Musikgarten Maria Miller Music Studio

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Billings, MT
Musikgarten Maria Miller Music Studio

We teach music to children (from birth to age nine) using the internationally acclaimed Musikgarten (musikgarten website)

Musikgarten is the leader in early childhood music education - for children and teachers. We offer a complete multi-year educational program that helps infants, toddlers, and children develop a deep love of music and the ability to express it. We have wonderful CDs of the songs sung in class, age-appropriate instruments, and parent guidebooks. These home materials reinforce lessons and involve the whole family in the fun.

07/29/2024

We apologize for the inconvenience 💗
We are needing to take a sick day today - but never fear!
Today's classes will be rescheduled to August 12th.
Thank you for your understanding ✨
If you have any other questions, please feel free to message us or reach out at MariaMillerStudioMT.com

06/18/2024

☀️Hello Everyone! ☀️
Due to some personal health reasons, we are scooting our first day of summer classes to July 1st!

Which means.....THERES STILL TIME TO REGISTER!
Check out MariaMillerStudioMT.com for the full Summer schedule and registration info!

05/07/2024

🥛Happy Musical Monday!!🥛

Have you ever heard someone say "NEVER DRINK MILK BEFORE PERFORMING!"
Well... let's do a little exploring and answer the question once and for all: "is dairy bad for singing?"

First, let's think of the reasons some people avoid dairy before using their voice:
- It makes my throat feel "thick"
- I feel phlegmy afterwards
- lactose intolerance (duh)
- I feel sluggish afterwards
- Digestively speaking.... not great💩

However, some people may not experience these symptoms at all!🫨
For some, milk is their preferred hydration method - even over water and sports drinks!

🥛The St. Andrews University Research team found that beverages with a little sugar, fat or protein did a better job than water of keeping hydration in the body.
🥛Specifically, the study found that skim milk — which has a little fat, some protein, the sugar lactose and some sodium— did the best job of hydrating.
🥛The sodium in milk "acts like a sponge and holds onto water in the body and results in less urine produced".
Read more here! :https://www.ajc.com/pulse/why-water-isnt-the-best-liquid-when-youre-dehydrated/OJE2YHNLDGQVUZOBAKQS76AKAA/

The fact is that everyone’s body will react differently to dairy.....
So the answer to "is dairy bad for singing" is....

🐮🥛UP TO YOU!!🥛🐮

What works best is to take NOTICE of what happens in your throat and the rest of your body after the next dairy product you consume and decide if it is detrimental or beneficial to your individual vocal needs.

VocalabAU has this to say:
🐮"Often what people are actually feeling when they have diary products is not the increase of mucus, but the coating of milk lipids in the throat, which makes it FEEL like you have excess phlegm (...)
🐮"Consider if you swish milk around a glass, you will see the milk leaves a milky residue on the inside of the glass. This is an example of what happens on the inside of our throat when we drink milk or or other dairy products."

Try it out!
See what you notice about how you react to dairy.
-If you have no side effects, no problem! Go for that alfredo and ice cream before the show! 🧀
-If the side effects of consuming dairy outweighs the reward, consider a dairy-free option 😉

04/29/2024

👂Happy Musical Monday!👂

Let's talk safety and ears...

Many of us love our music LOUD! (me included) However, it's important to be aware of the potential risk factors of jamming out TOO loud.

The bad news is:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), self-reported hearing tests show that about one in seven U.S. teens and nearly one in four U.S. adults (ages 20 to 69) have features suggestive of NIHL (noise-induced hearing loss) in one or both ears in 2022.

The good news is:
NIHL is 100% preventable! 😄

But how do we know when loud is TOO loud?
Here is a little helpful guide:
- "Sound is measured in units called decibels.
- Sounds at or below 70 A-weighted decibels (dBA) are generally safe.
- A single very loud noise or long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 dBA can cause hearing loss.

Here are some examples of sounds and their dBA:
-🗣️Normal conversation: 60 to 70 dBA
-🌱Lawnmowers: 80 to 100 dBA
-🏍️Motorcycles and dirt bikes: 80 to 110 dBA
-🎧Music through headphones at maximum volume, sporting events, and concerts: 94 to 110 dBA
- 🚨Sirens from emergency vehicles: 110 to 129 dBA
- 🎆Fireworks displays: 140 to 160 dBA

It's inevitable that we will encounter loudness during our daily lives, whether it's loud cafeterias, sporting events, live music, industrial equipment, or just having our headphone volume cranked up a little too long - it's important to build good ear-safety habits when you know you may be in a potentially loud environments.

