The Pasadena Arts Council has funded the development of a new music education app that now serves as a useful resource for teachers and students affected by the declining trend in affordable, formal music education.

BandBlast, released by Music Lifeboat recently, now motivates students and propels them forward in the musical skills with 350 video music lessons by some of the world’s top philharmonic and studio musicians. The free app includes innovative, character-based rhythm, pitch detection and recording games, integrating music education with fun and exciting missions.

Development of the app was made possible with the ongoing fiscal sponsorship of the Pasadena Arts Council to Music Lifeboat, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that helps facilitate access to quality music education to the world, especially to the most underserved populations.

As a fiscal sponsor, the Arts Council enables the movement of money from funders and donors to Music Lifeboat’s projects and activities, many of which were meant to address the declining interest in formal music education in schools.

With the Pasadena Arts Council’s support, musicians Brandon Bernstein and Terry Carter worked with a team of musically-inclined computer engineers and programmers, video animators, game designers and curriculum developers to create BandBlast.

Bernstein and Carter recalled how music education influenced both of them from a young age and how they went to further their education all the way through graduate school. Over time they began to see the disparities in music education, noticing schools all across the country, mostly public schools, being hit with budget cuts, with arts and music programs the first to go.

That became their inspiration to set out and create a free resource that could benefit teachers and students in hopes to give back and to advocate for equal access to music education.

“Whether you are a professional musician or not, the benefits of having access to music education and playing an instrument are enormous”, says Bernstein. “After seeing arts education cut around our country and globally, especially to the underserved populations, we realized we had to make the app entirely free, with no ads, or in-app purchases to bring access to as many people as possible.”

The developers hope BandBlast will give students and teachers access to quality free music education at a time when music education is not always a top priority in schools.

Music Lifeboat has partnered with DotSub, a language translation service, to be able to translate BandBlast into many languages to allow for global access.

BandBlast is now available for free download from these sites: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bandblast/id955912054 and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.musiclifeboat.bandblast.

The Pasadena Arts Council, a member of the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors, continues to accept tax-deductible donations to Music Lifeboat for its programs. The agency also offers an independent voice for promoting a vibrant cultural community by facilitating, empowering, and advocating for the Arts.

Donations may be mailed to the Pasadena Arts Council, with a “Music Lifeboat” note on the memo line or voucher, at 65 S Grand Avenue, Pasadena.