ABOUT ME

ABOUT ME

I should have done this first! But I was so involved about my book, I started with it; anyway, it is better late than never!

I am Surangika Senanayake (nee  Palihakkara), born in Sri Lanka and now living in New Zealand. I have a sister and a brother, both living in Sri Lanka, which is a beautiful island in the Indian Ocean; voted as the No.1 tourist destination for 2013 by Lonely Planet and you will see lots of beautiful images and articles about Sri Lanka in National Geographic.

I received my primary education at Ferguson High School in Ratnapura- a city very famous for precious stones such as amethists, garnets, rubies and sapphires. Also, the world's first woman prime minister, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranayake was a student at Ferguson High School. This is where I started learning music; I was only 6.

Here are some images.

The school of my childhood; loaded with memories.

The emblem of the school

Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranayake.

 The world's first woman prime minister.

I am still in touch with some of the friends, thanks to Facebook.

Now let me tell a bit about my secondary education. It was at Ladies' College, Colombo. I qualified in music while studying here. I have lots of memories about crazy things we did then, as any teenager would. But we had tough exams too. I am very much in touch with my friends from Ladies' College. It was from here that I entered university to obtain a B.Sc degree.

This is a snap of the back play ground of the school;  I don't have a front view; Shall get one later.

And this is the emblem.

 After graduation, I worked for a little while; met my future husband; got married and went to live in Oman for 15 years where we started a family. Our daughter and son were born in Sri Lanka but grew up in Oman. They went to the British School there. 

I was a stay-at -home mum and my friends asked me to teach music. So, that's how it all began!

Then we emigrated to New Zealand, and after many years, I followed a course in proofreading and editing with New Zealand Institute of Business Studies. This gave me the confidence to write a book. 

And that's how Help Me Learn Music was born!

SPECIAL DATES

HALLOWEEN

Well, I thought we will not talk about music today. Let's have something seasonal, something exciting and ... something frightening!

It all began like this:

Halloween is celebrated on the 31st of October; mostly in North America and Western Europe.It is the shortened word for "All Hallows' Evening" or All Saints' Feast. originally, it was dedicated for the dead.

Some believe that it has Christian roots while some others believe that it originated from Celtic harvest festivals known as Samhain (pronounced as "sah-win")from Gaelic culture, with pagan roots. Samhain means "summer's end".

Just as much as it was the end of summer, it was the beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year. It was believed that this was the time that spirits and fairies visited our world as well as souls of the dead visited their homes.During festivity mealtimes, a place at the dinner table was set for the visiting souls. The spirits and the fairies also could cause harm and therefore, bon fires were lit to ward-off them. In households, many rituals were performed to bless the gathering for a better future.The blessings were mostly focused on marriage an death.

Kingmys Halloween Horse Head Mask

click the link for magic!

In Ireland, Scotland, Mann and Wales, halloween is celebrated by mumming and guising. Mumming is a traditional masked mime and guising, as you would have guessed, is disguising. Some would dress in costumes to disguise themselves from the spirits and fairies and some would wear white robes and horse- head masks. When they gave money, or food to these people,they would bless the household. They believed that they got the blessings of "Muck Olla" who was a Druid priest. The guisers played pranks in Ireland and Scottish highlands and later on spread to England. Then it would have become " trick or treat?"!

A witch

I am not very artistic but I try!

It's not very nice, so I'll keep it small.

The guisers  carried lanterns, traditionally made out of turnip-Brassica rapa, belonging to the family Cruciferae- and mangel wurzels, also known as mangolds-Beta vulgaris; subsp: crass; family Chenopadiaceae. These were often carved with faces of witches, zombies etc to represent the spirits. In the present day, squash and pumpkin is used for carved lanterns.

Now, I am not going to put any image of those because everybody knows them and have seen them!

Halloween habits have more of a Christian influence today. It falls on the evening before the All Saints' Day, which is the 1st of November and All Souls' Day which is the 2nd of November.These three days are collectively known as Halloween. The full name of 31st of October according to them is All Hallows' Eve. It is also called Hallowmas and is a time for honouring the saints and souls of the dead who has not yet reached the heaven. All Saints' Day was originally introduced in year 609 but was not celebrated until the 13th May 835. Later it was switched over to 1st of November.

