T H E
Vol. 1 Issue 3 | A PUBLICATION OF THE YOUNG MUSICIAN'S UNIVERSITY
YMU
COLLECTIVE KAYLEIGH CLARK YMU STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
YMU LAUNCHES VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE CENTER
MUSIC A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
M A Y
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YMU
GMG Academy of the Arts is now
The Young Musician's University Music Education Reimagined
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IN THIS ISSUE
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
We are so happy to be celebrating our 18th year of "Giving the Gift of Music!" Thank you for reading our third issue of The YMU Collective as we transition away from an email newsletter format into a digital magazine format! This publication highlights YMU Students, Staff, and other subjects of interest with contributions from our staff as well as YMU student writers. If you are a YMU student interested in contributing and being a part of the YMU Collective Team, please send me a message through the YMU Portal. I would love to speak with you and get your insight. Please know that you do not have to be a local student to participate, we will have virtual connect meetings to discuss upcoming events and content. I hope that you enjoy this publication of the YMU Collective!
Mrs. Gray Director, The Young Musician's University
9 YMU Student Happenings Recent and upcoming student performances
10 Kayleigh Clark YMU Student Spotlight
18 YMU Virtual Performance Center YMU Launches virtual performance platform
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YMU
S T N E V E G N I UPCOM
The Young Musician's University
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Mark your calendar! "Music Education Reimagined" May 16 - Recital Audition Video Deadline May 15 - Fastest Hands Competition Registration Begins May 31 - Fastest Hands Competition Registration Ends May 31 - Memorial Day (YMU Closed) June 5 - YMU Virtual Recital 2pm June 17 - YMU Piano Improvisation Virtual Workshop 6pm June 24 - YMU Virtual Drum Workshop 6pm June 28 - July 2 - YMU Summer Break (YMU Closed) July 5 - Classes Resume July 15 - Ms. Kierra's Birthday
S U IC M "
is life. That's why our hearts have beats."
UNKNOWN 5
YMU
The Young Musician's University
FASTEST HANDS COMPETITION Registration Deadline May 31, 2021
You have what it takes! 6
YMU
The Young Musician's University
FASTEST HANDS COMPETITION
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C ONGRATULATIONS, YOU CONGRATS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS FOR PASSING THEIR YMU END OF COURSE ASSESSMENTS! GABBY LLOYD - PIANO ESSENTIAS 2C JUSTIN ADAMS - PIANO ESSENTIALS 1B KASEY LLOYD - LITTLE MUSIC ESSENTIALS 1A KYLIE GRAY - LITTLE MUSIC ESSENTIALS 1A ZION MURPHY - PIANO ESSENTIALS 2C
CAELAN KING-MCNEIL - MAY 14TH ISAIAH GREEN - MAY 25TH *If your child's birthday is not listed, please contact the office so that we can add their DOB to their profile.
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E N T
H A P P S E N T I N U G D S
UM Y TYLIN WHITE Congratulations on auditioning to sing the National Anthem at the Columbia Fireflies Baseball Game! Tylin's performance will be on July 20, 2021!
JOSHUA AND JASPER ADAMS Congratulations on performing in your High School Orchestra Concert! Joshua plays the piano and his twin brother, Jasper, plays drums. They've been at YMU since the age of 4! It's great seeing them learn additional instruments and expand thier musical horizons!
JOSHUA AND JADEN CAMPBELL Congratulations to twin brothers, Joshua and Jaden Campbell, for performing in the "Press Play Reloaded: Percussion and World Music Concert" presented by the Blythewood High School Department of Fine Arts. Press the play button to watch this amazing concert! 9
THE YOUNG MUSICIAN'S UNIVERSITY
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Kayleigh Clark
CONGRATS!!
Our student spotlights recognize students who are exceptionally demonstrating growth and musically excelling. We are so grateful to be associated with these fantastic students and their supportive parents! Again Congratulations Kayleigh! Keep up the great work!
ABOUT KAYLEIGH Kayleigh is four years old and recently began piano lessons at The Young Musician's Academy. She loves going to see Ms. Kierra each week! Kayleigh enjoys the coloring activities in her music books, singing songs, and getting candy at the end of each lesson. She also loves Mozart Mouse, Beethoven Bear, and learning the musical ABCs. She is having a lot of fun learning her first instrument!
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My student spotlight nomination is Kayleigh Clark. She’s always so excited to come to class, she turns in all of her homework, and she’s very focused and engaged. I love her energy and willingness to try her best in class. She has great diligence for such a young age." ~ Kierra Gray, YMU Instructor
Music, A Universal Language. BY
KIERRA
GRAY,
YMU
INSTRUCTOR
I recently got the opportunity to do a virtual Songwriting Workshop for The People's Forum, a nonprofit organization in New York. I spent four amazing hours teaching people from all over the US and the world; people from India, Africa, Chile, and various parts of America. It was honestly so refreshing. In your day-to-day life, you see a lot of the same people with the same customs, but when you get the opportunity to be a part of something virtual, you get to experience various cultures, ideals, and even beautiful accents. I also loved seeing the vast age range. Many people seem to think that creating music is for the young, but this class had people in their teens and 20s all the way up to their 40s. We talked about the art of songwriting, song structure, and we also dug into some music production. It was amazing to see all of these different people come together to write about something that they believed in. Out of all the languages that could have been spoken, we all understood and connected with one. Music.
