For both musicians and their fans, it’s hard to say no to the excitement of a live concert. For fans, staying with others who share the same hobby and seeing their favorite musicians face to face are so exciting. For musicians, concert tours allow them to connect with their listeners and make big money.

So what happens when live tours are no longer possible? In early 2020, governments stopped people from traveling and staying together because of COVID-19(新冠病毒). Tours and concerts were cancelled, leaving both musicians and fans disappointed.

But musicians are creative, and technology can bring people together in ways that were impossible just ten years ago. And so one performer after another began to offer online concerts.

These online concerts were simple. Musicians just filmed themselves playing in their houses. They livestreamed (直播) their songs and listeners loved these online events. Online concerts are a great way for musicians to connect with their fans during a difficult time. In addition, they are a great way to bring people together. Although some online concerts require payment, most of them are free. And this raises questions about whether they will continue when live concerts come back.

It is easy for artists to offer free music online when no one can leave their homes. But long-term, it can stop them from selling CDS or tickets to live shows. However, free online concerts may be a good way for bands to win new fans. People who might not normally listen to an artist’s music may meet an online concert accidentally. This increases the number of people buying a musician’s music. Free concerts can be a good business decision after all.

Making Music with Water

Have you ever tried making music with glasses or bottles filled with water? I bet your favourite band hasn’t. Experiment with your own special sounds by turning glasses of water into instruments, make some cool music and find out how it works!

What you’ll need:

※ 5 or more drinking glasses or glass bottles

※ water

※ A wooden stick such as a pencil

Instructions:

1 Line the glasses up next to each other and fill them with different amounts of water. The first should have just a little water while the last should be almost full; the ones in between should have a little more than the one before it.

2 Hit the glass with the least amount of water and pay attention to the sound, and then hit the glass with the most water. Which makes the higher sound?

3 Hit the other glasses and see what sound they make, and see i£you can get a piece of music going by hitting the glasses in a certain order.

What’s happening?

Each of the glasses will have a different tone (音调), and the glass with the most water will have the lowest tone. Small vibrations (震动) are made when you hit the glass. It creates sound waves which travel through the water. More water means slower vibrations and a deeper tone.

What is a teacher? Well, a teacher is someone who teaches. They say things, and you remember them. But it was not until I met my music teacher that I realized this definition (定义) was too shallow (肤浅).

When I first arrived at my music class at school, I had almost no knowledge of how to play the flute (长笛). I couldn’t get the basic notes right. It seemed like a dream for me to perform in front of the school. However, my music teacher, Mr. Nevola, cheered me up to work for my dreams.

He took a lot of time in finding the right flute book for me and spent even more time teaching me. When I was unable to remember the notes, he taught me the trick: FACE. F means “fa”; A means “la”; C means “do”; E means “mi”. This way I can remember the notes much more quickly.

He also tried to make music class fun. We played games that helped develop our sense of rhythm (节奏感) and shared our favorite pieces on certain days. We talked about the background of music pieces from all over the world and learned about the development of music in the US. Sometimes when we were too tired, instead of pushing us to practice our instruments, Mr. Nevola would talk about relaxing things.

Thanks to Mr. Nevola, I truly fell in love with the flute. After six months, I was able to blow seven notes in one breath. While this might not seem like a huge achievement (成就), I am still proud of it and thankful to Mr. Nevola who helped me make it happen.