The Power of the Pentatonic Scale

by Andrea King


The Pentatonic scale is a five-note scale that has been used in both modern and traditional music throughout the world. From Europe to Asia, Africa to Latin America, this 'simple' scale shows up in traditional, sacred, classical, and pop music. And while currently in the United States we may be more exposed to the seven-note heptatonic major scale (Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do) the use and recognizability of the pentatonic scale (Do Re Mi Sol La Do) is far more wide spread.


Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the mass recognition of this scale at the 2009 World Science Festival at the event, "Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus." It brings to mind that age old debate in music: nature or nurture. Is the propensity humans have toward this scale innate or something that is developed over time through exposure?


Neurological studies have found that children as young as infants (and possibly even in the womb!) can recognize and categorize pitch intervals and have a preference for consonant over dissonant intervals. In other words, even infants have been shown to prefer intervals found in the pentatonic scale over those not present in the scale. This points towards humans having some kind of pre-programed preference toward the pentatonic scale, however this does not rule out the strong influence of culture.


In Kindermusik, the first scale your child is exposed to is the pentatonic scale because of its fundamental nature. And, in accordance to the National Standards for Music Education written by the National Association for Music Education, this scale is introduced in a developmentally appropriate manner by introducing specific intervals in order (first Sol & Mi, then La,  then finally Re & Do). This is yet another example of how Kindermusik utilizes scientific research to implement developmentally appropriate teaching practices in a classroom setting.


Enjoy the video clip and feel free to sing along. See how well you recognize the scale!

History of the Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor

The First 30 Years
The Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor was started by Ken and Margo Tennesen in 1976.   The music store was then located  in Tarzana, California.   Even from the beginning the Pickin' Parlor played host to some of the greats like Bill Monroe and The Country Gentlemen.  After their five year run Ken decided to take retirement seriously and sold the store to his  new son-in-law and daughter  Frank and Tammy Javorsek.  In 1980 Frank and Tammy relocated the Pickin' Parlor to Canoga Park, California where they spent the next twenty years molding The Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor into the Bluegrass icon it is today.  The turn of the new millennium brought in the next owners Ric and Alicia Griffith (still in the same family in case your keeping track-Alicia is Tammy's little sister). Ric and Alicia found the current home for the Pickin' Parlor in Old Granada Hills, California.  The location is more than twice the size of the old one hosting monthly Jams, concerts, workshops, retail sales, and music lessons for more than three hundred students a week.

The story of this music store is not just about the Tennesen, Javorsek, and Griffith Family.   It is about the Bluegrass community.  The people are more to us than just customers- they are neighbors and friends.  Over the years we have seen children and adults grow into musicians and performers.  There has been more than one example of  kids coming in for lessons and, years later, bringing their kids in for lessons!  We've also taught whole families to play who have eventually gone on to form bands and even tour the local festival circuit .  The Bluegrass circle is more than just a bunch of people that are into a certain type of music-we feel that it is a family of families who truly love the music from our Heartland.  We are very proud of what we have grown to become  and we invite you to grow with us musically-  listening, teaching, and learning together.

The Next 30 Years

On October 1, 2006, the Blue Ridge Pickin Parlor was purchased by long time family friend and student, Judy Hersh. The transition has been very smooth as Judy has been the Blue Ridge bookkeeper since 1997. Her main purpose for purchasing the business is to keep the family tradition going and at the same time taking it to its fullest potential. The Blue Ridge Pickin’ Parlor has been and will continue to be a service to the community and a place for families to pass down the knowledge of traditional and other types of music to their children and to share with each other the passion of the music and the community atmosphere it promotes. The business continues to grow and thrive due to the Pickin' Parlor's dedicated staff, teachers, students and long time community involvement of everyone's love of music.


In July 2007 the Blue Ridge began offering Kindermusik classes for children ages newborn through 7 years old taught by Certified Kindermusik educators that included Shelby Fannan and Andrea King. Then in August 2008 we started a "Bluegrass School" headed by Randy Torno, long time friend of the Pickin' Parlor and now a part of our teaching staff. We offer beginning and intermediate "Jam School" and "Bluegrass Song School". During these tough economic times the Blueridge has tightened operations and closed the extra space. All group classes, Kindermusik, Bluegrass School and Pickin' Night are held in the main store.


The Blueridge family is an extended family that includes past and present members. Frank Javorsek still teaches and heads the repair shop. Tammy left as store manager in April 2008 and is greatly missed. Judy's stepdaughter Nichole became lesson manager during 2008 and has now gone on to other interests. Grandchildren Ashleigh, 12 and Hunter, 4 participate in store activities and love to help behind the counter. Stepson Conal clerked during the summer of 2007 and is now busy getting ready to graduate high school and join the Air Force in June 2009. We are very proud of stepson Bryan who served our great country in the Navy on the USS Carter Hall for 4 years and returned home in December 2008. You will also meet Judy's cousins whose children are students of the Blue Ridge and stars in our recital twice a year. Last but not least is her Dad, Jerry, 83 years young, who loves coming to concerts.


