, but the ability to utilize the imagination to exercise change and improvement in one’s life is one of the greatest benefits of the arts. Music feeds imagination in a myriad of specific ways that can impact a person’s life, but that’s a topic for another time. The musical benefits are just the beginning. The purpose of teaching children to use vision boards is to teach them how to set and achieve their goals, but more than that, it’s about helping them develop healthy habits that will enable them to set realistic goals and achieve them without the hindrance of poor or false beliefs about themselves. Oftentimes we stand in the way of our own success, and the solution can be as simple as using tools that enlighten and empower us–tools that help us achieve our goals and ultimately become our best selves. We want to help our students learn to harness their mind – to be intentional about what they do, and learn that if they can imagine it, it can become real.  Stay tuned for more articles about how to create and use a Vision Board! -written by Maree Richardson Zollinger -edited by Nan Croney

Miss Erin is one of our amazing teachers at Harmony Arts and Music Academy! She has taught preschool, Musicgarten, Children’s Choir, and does all kinds of things for our studio. If you haven’t gotten to know her, you should! Read on:

Erin attended both Snow College and Utah State and graduated in Social Work. She loves working with children and teens. Erin is very perceptive of student needs and has a gift of adapting to meet them in the moment.

She has been teaching piano for over 10 years and continues to teach from her home. She has taught a variety of classes at Harmony Arts. She has a very friendly way of approaching young children, and our students love her enthusiasm and positive energy.

Erin has four rowdy boys and one sweet little girl and loves the positive influence that Musikgarten has on her family. Her favorite things usually involve her children, the outdoors, music, caramel or chocolate, and her very best friend (and husband), Trevor.

Erin, thank you for being part of our studio!

In this season of the Advent of the Christ Child’s birth, I have spent some time pondering the purpose of anticipation and hope.  I love this season, and the anticipation of Christmas and what that means for each of us! This anticipation is our active practice of hope in our Lord and Savior.  Thinking on this led me to also ponder the importance of hope, and of anticipation.

Anticipation is more than just waiting.  It is a hopeful waiting, holding in faith for a positive outcome.  We all need hope. There is scientific research that shows how important hope is in our neural development.  But we not only need hope physically, we need it mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually. Without hope, there is nothing to look forward to, nothing to live for.

This world, this life experience, can be a frightening place at times.  Many are living right now without hope. We cannot survive long-term without it.  So let that be motivation enough for us to reach out to as many of our human family as we can.  Reach out in service, in smiles, in lending a hand at the store, in “never suppress[ing] a generous thought.”¹  If it comes to mind and it uplifts, SAY IT.  DO IT. BE IT.

I am also pondering how to help our children have hope.  This of course involves so many different aspects, and must be a part of our own practice and way of life.  But thinking about this led me to remember what I had learned in one of my early childhood trainings about anticipation.  

There is a bouncing song we do in Toddler Class called “Macaroni.”  We sing the song while bouncing the children on our laps to the beat:

I have a little pony

His name is Macaroni.

He trots and trots and then he stops…. (here is where we wait in anticipation for their FAVORITE part)

My funny little pony,

Macaroooooooooni.  (adult dips the child back gently, and back up again)

Children LOVE this song so much!  After several repetitions (practicing hope), they know what to anticipate, and that gives them faith and hope in what will follow.  They giggle in delight as they wait – they can hardly do so – and when that moment comes, it is thoroughly experienced with every fiber of their being.  You see, children do this. They are 100% in the moment – they experience with ALL of their person: body, mind and spirit. They hear, feel, see and even smell the moment, and sometimes they even taste it.  They are sensory-motor learners.  

This is great news for us as parents!  Because our children are sensory-motor learners, all it takes to lay the foundation for future learning (like the ability to hope) is to move together through joyful experiences that lay that specific foundation.  Anticipation lays the neural foundation for hope. Falling backward and then being lifted up again lays the foundation for getting up when we fall, or fail for that matter.

What a wonderful gift – to help lay these foundations NOW, in such a way that does even more than laying the foundation – we get to experience them joyfully, and TOGETHER.  We laugh, we play, we bond together and we all have hope in the future of our children. And they can feel our hope in them. Every child deserves a parent who hopes in them personally.  

So, when you are enjoying experiences like these with your littles, know you are doing a whole lot more than having fun.  You are giving them an opportunity to anticipate – to experience and practice hope, and desire to have more of it in their lives.

We have much in this life to hope for, and this season of Advent reminds us so.  May the spirit of this hopeful season remain with you always.

1.  Camilla Kimball

Let’s be honest – so many kids, and adults, dislike performing. I can’t tell you how many adults have shared their childhood recital experiences with me, and how they were a thorn in their youth music experience. Folks, it does NOT have to be this way! Let me share some thoughts…

I struggled with performing too, but because I decided to get a music degree (100 years ago when I rode my dinosaur to college), I HAD to figure some things out if I wanted to succeed. Here’s some simple things I learned that helped me manage what our society calls PERFORMANCE ANXIETY.

Let me first say, I am not a natural at performing. It is not an area that was easy for me as a youth or as an adult. There were indeed some reasons for this, but that is for another discussion. Just know, I’m not speaking as someone who loved performing and would get a natural high from it.

First of all, IT’S JUST ENERGY. You know, that sick feeling you get in the pit of your stomach as you wait in anticipation for that “dreaded” moment. Whether it manifests as that, or sweaty hands, or shaky knees, or whatever, IT IS JUST ENERGY. Someone, somewhere, in the history of performance, mislabeled it “performance anxiety” or even worse, “stage fright.” I wish that had never happened, because it put a negative perspective on the whole experience that should never have been there.

Now I’m not a psychotherapist, physiologist, doctor or scientist, but I know through my own experience, that this ENERGY is necessary. It has something to do with how our body responds to perceived threats so that we have what we need to protect ourselves, but it also is the body’s response to risk taking. I’m not completely sure why, but I know that I NEED this extra bunch of ENERGY when I perform to help me hyper-focus, and to put excitement and energy into my playing. (This excitement is what you feel when you attend a live performance, and it is why the audience keeps going back – it’s awesome!)

The thing you need to know about this ENERGY, is that it can be channeled. This is one reason why preparation is important, so you can practice channeling that energy into focusing on what you want to communicate. How to do this is a whole other discussion in and of itself, but a simple way to start, is to focus on the expression. This also yields a most wonderful experience for not only the performer, but also for the audience, which brings us to what I feel should be the NUMBER ONE REASON for performing:

The reason I perform, and feel my students should perform, is primarily focused on SERVICE. Believe me, I know what the benefits are for the performer (also a topic for another discussion). But if our purpose for performing is not focused on the good we bring to the listener, then I believe we are performing for the wrong reason.

Music lifts and inspires. It communicates emotion. It is a healthy release. It can even open up lines of verbal communication when other attempts have failed. It is spiritual, and powerful, and beyond our full appreciation and understanding. I want to experience that when I perform, and I want others to experience it also. When you are focused on blessing the listener, pride, judgement, stress, shame and all those other nasty emotions have no room to survive.

There are some tools I’ve learned to help make this happen, but today, I just want my students to know two things: IT’S JUST ENERGY that YOU CAN USE IT TO MAKE YOUR PERFORMANCE BETTER! and, ALLOW THE THREE MINUTES YOU PERFORM TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR SOMEONE besides YOU. It is not about you, it is about bringing joy to others. If you do this, you will learn to love performing.