Creative Music Center - Kindermusik for the Young Child

Kindermusik for the Young Child offers a unique opportunity to begin to learn the fundamentals of musical concepts in and encouraging, creative, yet structured environment.

Listen as your child astonishes you with his newfound ability to create musical compositions. For your budding musician, Kindermusik for the Young Child provides a pressure-free, developmentally appropriate transition where he can musically succeed before taking on more formal instruction. Using a small-group approach to music education, Kindermusik provides the opportunity to explore:

j Voice development—we focus on expanding each child’s vocal range, use of specific pitches and intervals, and ability to read and execute rhythmic patterns and language

j Rhythm—we focus on moving and responding to the beat in music, echoing and creating rhythmic patterns, clapping, tapping, and playing a variety of rhythms

j Notation—we create a bridge between the child’s experience and aural memory and the written notes, developing our abilities to read and write the notes of the treble clef staff in various rhythms and melodies

j musical symbols such as piano, forte, crescendo and decrescendo

j Authentic pre-keyboard, string and woodwind instruments

Kindermusik for the Young Child offers a 2-year sequence of classes (4 semesters) Classes are 60 minutes once a week, and are designed for children to participate on their own for 45-50 minutes and in sharing time with their families for 10-15 minutes each week.

Young Child Semester 1
Everything your child learns later in semesters 2, 3, and 4 begins with this early introduction to singing, reading, and writing music and rhythm. We begin to make the connection between music that is sung and heard and music which is written. Through dances and games that focus on rhythmic development, we'll learn a keyboard instrument—the glockenspiel—which will be used throughout all the Young Child classes. Music themes encourage children to respond to changing tempos and themes and to hear, move, and play high and low, fast and slow, loud and soft. Your At Home Materials provide the music, instruments, stickers, and activities for a home version of the same playful activities you'll hear about from class, so your child—and you!—can learn where you're most comfortable: at home.

Young Child Semester 2
Playing simple musical patterns and songs on the featured instrument from the first session—the glockenspiel—is a central focus this semester. While learning to sing a melody, and then play the pattern on the glockenspiel, we'll delve deeper into the understanding of musical concepts such as piano and forte through orchestra-style music such as William Tell Overture, and Peter and the Wolf. Music appreciation and understanding continues with a complete introduction to the families of instruments in the orchestra.

Young Child Semester 3
Appalachian music is a featured musical style this semester. First, you and your child will build a two-stringed dulcimer instrument with materials that we'll provide. Then in class we'll learn to play chords and simple melodies on the instrument you built together. We continue to extend our skills in playing the glockenspiel. We'll also explore rhythm concepts through dance with an introduction to the basic steps in jazz, ballet, and tap dances. Your At Home Materials include dulcimer-making materials, activity cards, and music which features recordings from Appalachia, African-America, and Native American music, as well as the Western Art music of the Nutcracker Suite.

Young Child Semester 4
In this final semester we'll introduce the recorder, a simple woodwind instrument. As your child is introduced to basic methods of playing simple melodic patterns and songs on the recorder, we'll also incorporate the instruments, concepts, and songs from previous semesters. With a special emphasis on multi-cultural music, your child will learn to improvise and write music, as well as experience the musical styles of the Pacific Islands, Europe, Bach, and Africa; plus play special dances and children's games from around the world, including Alpine dances, Mexico, and Ecuador.