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The Relationship of
“What and How” By: Deven Jenkins, YMU Drum Instructor
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Often the most overlooked aspect in the development of young musicians is the “how”. This is especially true with drummers of all ages, young and old. Many historians believe that one of the earliest instruments created was the drum. This simple logic being whenever you strike an object it produces a sound. Knowing this information, many drummers become lost in the process of “what.” Their thought process of being a drummer is “what I do is hold this stick in my hand and hit this drum.” Then there are drummers whose process not only includes “what” but also “how.” Their thought process is “what I do is hold the stick and hit the drum” but also includes “how do I hold and how do I hit?” If you want to become great at anything you have to understand this relationship.
This relationship is what separates good from average and great from the good. If you ever feel like your progress has stalled as a musician take some time to evaluate your “how” and make the necessary adjustments. Remember this quote from legendary drum teacher Freddie Gruber,
"How you do what you do is almost important as what you do, without the how you diminish the what."
P R E S E N T S
PRESENTED BY: MR. GRAY, YMU PIANO INSTRUCTOR J U N E
1 7 T H
6 P M - 7 P M
O P E N
T O
Y M U
P I A N O
A G E S
S T U D E N T S
1 0 - 1 8
A hands-on workshop you won't want to miss!!
YMU
The Young Musician's University
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LITTLE music
Essentials Virtual Piano Class with an Award-Winning Curriculum designed for ages 4-6 Imaginative Live Instruction Custom Interactive Games
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presented by
YMU
VIRTUAL DRUM WORKSHOP for young drummers ages 10-18 PRESENTED BY: DEVEN JENKINS YMU INSTRUCTOR AND PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN
JUNE 24 6PM-7PM Register Now!
YMU
The Young Musician's University 15
YOUR Family's RAINY DAY SURVIVAL GUIDE By: Carrie Spencer
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When the weather is too bad to play outside, it’s important to have a game plan in order to keep everyone entertained and sane. After all, kids and grown-ups alike can start to get a little stir-crazy after a long day stuck indoors. Fortunately, The Young Musician's University has a few ideas for how you can make even the rainiest days fun for everyone:
Do Arts and Crafts
Have a Pajama Party If you’re going to be inside all day, why bother with outside clothes? Instead, have everyone get into their favorite pajamas and enjoy being cozy and comfy. This is the perfect opportunity for your little ones to bust out those matching footie pajamas, as well as for mom and dad to enjoy relaxing in some soft pants and a comfortable shirt. You can even host a pajama fashion show and photoshoot together where you all show off your chicest loungewear looks.
For example, you can help your children come up with costumes or build puppets that they can use to put on a short skit. You can even film them so that they can share their creation with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends!
Build an Indoor Obstacle Course Worried about your kids suddenly exploding from pent-up energy? Work together to come up with a fun, active indoor obstacle course. You can use hula hoops, painters’ tape, the furniture — whatever you have around the house — to make obstacles to hop from, climb up, leap through, and more. Not sure where to start? There are plenty of examples of these kinds of obstacle courses online that you can use as inspiration. You should also make sure to get your kids in on the planning stage. They might surprise you with some exciting ideas. Make Music Together The indoors can be the perfect place to make music together as a family. Consider building some DIY instruments out of items you have at home, such as this tissue box guitar project. Very small children will be perfectly happy to use a pot and a spoon to drum to their hearts’ content.
Arts and crafts are another excellent way to make good use of time stuck indoors. They give your children a chance to flex their creative muscles, build manual dexterity, and make something they can be proud to show off. Plus, you can use it as a launching point for imaginative play.
Perform a Science Experiment Finally, there are plenty of exciting and educational science experiments you can do with items you probably already have at home. For example, you can try the magic rainbow milk experiment. Pour a little bit of milk onto a shallow plate, then drop several different colors of food coloring all around the plate. Then, put some dish soap onto a cotton swab, and dip the swab into the milk.
The dish soap will react with the molecules in the milk (here’s a full explanation) creating swirling, expanding color patterns in the milk. It’s visually stimulating, allows your kids to play with color, and gives them an introductory lesson in chemical reactions. Plus, it’s just downright fun. Rainy days might leave your family feeling stir crazy, but these fun indoor activities can help. We hope they inspire you to come up with fun and educational ways to make the most of a gloomy day! Want to help your child develop a lifelong love of music? Get started by enrolling your child in The Young Musician's University today!
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YMU VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE CENTER The Young Musician's University is happy to announce the launch of our all-new YMU Virtual Performance Center! This virtual platform will give students and their families the ability to connect and share their experiences with one another no matter the distance. Attendees can see and talk with each other and sit next to family and friends during events. This platform will allow us to host more interactive and engaging events such as watch parties, movie nights, clinics, workshops, concerts, and recitals. The first virtual event will be the Spring Recital on June 5th at 2 pm.
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YMU SPRING RECITAL - JUNE 5TH AT 2 PM
YMU Alum Releases Joint Album/Novel
TYNÉ ANGELA FREEMAN Tyné Angela Freeman released a joint album/novel entitled The Sky Is Deeper Than The Sea. The album is available on digital streaming platforms, while the book is available for purchase on Amazon. Each song on the album corresponds to a chapter in the book. The narrative is set in the early 1900s, and the central character is a young woman who is migrating from Georgia to Harlem. The story follows her journey and explores key cultural phenomena of the era, including the Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance. This multimedia work brings together music and long-form literature in an innovative way. AMAZON
SPOTIFY
ITUNES
About Tyné is a vocalist, composer, and author. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2017 with a degree in music. Tyné has released five independent records and has performed across the U.S. and internationally. She was a performer in the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage Series, a YoungArts National Winner, and a finalist in the 2018 Independent Music Awards. Her recent adventures include participating in the International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music at Banff Centre, beginning studies at a conservatory in London, and publishing her debut novel. 19
YMU
The Young Musician's University
2003
2021
