Lois Svard

Author: Lois Svard

  • Executive functions: Why study music, part III

    Most of us have more to do than time to do it.  We juggle family and job responsibilities, friends, household management, social media, errands, plus a great deal more.  And for those of us who are musicians, we’re always trying to find practice time at our instrument.   How well we’re able to manage the…

  • Music and math: Why study music, part II

    Math teachers have often noticed that students who are good in math have studied, or are studying, music.  In the past, it was assumed that the kind of discipline necessary to excel in playing a musical instrument would extend to other academic areas, leading to excellence in those areas as well.  But some researchers looked at the math-music…

  • Why study music, part I

    Albert Einstein, at or near the top of anyone’s list of “greatest scientists of the twentieth century,” revolutionized science with his theory of relativity.  And what did he have to say about this discovery? The theory of relativity occurred to me by intuition, and music is the driving force behind this intuition.  My parents had…

  • A holiday gift that lasts a lifetime

    A friend of mine recently asked me to suggest some piano etudes he could give his son for Christmas – something to help improve technique.  His son is an excellent musician – with an advanced degree in oboe from a major music school.  He has recently bought a piano and now wants to become a better…

  • At least we still have music

    In the midst of the depression and hopelessness that engulf millions of us in America today, I feel compelled to write about something that inspires hope – a program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center called MusiCorps. But allow me a couple of paragraphs to get there. Today the unthinkable has happened and Americans have…

  • Compulsion for music – part II

    Throughout her career, Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie has been an intrepid trailblazer.  She is the most well-known percussionist in the world and the first person in musical history to create a career as a full-time percussionist (a field traditionally dominated by men).   At recent count, over 170 percussion works have been written for her, she was…