1 . On the bustling streets of Sydney, Australia, Dong Min, a young Chinese woman, dressed in elegant Chinese traditional clothing — hanfu, gracefully holds a dizi, the bamboo flute of China, fascinating passersby with the melodies of traditional Chinese music.

Dong Min, a talented musician was born in 1990. Seeing a female performer playing the bamboo flute on TV fired her interest in this Chinese traditional instrument at the age of 8. Soon her interest blossomed into talent. At the age of 10, winning a provincial-level Chinese musical instrument competition earned her one of only four spots for further studies in Beijing. After graduating from Minzu University of China with a major in Chinese bamboo flute in 2015, she enrolled at the University of New South Wales in Australia to study cultural leadership where she initiated street performances, featuring Chinese traditional instruments. One year later, she formed a band and founded the Sydney Meya Institute of Chinese Music to teach various Chinese traditional instruments to more people.

Apart from street performances and her institution, Dong also offers online dizi lessons to a global audience and organizes online exchange concerts for her students worldwide. “Our students range from 4-year-olds to 80-year-olds, reflecting the timeless appeal of Chinese music across generations,” Dong said.

Her effort paid off eventually. Her performances grew in popularity. Many audiences traveled all the way from cities like Melbourne and Brisbane to Sydney just to attend her performances.” Many music schools now offer courses on Chinese instruments. I hope to create a platform for music enthusiasts to connect and cultivate friendships through their shared love for music. Thus, we can not only raise awareness of Chinese traditional music in Australia but also share the richness of Chinese culture through music with the international audience.” Dong Min said.

2 . Seated at the grand piano in MIT’s Killian Hall last fall, first-year student Jacqueline Wang played one piece of Mozart’s music. When she’d finished, Mi-Eun Kim, a pianist and lecturer at MIT, asked her to move to the back of the hall. Kim tapped at an iPad. Suddenly, the music Wang had just played poured forth again from the piano — its keys sinking and rising just as they had with Wang’s fingers on them. Wang stood with a confused expression, taking in a repeat of her own performance.

This unusual lesson took place during a three-week residency (驻留期) of the Steinway Spirio|r, a piano that obtains the data of live performances and offers students new possibilities for studying and experimenting with music.

Wang was one of several participants to have the experience of hearing herself play while watching the data of her performance move up and down across a screen: color-coded rectangles (矩形) indicating the speed and duration of each note, and a moving line charting her use of the damper pedal (阻尼踏板). Wang could even edit her own performance when Kim suggested her rhythmic use of the pedal might be unnecessary. Using the iPad interface to erase the pedaling entirely, they listened to the playback again, the notes gaining new clarity,

For Wang, the session introduced an element she’d never experienced since beginning her piano studies. The visual display of how long each key was played and with what speed gave her a more precise demonstration of the ideas of voicing and evenness.

Playing the piano is one of the most complex activities that humans do with their hands. Some people might think the new technology will replace the pianist. In Kim’s view, that human complexity is complemented by this kind of technical possibility. But it doesn’t mean all of the things that go into learning music will be abandoned. It’s going to be an invaluable third partner: the student, the teacher, and the Spirio|r. It’s going to play a necessary role in lots of musical efforts.

3 . Chinese singer Gong Linna released her new song, titled Return Home, which describes the overseas Chinese people’s longing for their homeland.

Performed in Chaoshan dialect, the song is part of Gong’s music project, which has the singer perform songs in different Chinese dialects. “It is very challenging to sing in Chaoshan dialect, which is a new language to me, and thanks to the songwriter Danny Sim and the song’s producer Wesley Tan, who speak the dialect, I received intensive training and practised very hard,” says Gong. “The beauty of dialects lies in telling stories of different places. It’s like a music al map, allowing me to explore different places through dialects.”

The idea of the song came from Qiaopi, a unique form of mail that served as both a letter and a remittance (汇款) sent by overseas Chinese people to their families in provinces of Guangdong and Fujian in the 19th and 20th centuries. At that time, many of those emigrants, particularly from Guangdong and Fujian, sent money back home to support their families, as well as communicating with their beloved ones and expressing their longing to be reunited.

“Dialects are a source of knowledge, traditions and the country’s cultural heritage. When I listen to a song performed in a dialect, I feel the local culture instantly even though I never go there and know nothing about the place,” says Sim, who wrote lyrics for the song, adding that there are a growing number of musicians in China performing in dialects, which allow listeners to get an emotional touch.

“Chaoshan dialect links people from the region. However, like many languages, it’s dying. Many young people, especially children, rarely speak the dialect, which is a sad thing.” Sim says, explaining why he is keen on writing songs by using the dialect, “I love my hometown and by writing songs in the dialect, I feel close to my home. Maybe that is, culture identity.”

