LAMA Spring Quarter Special Announced

 

If you are interested in taking the next step towards your career in music, and learning from the best music industry professionals, we encourage our readers to take advantage of a discount LAMA  is offering through the end of the year.

If you sign up for a degree program in Music Production or Music Performance by January 1st, LAMA will take 10% off first quarter admission and will waive the $100 application fee. Visit http://www.lama.edu for more information.

-LAMA Staff

Dave Martone – “Top 10 Things You Need to Be Awesome”

We are happy to introduce an exciting new learning opportunity called LAMA Online! LAMA has combined two technologies to deliver a fully interactive learning experience. In the video below, LAMA Online guitar instructor Dave Martone gives guitarists a preview of his course, “Top 10 Things You Need to Be Awesome” (we love that Parker Guitar he is playing as well).

In this course, Dave will take you through his Top 10 list of things that will teach you how to be awesome, including picking, legato, combo meal deal, expression, phrasing, fingerpicking, sweeping, hybrid picking, tapping, tone and more! You will be guided through all of these topics with multi-cam video, printed music including tabs, and backing tracks. Guitar Online Enrollment is now open for six guitar courses, beginning January 6th, 2013. Interested in taking Dave’s course? Register here.

How does LAMA Online work?

Each course features ten video lessons. At the end of each lesson you will be asked to submit a video of yourself performing the weekly assignment. You can video yourself as many times as you like, and when you record “the one,” upload it for the teacher to review. The teacher will then video himself/herself critiquing your performance. You will then receive an email in your inbox letting you know that there’s a personalized video from your teacher awaiting your review (the video exchange technology is included in the lessons). There are no programs to buy or download. It’s very easy to use: all you need is a computer with a camera and microphone.

-LAMA Staff

Music Notation App to Revolutionize Teaching?

What if music students could still learn how to write music by hand, but quickly turn that into computerized notation? The people at @ThinkMusicTech say this is very real thanks to a new app that we don’t have many details for just yet but more updates are coming soon. Here’s a preview — we’ll keep an eye on the developments but we are interested!

[http://youtu.be/66AEYRXiVnA]

-LAMA Staff

You Know You’re a Music Student When…

Summer Camp Students at LAMA College for Music Professions

1. You use scales to study music, not to make measurements in science class.

2. Instead of listening to your iPod in between classes you are performing the songs on your iPod DURING classes.

3. Rather than studying in the library you are recording in the studio.

4. Your teacher not only has a PHd but a Grammy as well!

5. While your friends are studying Protons you are studying ProTools!

So musician friends…what other ways do someone know they are a music student?

-LAMA Staff

LAMA Knowledge is Power!

LAMA students are familiar with piles like this one from Caylon Travis who says “one and a half years of school at LAMA”. But what you really get from LAMA is a lifetime of material from which to work. It’s up to you to put it to use once you’ve graduated. Also, network with your fellow classmates and teachers and never give up! Congrats again to all our recent grads:

-LAMA Staff

Music and the Brain

image via “brainchemist”

In a fascinating article “Music: It’s in your head, changing your brain” published earlier this week by CNN, the author discusses the connections between mind and music. It’s a long article so we’ve highlighted some of our favorite points here:

• When you play music you are exercising your brain in a unique way
• Music allows you to think in a way that uses cognitive facilities that have nothing to do with music
• Scientists are referring to the looping, sometimes annoying, sound segments that get stuck in your head as “ear worms”
• Bone flutes are connected to 40,000-80,000 years ago which gives you an idea that people were at least playing music back then
• Our ancestors long ago used music to help remember things, such as how to make food or directions to a water source
• Music is strongly related with the brain’s reward system
• It appears humans are the only primates that can move to a beat. Monkeys for example can’t tap their feet to songs, or recognize beats. Some birds however can mimic what they hear
• A music beat can help people with motor disorders such as Parkinson’s disease
• Victor Wooten and many musicians approach music as a language. He says “It’s rare that I ever meet a musician who doesn’t agree that music is a language. But it’s very rare to meet a musician that really treats it like one.”

-LAMA Staff

Choosing a Music School: Why Location Matters

Our staffers visit with a lot of prospective music students at LA Music Academy open houses and on-campus tours. It is amazing how little location factors into students’ decisions on what music school to attend (“consider the location” is the first tip in our recent blog post “How to Choose the Right Music School“). We can imagine how it happens — you get so focused on the intricacies of each school and the great faculty (Tariqh Akoni chairs the guitar dept at LAMA!? cool!) that you often forget that you are going to be living in a city for your entire time at college. Let’s examine why it is important to look into location:

WEATHER

There are music schools located all over the world with a million different climates so you want to make sure that the weather is conducive to your learning. Ask yourself where you grew up and live now, was it a cold climate or a hot climate? Did you like it? Have you ever lived in a different climate? It can be a huge adjustment. Witnessing your first snowstorm can be very scary to anybody! If you want sunshine year round, you might think about a school located in California. If you don’t mind carrying your instruments and books through the rain and snow, the east coast may be more up your alley. Go visit the schools and see if the weather suites you! Don’t get fooled if you visit an east coast school in Summer since the weather, most of the year, will not resemble anything like what you see.

