January 6th, 2010
January 3rd, 2010
New musical events and projects
I wanted to give you an update as to new music, guitar/mandolin lessons and musical recording adventures.
First, if you are one who is in the process of learning the guitar I have a holiday present for you. On my website I have made available all of my guitar & mandolin lesson charts. Visit: http://www.levinschwartz.com/lessons/ let me know what you think.
Second, a fan of The Amity Front (Rick DiDomenico) e-mailed me the other day saying, “I swear I heard one of your tunes on this show ‘Lawman’, the Steven Seagal TV show”. It turns out my tune “The Beat(nik)” was included in their soundtrack. Thanks Rick! Lawman
Third, my new band will be performing a whole bunch in the next month. I hope you can come on out and check out the tunes. Be well my friends and take good care of yourself and your loved ones!!
Much love,
L
Jan 3, 2010 – The Happy Valley Showdown.
Come and check out the valleys premier bands at the Elevens
Every Sunday for the month of January: tonight
Tidwell’s Treasure: http://www.myspace.com/tidwellstreasure
The Doomsday Ladies: http://www.myspace.com/237090350
Eddie Holly: http://www.myspace.com/eddieholly
King Falcon: http://www.myspace.com/drjesseandmrsmith
Levin Schwartz & The Long Goodbyes: http://www.levinschwartz.com
Easthampton Savings Band
Jan 6, 2010 Bishop Lounge. We will be hosting the open mic from 9:30 – 1:00. List goes out around 9:00 -show up early if you want to play- always a great time.
Jan 7, 2010 TOM PETTY TRIBUTE NIGHT at The Iron Horse Music Hall www.iheg.com Some of the Valley’s Best! List of performers and covers includes: Al Johnson – Angle Dream No. 4, Bob Hennessy & Carrie Olson – Alright For Now, Brian Akey – Learning To Fly, Rocky Roberts – The Best of Everything, The Grownup Noise – Stop Dragging My Heart Around, Fancy Trash – Don’t Fade On Me, Erik Alan – You’re So Bad, Ben Demerath – Wildflowers, Frank Manzi – Letting You Go, Mathew Carefully – It’s Good To Be King, Jim Armenti – Last Dance With Mary Jane, Ray Mason – Built To Last, National Carpet – You Wreck Me, Jose Ayerve – Don’t Come Around Here No More, Levin Schwartz – End of the Line, Swill Merchants – American Girl, Rusty Belle – Crawling Back To You, Orange Crush – You Don’t Know How It Feels, Group Deville – Listen To Her Heart, Golden Bloom – Breakdown, Rubwrongways Caravan of Stars, The Fawns – Here Comes My Girl, Ryan Quinn – Southern Accent, Thane Thomsen – Insider, Sitting Next To Brian – She’s A Woman In Love, Henning Ohlenbusch – The Waiting, Jason Bourgeois – I Need To Know, Group Encore – Handle With Care
Jan 12, 2010 Bishop Lounge. Levin Schwartz & Band will be hosting the open mic from 9:30 – 1:00. List goes out around 9:00 -show up early if you want to play- always a great time.
Jan 19, 2010 Bishop Lounge. Levin Schwartz & Band will be hosting the open mic from 9:30 – 1:00. List goes out around 9:00 -show up early if you want to play- always a great time.
Jan 26, 2010 Bishop Lounge. Levin Schwartz & Band will be hosting the open mic from 9:30 – 1:00. List goes out around 9:00 -show up early if you want to play- always a great time.
December 5th, 2009
Learning an instrument will hopefully become natural
Musical autonomy To become musically autonomous one needs to have absorbed music on a deep, sub-conscious level. A long time ago a teacher of mine said, “The real instrument is here,” as he pointed to his ear. I now understand what he meant. Once we get past the physicality of playing a stringed instrument (which is not to be underestimated, nor is it insurmountable) the language of music becomes our final goal. There are only 12 notes and a finite number of chords and progressions. We work at training the ear to hear the differences and to understand the relationships from one note/chord to the next. I associate it with learning another language. I have learned Portuguese and Spanish and traveled to countries that speak only these languages. While I was preparing for my journeys, taking lessons and practicing, I thought that I was going to be able to communicate. However, when I arrived in Brazil and the Dominican Republic I realized that I was unable to communicate. Confined to my limited vocabulary and my memorized “common sentences”, I had no way to think and interact on the spot. But what I had the hardest time with was hearing what people were saying. No one had taught me how to really listen: I could not tell where one word ended and another began. People either spoke too fast for me or the different regional dialects threw me off. But I gradually learned to hear the words, then the sentences, and then the ideas. I learned to improvise – to come up with new ways of speaking on the spot. These are the same things musicians are working on: developing a strong musical ear -understanding the underlying structure of melody, chords, and rhythm – all to be able to communicate with other musicians. Understanding all of this reduces dependence on written music and helps to make it become a more natural, spontaneous and autonomous activity.
December 3rd, 2009
Develop a Holistic Approach to Learning Music
At times I am amazed at the degree to which students can learn and grow through their musical pursuits. I have seen music open doors in students’ lives – socially, academically, psychologically, and professionally. Learning music can be a positive force in one’s life beyond the time spent actually playing an instrument because music has the power to engage the whole personality – talents, quirks, limitations, and all. In lessons I look for ways that music can be integrated more fully into students’ lives, such as identifying the best ways to incorporate practicing into one’s other commitments, learning how to channel one’s emotions and life experiences into music, helping find settings to play and practice music with other people, and relating the musical learning process to other areas of experiences like sports, careers, or languages.
