Playback - Spring 2008 - (Page 12)

MUSIC IN THE NEWS Wanna Play Music? Week May 5–9, 2008 MuSIC MAkING WIll NoW hAVE ITS oWN WEEkloNG CElEBRATIoN AS NAMM’S Wanna Play? CAMPAIGN AMPlIFIES ITS EFFoRTS To CREATE MoRE PlAyERS NATIoNWIDE. NAMM is declaring May 5–9 Wanna Play Music? Week, creating national publicity for the industry and providing opportunities for Member retailers to tie into the campaign and promote their stores. CAMPAIgN HIgHLIgHTS WILL INCLUDE: • A national satellite media tour to promote the week and share new research/initiatives to help draw more consumers to their community music retailers. • A theme for each day of the week: Music for Moms, Music as Therapy, Bridging the Digital Gap and Heroes Behind the Music. • A Wanna Play Music? Web site for members of the media to get information, access testimonials and success stories, and encourage them to write about the week and/or each day’s specific theme. • A national amateur music-making contest on YouTube.com. The contest will focus on people who want to play a musical instrument but don’t think they have talent. Finalists will be selected by a celebrity panel and receive free lessons from their local music retailer. The winner will be the “most improved” finalist, showing that everyone can learn to play an instrument and follow their dream of making music. To learn more, contact Scott Robertson, NAMM’s director of marketing & communications, at scottr@namm.org. MuSIC IN ThE MEDIA SPoTlIGhT ShARING ThE loVE Hermes Music founder Alberto Kreimerman tapped the talent of two celebrity favorites for a gift-giving bonanza last December in San Antonio, Texas. Spurs’ starting point guard Tony Parker and his wife, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker, helped Kreimerman distribute 15,000 Christmas gifts during his annual Hermes Music Foundation Project of Love. Started in the late 1980s, the foundation donates more than 100,000 toys annually to underprivileged children in the United States and Mexico. NATuRE VS. NuRTuRE Perfect pitch is a learned skill, according to researchers at the University of San Diego (USD). Based on these studies, the Discovery Channel reported that the native language of an individual influences whether the speaker will have perfect pitch, which favors speakers of certain Asian languages. Tonal languages, such as Mandarin and Cantonese, require that individuals adjust tone and pitch to indicate the meaning of a word. The project’s lead researcher says it’s possible for all young children to learn perfect pitch while first developing their language skills. MusicoPhilia: Tales of Music and The Brain The author of the movie Awakenings, neurologist Oliver Sacks, reminds us that human beings are wired for music. In his new book, Musicophilia, Sacks examines the effect of music on the human brain and how lives can be transformed by simple harmonies. In addition to presenting a collection of clinical studies, Sacks describes how singing after injuring his leg while rock climbing allowed him to walk to safety. 12 PLAYback http://YouTube.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Playback - Spring 2008

Playback - Spring 2008 Contents From the President NAMM Events Music in the News Bringing Recreational Music Making to Iraq Commercial Retail Reps in the Field New Domestic Members International Washington Watch NAMM Foundation Music Notes Resources Viewpoint

Playback - Spring 2008

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