PROXIMITY TO THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

If you wanted to go to a music school, wouldn’t you want to be, well, you know, sort of close to the entertainment industry? People often don’t take this into consideration. Why waste time in a state that has NO music industry? The great thing about going to a school like LAMA next to Los Angeles is you get to use your time in music college to network and meet all the people IN the industry who will help you get your first job after you graduate. Not to mention, sometimes you need to be close to all the action and get inspired by seeing other people who have made it and living the music dream. Trust me it helps!

COST OF LIVING

There is no doubt that certain cities are more expensive than others to live in. Weigh the options. Would you rather live in a city with cheaper rent or live in a city with a slightly higher premium but with the benefits of being closer to the music industry? Also, just because the music school you are looking at is in an expensive city, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be smart about spending your money and turn it into a cheap city. Make sure to check out our blog on “Living On The Cheap In LA” to get some ideas.

SAFETY

Rumor has it that Axl Rose’s lyrics to “Welcome To The Jungle” are about getting off the bus in Los Angeles for the first time. It can be scary heading to a big city if you haven’t before, so make sure you feel comfortable. If you don’t mind living in an urban environment with higher crime rates, you can look into schools right in the heart of a big city. However, if safety is a concern, you might like LAMA, which is located right outside LA, so you get the perks of safety and less traffic, but still just a short car or bus ride away to being in all the action.

These are just a few of the many reasons why checking out the location of the school should rank high when you are looking at different schools. Don’t forget as well, that each one of us is built differently, so you may or may not adapt well to certain environments and cities. You will know which city feels right to you. Trust your gut more than anything else!

-LAMA Staff

Why You Should Learn to Play Bass in Los Angeles

Bass Department Chair Jerry Watts discusses the advantages of learning to play bass at a school like LA Music Academy:

Drummers, Let Ralph Humphrey School You

Ralph Humphrey discusses his drum department at Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music:

-LAMA Staff

Jody Fisher to Co-Chair LA Music Academy Guitar Department

Fisher Joins Tariqh Akoni as Co-Chair of Internationally Recognized Guitar Program at LA Music Academy College of Music

PRESS RELEASE

Pasadena, CA – April 4, 2011 – Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music (www.lamusicacademy.edu) today announced jazz guitarist Jody Fisher’s promotion to co-chair the college’s guitar department, effective immediately. Since 2007, Fisher has taught multiple classes at the school including various Jazz courses, Fingerstyle (technique), Chord Melody and private lessons. Fisher has published over 25 instructional books, is a regular contributor to respected music industry magazines and has performed live and recorded with hundreds of artists – his latest record Impromptu received critical acclaim.

“I was so flattered when the school approached me about the position – the decision was a no-brainer. Becoming co-chair is a great way for me to deepen my commitment to the school and have an even greater impact on the students,” says Fisher. One of the most interesting aspects of the school he says “is that the student body is so internationally diverse. The contributions to the music world from our students and alumni have international impact.”

Fisher, who was born in South Bend, IN, studied at age 11 with his uncle, jazz guitarist Sid Fisher, who spent many years as an RCA recording artist. After moving to Los Angeles as a teenager, he continued to take lessons from top players in the area including Herb Ellis, John Collins and Louis Speigner. Prior to joining LA Music Academy, Fisher has held positions as Professor of Jazz and Studio Guitar at The University of Redlands, the University of La Verne and Idyllwild School of Music and Arts. Fisher has also served as Associate Director of the National Guitar Workshop. He continues to conduct seminars and clinics across the country. He is a “quick tip” video contributor to LA Music Academy’s YouTube channel and is expected to post within the school’s new music-centric blog, Get to the Music, which launches in March 2011.

For more information about Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music, including the guitar department, please visit http://www.lamusicacademy.edu, call 626-568-8850 or e-mail info@lamusicacademy.edu. LA Music Academy is located at 370 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105. Facebook: www.facebook.com/LAmusicacademy. Follow the school on Twitter: @LAmusicacademy. LA Music Academy is on YouTube: www.YouTube.com/LAmusicacademy.

About Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music

LA Music Academy College of Music in Pasadena, a suburb of Los Angeles, CA, is regarded as one of the premiere music schools in the world, for students who desire an intimate and friendly, yet serious and rigorous contemporary music education. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, the school offers A.A. degrees and diplomas in music production (music producer major or composing for visual media major) and music performance (drums, bass, guitar or vocals). Founded in 1996, the Academy has provided a solid musical foundation for more than 1,500 international and domestic students. The Academy offers a significant number of real world playing situations with professional musicians, not just peers, setting the school apart from other prestigious music institutions. LA Music Academy gives its students the skills necessary to apply their learning in a wide variety of professional situations in the music industry.

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