These safety habits can include:
- Wearing noise cancelling headphones for noisy situations
- Bringing a spare pair of ear plugs with you wherever you go
- Using a sound level meter app to measure the decibels of a space
- Covering your ears with your hands and putting distance between you and the sound source for sudden, loud noises

Want to learn more? Need some suggestions for ear plugs and/or headphones?
Here is a link to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders where much of our post is sourced from today:
👂 https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing-protectors #:~:text=Loud%20sounds%20can%20damage%20sensitive,for%20U.S.%20youth%20and%20adults.

👂Here is another great resource for children's hearing safety:
https://www.uhac.ca/teach-children-importance-hearing-protection/

04/22/2024

🏮Happy Musical Monday!🏮

"Nessun Dorma!"
Isn't it crazy to think that one of the most popular operas was written just around 100 years ago? And we still hear it in popular media to this day!

On April 25th, 1926, Giacomo Puccini's last opera, "Turandot"
(pronounced Turan-doe or Turan-dote...but that's a whole other thing 😄)
premiered in Milan, Italy - also premiering one of the most famous and recognizable arias in opera history, "Nessun Dorma" or "None Shall Sleep".

In the aria, brash Prince Calaf sings of how he will do what no other man has done by melting the heart of chilly Princess Turandot, a cruel leader who refuses to marry anyone but the man who can answer her three Sphinx-like riddles.

You may recognize it as performed by Luciano Pavarotti, Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson or maybe even Jeff Beck.

You might also recognize the aria from a scene in a movie such as Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation, Bend it Like Beckham, The Sum of All Fears, Recess: Schools Out and Season 1 of Daredevil. Also, I imagine quite a few car commercials 😆

Where have you heard "Nessun Dorma" before?
Not sure if you've heard it? Give it a listen here:
https://youtu.be/bqnkmxuJ9c4?si=SYRuzj03XHOjPx1s

04/16/2024

💗Happy Musical Monday!!!💗

This weather has us feeling like it's SUMMERTIME!☀️
and has us excited to start Summer Registration!!

Classes run for 6 weeks starting June 17th through July 31st - with different classes for different age ranges - from 6 months old to 7 years old!

Want more info about classes? Check out MariaMillerStudioMT.com for class listings, registration and more!

Let's have some fun this Summer!☀️

04/09/2024

✨Happy Musical (theater) Monday!✨

and Happy Birthday to Frank Ebb! (1928-2004)🎂

Here's why we love Frank Ebb:

- ✨"Give em' the Ol Razzle Dazzle"✨Frank Ebb was an incredible lyricist who is most known for his work and collaboration with composer John Kander. To this day, their musicals remain some of the most iconic in musical theater history - including "Cabaret" and "Chicago"

- If the musical you are listening to has sentimental, romantic melodies set to cynical and campy lyrics...you are probably listening to a Kander and Ebb musical...

- If the musical you are watching is one part social commentary and one part ✨razzle dazzle✨...you are probably watching a Kander and Ebb musical...

- He worked closely with some of the most legendary people in Musical Theater including Liza Minelli, Chita Rivera, and Bob Fosse to name a few.

- Kander and Ebb are also well known for writing one of Frank Sinatra's most iconic songs, "New York, New York" - the theme song they wrote while scoring Martin Scorsese's film, "New York, New York".

Want to learn more? Here's some further reading!
https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/a-history-of-kander-and-ebb-musicals-on-broadway

https://playbill.com/article/uncompromising-and-entertaining-50-years-of-kander-and-ebb-on-broadway-com-348513

04/02/2024

🫧Happy Musical Monday!!🫧

and Joyeux Poisson D'Avril!! 🐟

We are gonna take a quick swim across the pond to look at how April Fools Day is celebrated in France 💙🤍❤️No Joke!

Practical jokes are a staple of the season, and France has a "fishy" joke tradition that is especially unique.
Here's a guide to celebrating today "a la mode":

1. Acquire some paper "poisson" (French word for "fish") (store bought is fine) and some tape
2. Attach tape to the paper fish
3. Find an unsuspecting friend
4. Without being detected, stick the fish to your friends back
5. If you successfully sneak a fish onto your friend, you can proudly proclaim "Poisson D'Avril!! (roughly pronounced: Pwahsewn Dav-real!)
6. See how many fish you can sneak onto your friends, family, pets, co-workers etc. before the day is over!

Voila! Want to read more about this fun tradition? Here's a link to more info!
https://www.frenchlearner.com/culture/poisson-davril-april-fools-day-in-france/

03/26/2024

🎂Happy Musical Monday!🎂
And, Happy Birthday to Hungarian Composer, Béla Bartók! 🎉🎹

Here's some reasons why we like this guy so much:

⭐Béla Bartók began performing at the age of 11.