November 7th, 2009
A little reflection is always good…
My recognition of the relationship of community and individual empowerment began with my undergraduate experiences. I created my Bachelor Degree with Independent Concentration 
(B.D.I.C.): Performing Arts and Community Development. My studies of the musicology of West African music and its manifestations in the Americas led me to the interrelationship of dance, music, art, history, religion, politics, sociology and cultural anthropology. In 1999 I was privileged to attend School for International Training’s (S.I.T) Culture, Development and Social Justice study abroad program in Fortaleza, Brazil. My intention was to study the music of Afro-Brazilians and the role music and song played in the preservation of cultural traditions. The more time I devoted to studying this, the clearer it became that the path of musical lineage led to the religion Condomble and the underlying multinational African religion Yourba. As a young, white American I found myself beyond my depths. I did not feel I had sufficient background or language proficiency to delve into this complex religion. While reevaluating my focus of study, I was introduced to a musical group that was based in much of the same musical heritage but used the music as a means to combat poverty and homelessness among the youth population in Salvador, Brazil. From 300-700 members, Ile Iye was one of the largest samba schools in Salvador. Their musical purpose was to prepare for Carnival; however, their true mission was as a community association that addressed issues of education, health care and depravation in a country that has significant poverty and a scarcity of social services. This experience was the true embodiment of my degree: performing arts as the catalysis for community and personal improvement. I came to an understanding that oral history and music is a way for communities to celebrate their history and maintain pride and strength, but music can serve a deeper purpose: to serve the needs of an impoverished people and to instigate reform. I realized that similar struggles exist here in the United States. After graduation I seized an opportunity to work as an Americorps* VISTA volunteer in western Massachusetts enabling me to activate my commitment to build community and to encourage individual empowerment.
October 14th, 2009
October 22, 2009 at The Iron Horse
Hi Y’all,
I hope life is treating you well.
My new band with: Jazer Giles (of Rusty Belle), Lyon Graulty & Josh Rellin (of The Amity Front), Jason Schwartz and Cris Trevethan (of The Primate Fiasco), just got invited to play at the Iron Horse on October 22nd, with my good friend Cris Jacobs and his band The Bridge.
A little history:
Cris was my freshman year roommate at Umass. We both lived in Butterfield Dorm, back in the day when it was cool ( …bands use to perform/party in the basement there … Lettuce, Gordon Stone Band, Percy Hill, Strangefolk, The Granola Funk Express, Steven Kellogg …. I am sure there were more that my hazy brain can not recall J) A very cool experience. Anyway, Cris and I have stayed in touch over the years and he has an awesome band. Check them out: www.thebridgemusic.com
It would be great to see you at the show. You can listen to my new tunes here: www.levinschwartz.com/sound/ There will for sure be more musical opportunities to come but it would be great if you can join us for this unique kick off event! For more information check out www.iheg.com
October 22nd, 2009
The Iron Horse Music Hall
Support for: The Bridge
Tix: Adv $8, door $10
Doors open at 9:00
Take care my friends.
L
August 23rd, 2009
Lesson Update
Hi All,
I hope this finds you well. I really cannot believe how fast this
summer has come and gone. Every year I feel like time moves just a
little bit quicker.
I have been at the Smith Masters in Social Work program, the first of
three, extremely intense, academic summer sessions. This summer
focused on the foundational theories that modern day therapists and
social workers use. I learned all sorts of theories for family
therapy, child therapy, individual psychology, policy, agency,
sociocultural postmodern identity, group therapy, etc… it has been a
roller coaster ride of thinking, not much sleeping, and a lot of
reading & writing. But in the end, and in part, this is what I am
supposed to be doing. This fall I will be working at Berkshire
Children & Families in Hadley, helping with permanency placement for
foster care to adoption, it should be very challenging and very
rewarding! Of course the other part of me is a musician, and I am
very interested to see how these two worlds will meld together.
I hope your music, or son’s/daughter’s music, is going well. I
enjoyed working with those of you I saw in July and am looking forward
to working with all of you again in the future. While I am still not
entirely sure of my schedule, I know generally what my obligations
will be in the fall and feel comfortable enough to write to you now.
There are a few changes that I want to inform you of: Schedule,
Location, Length, Frequency and Rate.
Schedule: Visit here to see this weeks teaching schedule/available time slots:
http://www.levinschwartz.com/lessons/calendar/
Location: I will be teaching at my house and traveling to your houses
to teach. My address is:
17 Number 6 rd, Leverett, MA 01054
Beginning September, 2009, I will be teaching primarily on Monday & Tuesday.
Frequency: In general, to accommodate the number of students whom
wish to continue taking lessons, we are going to have operate on an
every-other-week teaching schedule. If there is someone who is very
interested in taking lessons every week, contact me and we can see if
we can work it out.
Length: In general, I am only going to teach hour long lessons,
unless you are under 12, then I will teach 45 min lessons (no more 30
min lessons).
Rates: If I go to your house: $45/hour, if you are under 12 years
old: $40/45 min.
If you come to my house $40/hour, if you are under 12 years old: $35/45 min.
That about covers it, let me know if you have a preferred day(s) and
if you would prefer me to come to you or visa-versa. If you come to
leverett I should let you know that we have a dog and two cats (just
in case of allergies). Also, for those parents out there, you would
be totally welcome to hang out and read, use the internet, drink
coffee…whatever, while your child was having a lesson.
Take care all. I hope you had a wonderful summer.
Talk to you soon,
Levin
Tags: Guitar Lessons