• enriches the lives of both children and parents
• promotes musical growth in children, optimizing their musical aptitude and future success in music
• should be FUN!
  
  A Music Together class is....
  
  
• not a "music lesson"
• not performance-based, nor is it a model for musical perfection.
• a relaxed, playful, participatory, exploratory experience.

Interactions are parent-child not child-child as in a preschool situation.

• Our goal is to create an environment of family music making. Classes have more of a family feel rather than a school orientation. Siblings can participate together, as well as moms, dads, grandparents, and caregivers. ( No need to get a baby-sitter!)
• A child's stage of musical development (like other areas of development) does not strictly coincide with his/her age.
• The Music Together curriculum offers many levels of instruction simultaneously.

Early childhood educators are now recommending mixed-age groupings as a better learning environment promoting social development and self-esteem. Older children learn from being in a leadership role, and younger children benefit from the example of an older child.

Yes! Infant participation will seem passive at first, as they actively absorb what they are seeing, hearing, and feeling.

By reading the parent guide and through parent education in class, parents will learn to recognize their infant's musical responses and observe them reaching musical milestones. As their bodies and nervous systems mature, the infants often show progressively more complex musical responses and evidence of song recognition.

Parents will learn in class how to enhance their child's music development and to create or enhance the musical bond with their child. Babies Classes are often offered as a one-semester introduction to non-walking infants. Babies also respond well in the mixed age classes.

• First, the Music Together curriculum will expand your musical repertoire. Each Semester you will receive a new song collection on CD (two copies, one for home and one for the car) and a corresponding beautifully illustrated songbook.. The music includes traditional songs, original songs, and rhythm chants. The curriculum is research based, and the song material balances various tonalities, meters, and cultural styles, exposing your child to a wide diversity of musical elements.
  
  
• Second, Music Together classes will be a source of ideas on how you can bring music into everyday life in spontaneous, fun and musically expanding ways for your child. Not only will you be able to recreate most of the activities done in class in your own family setting, but also you will find that your creative process is stimulated and you discover even new musical ways to connect and play with your child.
  
  
• Finally, you will learn about how your child learns and grows musically. You will better understand the process by which your child can, given the musically stimulating environment and an enthusiastic role model (YOU), attain basic music competence in the first few years of life.

Since we only have 45 minutes a week for music-making, we want the environment to be primarily music-oriented, not language-oriented. In the "real" world, good parents coach and praise their children. They explain what is happening and what needs to be done. Language is a large part of our everyday world and it is somewhat of a challenge to "put on" an entirely different "parental cloak" for one hour a week, but it is well worth the doing! Here is why:

• Talking creates a distortion or a "buzz" that conflicts with or distorts the music that we are making. We want the children to soak up as much music (rhythm and tone) as is possible in our brief time together.
  
  
• Parent to parent talking, although unintentional, presents a negative role-model to all of the children in the class as we want to role-model music-making, not language. It may also convey the attitude that the parent is not interested. Please remember, a child's disposition toward music comes from their parents. Another interesting factor is that children are attracted to contrast, so they quickly notice and will closely observe that which is different from the rest.
  
  
• Parent to child talking (coaching such as "good job", "put your instrument away", etc.) detracts from the overall musical environment for all the children because of the noise-distortion factor. Instead, we encourage you to give your child attention through eye contact, smiling and nodding your head, demonstrate playing or putting your own instrument away, etc.
  
  
• When parents stay focused and participate enthusiastically, we increase the number of experiences we are able to provide the children in each class. Remember, you are not only a role-model for your own child, but for all the children in class. Music Together is truly a TEAM effort!

Formal music instruction cannot teach a child to 'be musical' or to find inspiration in music. A musical disposition, or the intrinsic motivation to be musical all ones life, is the result of a positive, happy, and fulfilling experiences and associations with music in childhood.

You are, by far, your child's most important role model in this regard. Music Together is committed to supporting and facilitating your efforts to create and sustain a rich music environment in your home, thus encouraging your child's natural process of musical growth and ensuring the realization of your child's inborn music potential.

Understanding childhood music development will deepen your appreciation of how your child responds to musical experiences, and it will make musical interactions with your child more interesting and meaningful. Most importantly, it will compel you to provide for your child a wealth of musical experiences, to cultivate and share your own love of music, and to nurture your child's emerging musical self.