⭐His first compositions revealed the influence of other Romantic composers of the time, but most of his inspiration came from exploring folk music.
This included Hungarian folk and other rhythms he discovered while travelling through Transylvania.

⭐As one of the first composers to examine folk music while considering its historical and sociological implications, he helped to lay the foundations for the study of comparative musical folklore in Hungary -publishing several important book-length studies on Hungarian and Romanian folk music. These publications cemented him as a pioneer in the field of Ethnomusicology (the study of music in different cultures)

⭐By mixing folk elements and traditional techniques, Bartók achieved an original modern style that has had a great impact on 20th-century music. He became known for his compositions for piano (such as “Mikrokosmos”, 1926-27), for violin (“Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta”, 1936), and for orchestra (“Concerto for Orchestra”, 1943)

⭐Bartók firmly opposed the rise of Na**sm, its persecution of the Jews and the banning of their work. He was not a Jew, but said he was ready to become one just to protest against the persecution which was extending itself to Austria and Hungary.
“My main idea, which dominates me entirely, is the brotherhood of man
over and above all conflicts … This is why I am open to influence by any
fresh and healthy outside sources, be they Slovak, Romanian, Arabic or
other,” he said.

Want to read more about Bartók? Check out these articles!

https://www.unhcr.org/ceu/9429-bartok-bela.html

https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=musicalofferings

03/18/2024

🍀Happy Musical Monday!🍀
We hope you had a fun and safe St. Patrick's Day!

We are thankful to live in a state (specifically, a city that shares a state with Butte, MT) where Irish heritage and traditions fill our March with a magical view of classic and modern Irish traditions - one of theses traditions is music!
Irish traditional music is an incredibly rich tradition full of history, emotion and instruments that are definitively Irish.
🌈Some of these unique instruments include:

🍀Bodhrán
The bodhrán (pronounced bow-rawn) is the traditional Irish frame drum, made with goat or sheepskin

🍀Tin whistle
This is a staple instrument and Irish schoolchildren often learn to play it, similar to American schoolchildren learning the recorder

🍀Accordions
Also called the squeezebox, Irish musicians began using accordions in folk music in the early 20th century

🍀Uilleann pipes
These are the traditional Irish bagpipes, where the musician plays a small set of bellows to inflate the bag. Some uilleann pipes players even sing while playing

🍀Four-string tenor banjo
Originating with African slaves in the USA, returning emigrants brought the banjo to Irish music

🍀Harp
The harp symbol of Ireland is based on a harp design known as a Brian Boru Harp. Brian Boru is known as the last High King of Ireland and was known as a fine harp player. He was also a strong supporter and patron of the arts in Ireland

🍀Fiddle
Similar to the violin, the fiddle became popular in the 19th and 20th centuries

🍀Lilting
A traditional form of Gaelic singing, lilting uses rhythmic tones and sounds to create lively melodies

Did you get to hear any of these instruments this weekend? 🍀🌈⭐
To learn more, check out these articles!
https://www.trafalgar.com/real-word/irish-music/
https://epicchq.com/story/how-the-harp-became-the-symbol-of-ireland/

https://www.trafalgar.com/real-word/irish-music/

03/05/2024

🌼Happy Musical Monday! 🌼
and Happy Spring Break!
Just a reminder that there are no classes at the Studio this week, but we will be back next Monday!

Have a fun, safe and happy Spring Break!

Questions/concerns?
Feel free to contact us at [email protected]🌼

02/26/2024

🫧Happy Musical Monday!!🫧

If you've spent much time around a newborn (or a toddler with a straw and chocolate milk) you know they love blowing bubbles!

If you've spent much time around a toddler with a whistle or kazoo (or an unsupervised grade school class full of recorders) you know how much they love making noise with wind instruments!

Excitingly, this simple skill of "blowing" is incredibly beneficial to our growth and development in our early years.

For example:
- it strengthens muscles associated with speaking and expression
- it strengthens muscles that help us breathe and expands lung capacity
- Gives us awareness of how many ways we can use breath to move things, make an endless amount of sounds, and express ourselves.
- With the addition of a wind instrument, it gives us practice using our fine motor skills and coordination between breath and gestures

Check out this article from Medical News Today for more info!
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/45889 #1

Alsooooooo........
Here's a great recipe for baby-safe bubbles from the Colorado Department of Education - get playing!
https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/bubblesforbabies

Address

1840 Grand Avenue
Billings, MT
59102

Website

http://www.MariaMillerStudioMT.com/

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