Begin your child’s musical journey at a young age in The School of Music’s Early Childhood Music Program, which encourages the development of social, rhythmic, emotional, creative and musical skills. Research has shown that there is a window of time in a young child’s life during which the capacity to achieve musical competence (and excellence) is greatly enhanced if the child is exposed to an enriched musical environment. 

The School of Music’s instructors are professional musicians and experienced early childhood educators.  They understand how to engage children in age-appropriate musical activities that will lead towards a life-long love of music. Classes draw from the time-tested approaches to learning music including Orff, Kodaly and Dalcroze. We provide a full range of high quality percussion instruments that are easy to use but have beautiful tonal properties leading to the development of the child’s ear. All of our programs are designed to be pre-instrumental, meaning that children are ready and eager to start an instrument, often by the age of five.

Me, You, and Music too! (0-20 months with a caregiver)
Stimulate your baby’s natural response to music through singing and chanting, rhythmic taps and claps, tickles and wiggles, and bouncing and rocking. Through group participation with small percussion instruments and engaging props, your babies innate musical abilities are heightened for an early start that focuses on the joy of music. Adult participation (no musical experience needed) is required for this class. Classes last 45-minutes and include take home materials

12-Week Group Class (start date October 2011: $360

Family Music for Toddlers and Infants
This class is designed for families with one or more children up to the ages of five. Together (both parents are welcome) you will learn to foster your children’s musical development through a variety of song and playful movement experiences that can be incorporated at home. Instruments such as traditional drums, finger cymbals, shakers, and tone blocks enhance the learning of basic music concepts.

12-Week Group Class (start date October 2011): $480 (family pricing)

Tuneful Tots (21 months to 6 years)
These classes offer an integrated approach to understanding music by placing children in age appropriate groupings. Children explore music concepts and begin to develop music literacy through movement, singing, listening, improvisation, and percussive instrument play. Small percussion instruments and a wide variety of engaging props – including scarves, puppets, and hoops – enrich the program. Exploration, interaction and discovery are the music keys to this class. Children are placed in age appropriate groupings (21 month to 3 years, 3s and 4s and 5 and 6s).   

12-Week Group Class (start date October 2011): $420

Suzuki Violin (age 3 and older)
The Suzuki Method emphasizes playing from a young age adn focuses on leadning music by imitating (the same way children learn how to speak). We are happy to welcome Leah Zelnick as out new Suzuki faculty and violin teacher. Suzuki piano is taught by instructor Fumei Huang. Call (781) 237-6542 for more information and days/times available.

Here are some basic hallmarks of the Suzuki Method:

-The method is based on the way children learn their native language – by listening and imitating. Pieces are learned by ear (without reading music) and played from memory. Note reading is incorporated later on in the child’s training.
-Parent, teacher and child are all active participants in the learning process. Parents must be willing to learn the instruction method and make a commitment to attend lessons, group classes and performances. Parents are also asked to participate in at-home practice.
-The curriculum uses a common repertoire which is organized by books of advancing level starting with Book 1. The common repertoire enables students to play with each other and creates a community of Suzuki learners.

16 weeks of weekly Suzuki lesson (30 minutes) and group (40 minutes): $960

Registration is open for the fall classes at the School of Music! Students (new and returning) will be placed in teacher studios on a first-come, first-served basis. You can secure a place by returning your registration form with a $250 deposit.