Some face reduced financial income and find they need to downsize and move into smaller dwellings. For musicians, this can be especially difficult if they must give up their larger instruments like the piano and forgo the joy that comes with making music. These changes often lead to depression.

also enjoyed playing the xylophone, especially when I played along with her. ​The grandkids can join in too. Including the entire family in a musical activity makes wonderful memories for everyone.

​Retirement homes also need activities to keep the residents engaged, as do senior community centers. A set of simple glockenspiel xylophones can give the seniors a productive, bonding musical activity to work on together, and daily progression in music can help in many ways.

One of the greatest delights of providing quality instruments to families around the country is hearing the stories of how the glockenspiel xylophones are changing lives for the better. Recently, an Amazon customer posted a five star review where she stated:

“You might think this is an unusual Glockenspiel purchase but I actually got it to help my young niece learn to read. She is 8 but reading at a K-1 level.

I put letters on the Glockenspiel keys. Then I show her a short word written on a 3X5 card, ask her to read the word (with assistance as needed), turn the card over and ask her use the wooden mallet to spell out the word by hitting each "letter" key on the Glockenspiel. She likes the sound and action and I can keep her attention much longer than I can when I just give her a short story or list of words to read.”

This wonderful aunt is combining visual, auditory and kinesthetic activities to help her niece learn to read. Students can gain knowledge of colors, letters, math patterns and more with just a simple eight note glockenspiel xylophone.
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You can give it a try! If you look at the words cat, hat and mat, you see they have the same three letter 

​pattern with only the first letter of each word being different. By putting a row of letters such as a,c,e,h,m,o,r,t  on Upado Unlimited Glockenspiel Xylophone keys – one letter per note – word patterns can be played as music patterns. Musically, cat, hat and mat will all the sound the same except for the first note, just like the words sound the same except for the first letter.

When the word “met” is added to the mix, the student can compare “mat” and “met” by playing the keys on the instrument and discover that with these two words, the beginning and end sound the same, but the middle letter and note have a different sound.

Auditory input with the kinesthetic movement of the mallets can reinforce visual reading ability.

Learning to read can be very frustrating for some students, and the joy that comes from making music can be rewarding for both the child and the teacher.

How are you using your Upado Unlimited Glockenspiel Xylophone?

Those of us who are raising families know we are rich. We are rich in love and laughter and in memories and opportunities. We, as parents, are always looking for ways to invest in this great family treasure. Sharing music with our families allows us to bring joy and creativity to our home in abundant ways.
Music benefits the whole family. For the youngest child, the early years are crucial for developing hand-eye coordination, language skills and mental processes. Studies have shown that music helps in all of these areas. For older students, learning to play an instrument teaches patience, self-discipline and delayed gratification. Music is the most fun when played with others. In group settings, musicians learn to connect and work together as a team. A family that has a musically rich environment at home can experience these many advantages.
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How to begin?

The ancient Greeks consider music to be a math subject dealing with number relationship, ratios and fractions, and they placed music on the same level as geometry, astronomy and arithmetic. Music was considered the science of sound and harmony. Today, our schools focus on math, science and language while time for “less important” subjects such as music and art is reduced.

College entrance exams like the SAT and ACT test math and language skills. Interestingly, the College Entrance Examination Board found that students involved in music programs scored 107 points higher on the SAT tests than students who did not participate. Perhaps we should borrow the idea from the ancient Greeks that a music class is a math class.
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How are music and math connected?

One, Two Buckle My Shoe’
One, two buckle my shoe
Three, four knock on the door
Five, six pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight
Nine, ten a big fat hen…..
 
Monkeys on the Bed
Five Little monkeys jumping on the bed.
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed.”
Four little monkeys jumping on the bed….

By Debra Newby
​December 8, 2016
 
Debra Newby is a math, science and SAT/ACT tutor who creates educational math pattern song books for Upado Unlimited Glockenspiel Xylophones. You can reach her at info@UpadoUnlimited.com

​One of the best ways to begin a musical adventure is with an eight-note Upado Unlimited Glockenspiel Xylophone.  It is similar to a piano except that the notes are struck with a wooden mallet. The instrument produces a pleasant bell-like tone and is fun, easy to learn, and new musicians can get immediate results for their efforts.

