A Note from Mary: NAMM Foundation Executive Director
I am writing, foremostly, with urgent hopes that this finds you, your family, friends and colleagues and organizations feeling well and doing okay. These are unprecedented times, and like you, all of us at The NAMM Foundation have had to change our ways of doing business in order to comply with CDC and state government recommendations. Like us, we urge you to follow advisements from the CDC, World Health Organization and state and local public health agencies; this information will serve all of us well as we move forward.
As we adapt to this period of new “normal,” The NAMM Foundation is offering resources to make music online, including learning and teaching music.
These offerings are a supplement to the remarkable experiences of playing in ensembles and gathering for concerts and festivals – all of which we will do again, with conviction and gratitude. In the meantime, people seem to be practicing quite a bit, experimenting with learning apps, taking lessons online, learning music theory, sight singing and staying current with other music literacy skills by creating inspired virtual bands, choirs, orchestras and other ensembles. The remarkable music-making connections that are happening online – world over – remind us again of the power of music. Thank you for the services and outreach that you continue to provide to support people everywhere; music surely connects us in unique ways during this time. Please find below updates from The NAMM Foundation about online music making, and connect with us at NAMMFoundation.org as we add to these resources.
Also, of concern, are the realities of nonprofit music service organizations sustainability as services and business plans are interrupted. We urge U.S. music nonprofits to consider the economic relief efforts that are available through the Small Business Administration. Loans for nonprofits and other supports for contractors and gig workers can be tapped to bridge economic hardships during this time. A summary of information on federal economic relief efforts for businesses and nonprofit organizations can be found at NAMM.org.
Webinars About Online Music Lessons
The NAMM Foundation presented two webinars responding to the question: “How do I accessor deliver online music lessons?”
Teaching and Learning Music Online Webinar
Making Music Online: How To’s for Private and Group Lessons Webinar
Music Teachers and Music Service Organizations
Connect with network of online music teachers, including school music teachers who continue online music learning for classrooms of all ages and types.
Music Educators Creating Online Learning Facebook Group
Parents, Students, First Responders and Caregivers: #MusicIsLife
Please share your at-home and/or online music-making experiences and stories with us by tagging @nammfoundation or @thenammshow and by using the hashtag #MusicIsLife. We salute all first responders and medical teams everywhere and encourage them to include music making as a way to process feelings of exhaustion and fear.
All of us at NAMM and The NAMM Foundation are committed to providing information and resources to keep music-making and music education strong during this global health crisis. Music is at the core of our being as is the realization that we are all in this together.
Mary