Towards the end of the 12th century, these days were known as holy days of obligation;and had a tradition of ringing bells for souls in purgatory. And people called criers, dressed in black, paraded the streets ringing bells of mournful sounds which was a call to all good Christians to remember the poor souls. People made soul cakes for christened souls which is taken as the start of "trick or treat". Children went from house to house collecting soul cakes for the souls in purgatory. In the ancient times the Christians believed that the souls who did not enter heaven roamed the earth until All Saints' Day. All Hallows' Eve gave them the chance to take revenge from their enemies before these souls moved on to the next world. Souls taking revenge was the idea that people disguised themselves in costume so they were not identified. Kingsley Palmer who is an Academic folklorist suggests that carved pumpkin lanterns represented the souls of the dead. During the medieval time, in Europe, people made fires to mislead these souls away from the good Christians. In England and Ireland, people lit "soul lights"- candles in every room to guide the souls to their homes on earth.

In the 19th century in some parts of England, Christians engaged in another practice. Families gathered on hills on the Halloween evening; one would have a burning bunch of straw on a pitchfork and others would kneel round him praying for the dead. This was done until the flames went out. However, this practice went out of popularity in England with Guy Fawkes Night, celebrated on the 5th of November. This was started in 1605.

Still there are interesting practices among Christians in different countries during Halloween. Scottish retained the practice of Halloween as their church (kirk) said that it was an important event to the cycle of life. In France, the  Christians would pray at the graves of the dead on All Hallows' Eve leaving bowls of milk by the grave. In Italy, family members left meals by the grave, before going to church. The Spanish make a special pastry called "bones of the holy" and leave them for the dead in the graveyard, which is a practice continued even today.

Immigrants from Ireland and Scotland started it in the USA around the 19th century. But by the 20th century, it became so popular that Halloween is celebrated all across USA irrespective of cultures.

Lil Characters Unisex baby infant Tiger Costume

click for a treat!

EAT, PRAY,LOVE...MUSIC! Parent-Child Partnership

Partnership with your child is an effective way of developing his / her education and general outlook about life. Research show that getting involved with your child's education contribute towards his / her performance in school. Parents do help the pre-schoolers and the primary school children with their homework and understanding of the subjects which leads to confidence and  good interaction with others bringing positive results in the child's school life. A parent's involvement is of utmost importance when it comes to giving a cultural back ground, especially if the child is growing up in a society whose culture and norms are different to that of the parents. Most parents are able to help with school work and they do with much enthusiasm. But when it is a subject like music, not many are able to help a child at home, just like they would with their regular homework.

There are many ways that a parent can overcome this problem:

Firstly, I feel that joining a parent- child group class for music is a productive way; it helps the parent and the child to be comfortable with others, through the interactions and activities. You can clear your doubts and also learn what goes into learning music. It builds up the child's confidence and social skills which are vital to a happy life, in general, not to mention the academic success, later on. You would be able to help the child at home, with what he / she learned in the class, thereby boosting the confidence and enthusiasm of the child before his / her next lesson. This is most important especially with music learning, as the lessons are usually once a week and lasts mostly for a half hour. Add holidays and a few sick days to it, and all the music is forgotten and enthusiasm is lost! It only makes the child drop out in frustration; some develop a 'hatred' towards learning music! 

Secondly, there are many books which are simple and straightforward; these are especially good for parents who do not have a music knowledge. This sort of a book is very useful for a parent who cannot find the time to join a group class or has missed it due to sickness or being on holiday. It is always wonderful and rewarding to tuck away in your favourite corner with your child and a book, explaining the subject. Some children might just like to sit with mum or dad at home and get help from them, with the aid of a book. We must remember that one size does not fit all!

Here is a good example of such a book.

Help Me Learn Music

click the link below

http://amzn.to/190ux54

 

and for the ebook

click the link below

http://amzn.to/16IL5i9

You will not be disappointed.

EAT, PRAY,LOVE...MUSIC! When To Start?

When to Start? Earlier the better! From the birth or even before! Whether you are in the Western Europe or in an Eastern country, the basic principles remain the same for music. Of course you could start listening to Mozart or Ravi Shankar from the time you conceived, in the end what is important is that the child appreciates music. We all do appreciate pop music but it takes a bit of an effort to appreciate classical music. 

Probably because, 

classical pieces are long; big structures, and melodies aren't simple

most of the time don't have words 

and they are not often out there for you to get used to it

difficult to remember the tunes- so can't hum or play by ear!

