Kindermusik for the Young Child
Using a small-group approach to music education, Kindermusik for the Young Child provides a pressure-free class where your child can develop a strong musical foundation by learning the concepts, language, notation, and vocabulary of music and its greatest composers.
The program is designed to prepare the young child who is eager for first experiences with musical symbols and instrument discovery but is not yet ready for formal lessons and traditional music reading with an instrument. Parents or caregivers are encouraged to attend the last 10-15 minutes of class.
What your child will experience in class:
- Singing and vocal development. . It may sound like a foreign language when your child sings “ta” and “ti-ti,” but he’s using the language of professional musicians and composers and getting ready to read and write simple rhythm patterns.
- Movement. You’ll see your child dance expressively to music, giving him the practice he needs to coordinate his body movements to the sound of music. This kind of musical play not only improves musicianship, but his physical coordination as well. Reading and writing. He’ll learn melodic notation and identify pitches such as the C, A, and D notes on the treble clef, plus rhythmic notation. Eventually he’ll even compose his own music.
- Reading and writing. He’ll learn melodic notation and identify pitches such as the C, A, and D notes on the treble clef, plus rhythmic notation. Eventually he’ll even compose his own music.
- Focused listening. Your child will learn to identify a range of orchestra instruments and their sound qualities, while also gaining an early awareness and knowledge of composers and masterworks in Western arts tradition.
- Exploring and playing musical instruments. . Authentic percussion, string, pre-keyboard, and woodwind instruments expose your child to the many choices for future musical study, and at the same time provide your child with the opportunity to musically succeed before taking on more formal instruction.
At Home materials: Each semester has a separate set of home materials which includes the featured instrument, CD, songbook and weekly activities.
Semester 1 of Kindermusik for the Young Child opens the world to new and different ways of learning about music. The focus and content includes beat versus no beat, percussion instruments, brass instruments, melodic direction, exploring the staff, and notation. Semester 1 also introduces the glockenspiel, a pre-keyboard instrument. Some of the favorite themes are “Music is Everywhere,” “Meet the Mallets,” and “Discovering Melody and Mozart.”
Semester 2 in Kindermusik for the Young Child will excite the young mind as it focuses on concepts such as piano/forte, crescendo/decrescendo, and legato/staccato. We will explore string and woodwind instruments, notation, and even a bit of Beethoven. Children love applying their new knowledge of aural skills, and reading and writing music notation as they further develop their glockenspiel skills. Lesson highlights from Semester 2 include “Peter and the Wolf,” “The Orchestra,” and “Sing and Celebrate!”
Children are delighted to learn more about stringed instruments with the introduction to their very own dulcimers in Semester 3 of Kindermusik for the Young Child. Other musical concepts taught include call and response, improvisation, meter, notation, and a touch of Tchaikovsky. Themes in Semester 3 include “Music of Appalachia,” “Music of the Sea,” and “Native American Music.”
Semester 4 of Kindermusik for the Young Child is the fourth and final semester of this exceptional program. Together we will explore the sounds of wind with the introduction of the recorder! Semester 4 truly is a great end to a terrific curriculum as students learn about verse and refrains, solos and chorus, and musical form (ABA and rondo). We will also review notation, rhythms, treble clef, and the complete C scale. Lesson highlights from Semester 4 include ”Meet the Recorder” and our “World Music Celebration.”
*Children will enjoy the greatest success in Young Child if they are at least 5 years old and/or in Kindergarten when they begin Young Child classes.