Check out our lesson program and calendar of events. There is always something happening at the Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor where we have been "Teaching People To Play Together Since 1976"


www.pickinparlor.com

Children Keep You On Your Toes

What would we do without children in our lives to teach us humility, patience, and of course, love.

Sanitizing Hands the Kindermusik Way!

by Andrea King, Kindermusik Educator

I was surfin' the KM website and found a new product I'm excited about... Hand Sanitizer! Ok, I admit it's a little weird to get excited about hand sanitizer, but this product just looks so great! It's especially designed for little hands and has a spray nozzel for quick, convenient use. And since it's made by Kindermusik, of course it's safe for children's use and environmentally friendly. I'm going to purchase a few to try out in preparation for the Fall.

expected to be available after 9/23/09

Kindermusik Healthy & Happy

Kindermusik International and the Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor are making pro-active changes to our daily classroom routines to help protect children from the spread of viruses like the H1N1 flu.

The Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor has joined Kindermusik International's Healthy & Happy Initiative which is created to help protect you and your children from the spread of virus's like the H1N1 flu and the seasonal flu. By collecting facts, checklists, and prevention tips from the Center for Disease Control, Kindermusik is making sure we are more prepared than ever to provide an environment much less likely to allow virus's spread.

Kindermusik understands and recognizes that children learn through play and interaction with materials, adults, other children, and their environment. During flu season, we will continue to provide an enriching learning environment AND minimize germ sharing at the same time by using these Guidelines to adjust and modify a few lesson components:

• We ALWAYS dissinfect toys and instruments at CDC standards to prevent transmission
• We encourage parents and children to wash their hands and/or use hand sanitizer at the start and end of each class (under parent supervision with younger children)
• Avoid touching hands, toys, or instruments to the face, mouth and nose

Your child's health and happiness is important to us. Please contact us so we can answer any further questions to make you feel at ease in coming to class with us.

Enjoy these cute videos about washing hands! Don't miss the hand washing song!

Preschool & Kindermusik - How Do you make it fit?

by Merri Williams

Wondering about how Kindermusik is going to fit into your preschooler’s life this year?

Transitioning to preschool can be made easier by maintaining some school year routines that have brought joy to your child in the past. Re-enrolling in Kindermusik this fall will actually help your child adjust to their new preschool schedule. Knowing they can count on spending time with you and music will add a sense of comfort and security to the new school experience. With life getting busier, and your child’s activities more independent in nature, Kindermusik is one place the two of you can spend time focused on each other. Loving your child is what it’s all about!

This is not only reassuring to your child, but it should also give you some peace of mind as well as to the “rightness” of continuing on with Kindermusik beyond age 3. Two studies actually indicate that not only does early musical training increase intelligence, but also that the amount of parental involvement can greatly affect the amount of improvement.

A study at Sam Houston State University stated that “parental time spent with a child is a more important factor in predicting intelligence test success than such factors as single parent households, poverty, low parental education levels, and ethnic minority status.” Also, “the experimental group children who were active participants in the Kindermusik classes and whose parents helped them with the home musical activities showed significant gains on the areas of the Stanford-Binet subtests that measured abstract reasoning abilities.”

In early 2005, Beth Frook of Little Hands Kindermusik in Clifton, Virginia, shared a granddaddy of a Foundations of Learning (FOLs) in her Kindermusik class. A local university had recently conducted a study on 3-and-5-year old children in her program titled “The Effects of Kindermusik on Behavioral Self-Regulation in Early Childhood.”

It proved what Beth—and many other Kindermusik Educators—already knew:

The longer you stay in Kindermusik, the better.

Specifically, the study showed:

• “Children currently enrolled in Kindermusik showed higher levels of self-control than those never enrolled and those previously enrolled. This suggests that in order for children to reap the benefit of increased self-control as a result of Kindermusik participation, it is important to have repeated and recent Kindermusik experiences and remain enrolled in the program.”



• “Four-year-old children who had been exposed to Kindermusik for longer periods of time are better off in terms of self-control—namely a child’s ability to plan, guide, and control their own behavior—than similar children with less Kindermusik history.”



• “These experiences, stop-go, high-low, fast-slow, short-long, and loud-soft, whereby children’s motor behavior is guided by the music, appear to be good exercise for young children’s emerging self-regulatory skills.”

Below, Beth shares her reaction to the study and the role that research plays in her Kindermusik classes.


Why do you think this research was important for your parents?


I think it adds impetus to a parent’s decision-making because it’s more than just saying, “Okay, we’ve done Kindermusik, let’s try something else.” It encourages a parent to go beyond the smorgasbord approach to children’s activities. A lot of times parents will say, “We’ll do art, then soccer, then swimming.” A study like this encourages families to look at the value of re-enrolling. Repetition is vital for a child’s learning, and currently in our culture, it’s not viewed that way.

Join us as we begin our new fall semester. Imagine That! classes (ages 3.5 – 4) will enjoy learning about “Grasshopper Park” while our Young Child class (ages 5 – 7) will begin exploring and learning the glockenspiel. For class days and times, please visit our Class Schedule.

Give your child the gift of a lifelong companion – the gift of music.