I have a student in Australia, NSW to be exact!

2004 Setup

I have been teaching remotely over the internet since the late 1990s.  My first remote student was a veterinarian who worked at a zoo in North Carolina.  Over the years, I've had students as far away as China and as close as Granville, Mass. 

I use a program called Google Hangouts.  It's super easy to use.  All you need is a Gmail account and it's free to access.  The program is super fast and works great on a laptop, PC, Mac or hand-held device or phone.  One of my students uses her iPad when the weather is too difficult for travel.

NSW

This week I was contacted by a young man in Australia who said he couldn't find a mandolin teacher and would I be willing to give him a few lessons.  I said yes of course.  It will mean getting up in the middle of the night but I think it will be worth it.

I know a bit about Australia, but next to nothing about NSW.  I learned that it is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Tasman Sea to the east. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, which is also Australia's most populous city.  When I learned this I was a bit shocked he couldn't find a mandolin teacher in the largest city in the country!  But then after a couple email exchanges I learned he's not actually in Sydney, he's about 600 kilometers away, hence the challenge!

Going to be fun.

Why Do People Sing?

By Dr Joseph Jordania

Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

University of Melbourne

http://goo.gl/xNzS8e

One of the most important new questions that this book tries to answer is why the most archaic parts of the human brain, which are only activated by the critical survival needs, are activated when humans sing or listen to music. is it possible that singing really had a function of survival for our distant ancestors?