Place the Instrument: On a Glockenspiel Xylophone, the longer the metal key, the lower the note will sound. Begin by placing your traditional-style instrument on the table with the longest and lowest Blue Letter “C” note on your left. (If you are playing a curved-style Glockenspiel Xylophone, place the larger, lower note Blue Letter “C” at the bottom while you hold the instrument in your left hand.)

Hold the Mallet: Hold the mallet with your dominant hand – unless you are using two mallets. The circular ball on the end is used to strike the metal keys. The end without the ball should rest near the center of your lower palm. Hold the stick a little further up between your thumb and index finger. The mallet should rest on the middle side of your index finger with the large surface of your thumb providing counter pressure on the top. Do not squeeze the mallet too tightly because this adds unnecessary tension and may keep the note from ringing clearly.

Strike the Key: Hit the keys gently and quickly in the center of the metal key so that the mallet ball quickly bounces away from the key. This will produce the best

​ringing sound. If you hit the key to hard, the note will not sound crisp, and it will not ring. Think of the mallet bouncing on and off the key to get the best results. Good posture can help too, giving your arm the room it needs to move freely.

Play a Scale: The Upado Unlimited Glockenspiel Xylophone is a precision tuned percussion instrument like a piano, and you can start by playing a scale. Each metal key is engraved with the letter of the note, so you can read the letters and play along. Play the “C” scale on the instrument by starting on the largest blue “C” note, and then play the “D”, “E”, “F”, “G”, “A”, “B”, and “C.” You just played the “C” scale!

Keep the Beat: It is important to learn to keep a steady beat. Using a metronome can help, and there are free options online. Click here to try one out. Now go back to your “C” scale and play it along with the metronome. You can change the speed of the beats on the metronome too.

Try a Song: Now you are ready to open the Xylophone Music Book that came with your instrument. The folk songs and classic songs in the book were chosen from the music program created by Dr. Suzuki who selected them because of their patterning ease for new students. The crew at Upado Unlimited created the Music Patterns for the songs so that the ability to read music is not needed, and everyone can play.

Listen Along: On the Upado Unlimited website, you can listen to the songs being played which allows auditory students to learn in the way that suits them the best while visual students can focus on the Music Patterns in the Song book.  When you are ready to move on to more complicated harmonies and rounds, you can try the songs in the Popular 8 Note Songs music book.

To become proficient takes practice, but the joy that comes from playing music is well worth the effort!

The crew at Upado Unlimited is here to help, so contact us if you have any questions at info@UpadoUnlimited.com!

By Debra Newby, December 15, 2016

Debra Newby started taking piano lessons when she was 7 years old after spending all of her young life listening to her pianist mother play for various concerts and their local church. She enjoys playing the Glockenspiel Xylophone and marvels at how many songs can be played with just eight notes!

As the dance caller, I teach the steps of each dance before the music began, and then I call out the steps as the dance progresses so that everyone – young, old and in-between – can be successful in creating these unique dance patterns.

This month, the San Luis Obispo Classical Academy hosted their year-end History Day at a local park, focusing on educational activities from the Civil War Era. Young children played games and performed songs, teens acted in skits and gave speeches, and all the families enjoyed a meal of BBQ chicken with all the fixings.

​By Debra Newby
June 2017

At Heritage Dance Events, we create social dance events and music pattern curriculum to bring people together and change lives for the better. You can read more about what we do at www.HeritageDanceEvents.com and at www.UpadoUnlimited.com.

Debra Newby started dancing when her 4th grade teacher, Miss Brown, introduced the students to square dancing. She went on to work as a recreation director teaching camping, sports and square dancing to elementary age children.

​When her own children were growing up, she was looking for an activity where they could have wholesome dancing fun with friends and family, and unable to find the type of event she was looking for, she created Heritage Dance Events and invited all her friends to a Grand Ball. At the first event, two hundred people showed up, and at the next event, three hundred. Eleven years later, she finds herself traveling around the state bringing Heritage Dance Events to a new generation of families.