Learning The Art of Improv

One highlight of the Yamaha Junior Original Concert (JOC) Jamboree held in Phoenix, AZ in early April was a seminar for teachers offered by Yamaha music specialist Linda Martinez, an in-demand Yamaha artist who has written for Destiny’s Child and is currently at work on an upcoming Steven Spielberg-produced television series. She led approximately 20 Yamaha Music Education System teachers in a tour through the improvisational possibilities they could realize from the new Clavinova CVP200 series digital pianos. She addressed chord progressions, motifs, critique playing, harmonic progressions, and other elements of improv – one facet of the on-stage JOC process that students often find especially challenging.

“Improvisation is an incredibly nerve-wracking experience,” Martinez explains. “The students have to improvise based on a few notes. I wanted to recreate that for the teachers, so that they can be in their students’ shoes. A lot of people didn’t know what it was like to be put on the spot like that, and they didn’t realize improvisation was something that could be taught.”
“Having the weighted action and the real piano sound helped us recreate a stage performance as much as possible,” she adds.

The teachers used the Clavinova digital pianos during the seminar, making it an interactive and hands-on experience. “Improvisation isn’t this big mystery, but a handful of basic tools that can help them and their students get through a piece from beginning to end and make it seem like magic,” she says.

Of course, it wouldn’t have been a JOC event without a series of performances by talented young composers/artists from the Yamaha Music Education System. The weekend culminated with a Jamboree Concert, featuring performances by 30 YMES students.

God Bless America Special Edition Raises Funds For Young 9/11 Victims

The stirring patriotic song God Bless America, first published in 1938 by composer Irving Berlin, is a much-beloved American anthem. Since Berlin’s tune began generating revenue, he established The God Bless America Fund to benefit American youth organizations, notably the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York and the Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts of America, in which Berlin and his wife were personally involved. The God Bless America Fund has distributed more than $6,000,000 to date.

Now, two music industry giants – Yamaha Corporation of America and Hal Leonard Corporation – have collaborated to introduce a new God Bless America Special Edition sheet music and disk package to benefit children affected by the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. For every package sold, each company will donate 50¢ to the September 11 Fund.

This Special Edition custom package will be offered to customers who purchase an instrument in the Clavinova CVP200 series. The unique sheet music and music software package features several performances to showcase the multi-faceted capabilities of Clavinova CVPs. An XG master performance (piano with full orchestra and lyrics); a Follow Lights Plus Score™ version; a You Are The Artist™ (lead piano with orchestral accompaniment) song; a CueTIME™ rendition (solo piano with accompanying orchestra), and more are included. This package follows three previously successful Yamaha Special Editions: My Heart Will Go On (Titanic), The Christmas Song, and White Christmas.

Yamaha specialists Phillip Keveren and Craig Knudsen developed the concept together. “It’s a great way to get kids involved,” comments Keveren. “After 9/11, we realized that an entire generation of young people were unfamiliar with this song – some even think it’s a new tune!”

Brad Smith, senior marketing manager at Hal Leonard, adds, “This past fall, people were looking for patriotic music, and the Yamaha MusicSoft® catalog only had a few patriotic tunes included on special collections of popular music. We’re pleased to offer this package to benefit the children affected by 9/11.”

Since its release at the January NAMM show, Yamaha and Hal Leonard have contributed $5,000 of the proceeds from the God Bless America Special Edition package to children affected by the September 11 tragedy. Jim Levesque, Yamaha Clavinova Marketing Manager, says, “This package is a great tool for both salespeople and teachers because potential customers and piano students can experience all the wonderful features of the Clavinova CVP200 series while raising funds for a worthy cause.”