But pop music is almost the opposite to all of those above.
they are short and melodies are relatively simple.
have words
they are everywhere
most of the time can remember the words
can hum and most of them can be played by ear.

In other words, you don't have to introduce your child to pop music. But certainly have to do it for classical music.

Listen to these videos. You and your kids could sit together and enjoy this type of classical music any time. In fact that's how I introduced classical music to my kids- purely by accident! Just got a DVD with animations and it had classical music; and they loved it.

Then another day I got them this!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

    And they never stopped listening to Chopin. In fact, they wanted to name our dog that and I prohibited it!

(Well, there is a Beethoven.)

Help Me Learn Music-About My Book

About the book ctd. 

A parent show thinks that his /her child needs some help at home with the music lessons, would benefit by this book. A parent / guardian can help the child to learn the names of the spaces and lines of each clef to the types of notes and the counting that goes with them etc. Of course, there is a chance that the person who is helping, will end up learning music... it's like a self-study course!

The main aspect of this book is that anyone can read and understand it. Its layout is simple, images are large and the general disposition is welcoming. You feel like buying the book when you see it in the shelves or in a website.

The second important point is that it applies to a variety of musical instruments: all keyboards (pianos included) and most string and wind instruments.

And last but least, it encourages composing from a very early stage. Often at exam levels when there is composition to be done, students ask " What am I going to compose?", " I don't even know how to start!", etc. Therefore, I think, at least this will give a start - at least to get the fear or the doubt (or both) out of the pupil's mind. Hopefully, there will be many lady composers in the future.

In a competitive world, help your child to add another skill to his/ her CV later. You both will enjoy the benefits.

Help Me Learn Music- What Is My Book About?

So, what is my book about?
It's about learning music of course! That's what I've been trying to get  at! It is for children between 5 and 7 years, who are already learning music. Music lessons are not done daily; at their best, they are once a week for about a half hour or less.Well, it is pretty obvious that a child can forget- even an older child. And if it is a teenager who is learning for the first time, he/she will forget even more! Yes, before the next lesson what if the student is sick...and what about the school holidays? So, I thought I must write a book for young beginners, whose parents or the guardians who don't have a  knowledge of music.

It is straightforward and simple, with a cheerful nature that can be easily understood by such an adult, so he/ she can help the child, just like helping with regular school homework. I firmly believe that this will help the young music learner to look forward to the next lesson and enjoy a long music education without dropping out in frustration. it is good news for the teacher too.

This is what it looks like.

I think it looks pretty!

Help With Music- Introduction crd.

E, P, L...MUSIC! ctd.

We all enjoy watching musicians performing. it looks fun! Playing a musical instrument is fun but certainly it takes a lot of determination, focus, commitment etc. No musician will deny that it is a lot of hard work. It's like having a beautiful body! The boring part is the daily exercise and eating healthy food. Playing beautiful music is also similar- you have to do the boring bits like scales, arpeggios, sight-reading etc., apart from practicing the real piece which is not entertainment for you or everybody else within the hearing range. The pleasure of playing comes after the pain of learning it well.

I'll write the next paragraph in a different colour, just to break the monotony!

In other words, one needs to be a lot disciplined to learn a musical instrument. Not only it is like learning another language, but it has a way of expressing yourself in a way that is alien to most! If you are learning the piano, you have to be even more disciplined because, there is only one favourite spot to play it, and in one favourite position- where the piano is and sitting with a straight back! All other instruments can be easily  or quite easily taken about and can play standing or sitting- if is a flute or a violin or any other smaller instrument, you can play it, while walking even!

You would have enjoyed listening to this and also noticed the pianist sitting straight!

Finally, the great feeling of satisfaction of having able to play whatever you have been learning, gives a great sense of pride. That is when you truly enjoy playing music.

Help With Music-Introduction

EAT, PRAY, LOVE...

MUSIC! In the first place, why must one learn music at all? If you hear or can listen to nice music and sing in the bathroom, is should do to live a happy life. But no. Well, for one thing, studies have shown that learning to play a musical instrument makes you smarter. Scientific experiments show that the children who learn a musical instrument, do better in school than those who don't- generally speaking. It certainly helps develop a child's reading ability and IQ, apart from stimulating the development of certain areas of the brain. It also helps sharpen memory, alertness and to keep an active mind even as an adult. And of course playing music is the best stress reliever.

Listening to this relieves my stress! 

But if you don't like this, I am sure, you will appreciate the one below!