When creating music together with others in an ensemble setting, children and adults alike have a better opportunity to experience music with “greater harmonic color, musical depth, variety of sound, and rhythmic complexities” than if they only played alone. Ensemble opportunities like the ones found in Kindermusik class also “stimulate and challenge” self-confidence, imagination, creativity, self-expression, and musical understanding. (Leung 2006)
Before you know it, your child will likely want to participate in a team sport, play in a band or orchestra, or sing in a choir. In class we help introduce you and your child to the opportunity to develop and practice the skills that are required to perform in an ensemble, such as:
- strong self-control – stopping on cue
- distinguishing between sounds
- listening for an appropriate entrance on cue
- timing the participation on cue
- matching the steady-beat play with an outside sound source, and
- playing with others on cue
These skills of timing, coordination, and group participation are also essential characteristics for success in sports. Kindermusik is truly so much MORE than just music!
Making Music Together
Making music together is what music is all about! When children learn to contribute their part to a beautiful whole, they have benefited from one of the most important advantages of group instruction. Music becomes even more exciting when children begin to develop a growing awareness of themselves within the context of the group.
For example, in Kindermusik classes, when an Our Time age child moves up to Imagine That, he/she will be both the leader and the follower in ensemble and will have the opportunity to learn all of the basic skills necessary for ensemble participation in Young Child when they enter Kindergarten. This is a truly amazing musical journey, made possible in the early years by the quality time, and fun, productive, musical play in which you engage your child in and out of class.
Compiled by Theresa Case, whose Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios in Greenville, SC, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.