6 . Here are some ways to introduce classical music to your children.

●When you read a story to your children, pick out a classical music piece that matches the emotion of the book.     1     After getting used to reading in time with the music, tell your children you have a special surprise for them. Read them the story in the new way, and they will surely be delighted!

●If your kids are always moving around, try introducing classical music to them by dancing. Instruct your children to listen to the music and dance however the music makes them feel. Parents dance with them!     2    

●Before your kids begin playtime, make a list of classical music pieces with the name of the person who wrote it.     3     Tell them something about the person they picked to listen to. Before long, your children will have a basic knowledge of the person who wrote the piece.

●    4     Make sure your children listen to the music and create their picture to however the music makes them feel. Once everyone is finished, listen to the music again and explain your creations.

●You can pick out three pieces of music to play during the week.     5     At the end of the week have a listening game to see who can remember the name of the piece when you play it. Games are always a fun way to introduce learning concepts.

7 . “Pop” stands for popular, and a pop singer has to work very hard to stay popular. He must either give the public what they want, or he must find a new way of singing that will attract their attention. Even when he has succeeded, and his records are sold everywhere, he cannot relax. Then he must work harder than ever to remain popular, because there are always younger singers trying to become famous and to steal some of the popularity.

The life of a successful pop singer isn’t easy at all. He can only relax when he is alone, because everything he does is watched and reported in the special newspaper written for the fans. The fans are the most important people in the world for the singer. They buy his records, they go to his concerts, and they make him rich and famous. But they can be very annoying, too. Sometimes their enthusiasm (热情) is so hysterical (歇斯底里的) that they do anything to get a souvenir (纪念品). They steal handkerchief, they tear off buttons, and they even cut off pieces of unfortunate singer’s hair. Many singers have been forced to hide, and some who have not been so lucky as to escape have been stripped (剥) practically naked by their fans. A pop singer has to spend a lot of money on clothes because he must always look smart, or at any rate, different. He must have a luxurious (豪华的) car. And most importantly, he must always keep smiling for the benefit of his public.

8 . It is universally believed that playing an instrument or singing in a choir may boost your brain. Generations of parents have told their children to practice their musical instruments. Parents have good reason to keep on top of their children’s musical education, since learning an instrument is not only associated with better educational achievement but also cognition (认知) and even intelligence scores in children. But does this musicality contribute to better cognition later in life?

A new study in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry investigated this question by asking middle-aged and older people to complete a questionnaire on their lifetime musical experience before completing cognitive tests. The results showed that musical people had better memory and ability to stay focused on tasks and plans than those with less or no musicality.

But how about being musical without playing an instrument? According to the study findings, singing can result in better executive (决策的) function but not memory, suggesting that playing an instrument has additional brain health benefits. Why singing would help us with our executive function is not clear and requires further investigation. However, singing has a strong social benefit when done in choirs, and there is good evidence that being involved in social activity is good for our brain health.

Playing an instrument or singing seems to have benefits to our brain health in ageing, according to the study. What is yet to be established is whether this would also help prevent future cognitive decline (下降) or dementia. The study provides no evidence for this yet and it is also not clear how the findings apply to the general population, since most people in the study were female, well-educated and well-off.

10 . It is thought that music can make maths more enjoyable, keep students engaged and help ease fear or anxiety they have about maths.

To find out more, Turkish researcher Dr Ayca Akin, from the Department of Software Engineering, Antalya Belek University, searched academic databases for research on the topic published between 1975 and 2022. She then combined the results of 55 studies from around the world, involving almost 78,000 young people from kindergarten pupils to university students, to come up with an answer.

Students took maths tests before and after taking part in the intervention and the change in their scores was compared with that of youngsters who didn’t take part in an intervention. The use of music, whether in separate lessons or as part of maths classes, was associated with greater improvement in maths over time. The integrated lessons had the biggest effect, with around 73% of students who had integrated lessons doing significantly better than youngsters who didn’t have any type of musical intervention. Some 69% of students who learned how to play instruments and 58% of students who had normal music lessons improved more than pupils with no musical intervention.

The results also indicate that music helps more with learning arithmetic (算术) than other types of maths and has a bigger impact on younger pupils and those learning more basic mathematical concepts. Dr Akin point s out that maths and music have much in common, such as the use of symmetry symbols. Both subjects also require abstract thought and quantitative reasoning.

Limitations of the analysis include the relatively small number of studies available for inclusion. This meant it wasn’t possible to look at the effect of factors such as gender, socio-economic status and length of musical instruction on the results.

Dr Akin adds, “Encouraging mathematics and music teachers to plan lessons together could help ease students’ anxiety about mathematics, while also boosting achievement.”