Educated Ears

educated_ears

Educated Ears is a program of carefully sequenced instruction for the successful development of musical skills in listening, reading, writing, performing, composing and improvising.

Class activities include traditional singing games, training in vocal care and technique, guided classical music listening, folk dancing, and individual and group singing of canons, folk music and composed songs.  Students develop understanding of pitch, tonality, rhythm, meter, harmony, form and expression.  Most importantly, students are taught how to audiate, which is the ability to think music without making or hearing or a physical sound.

A mentoring approach encourages students to assimilate the material presented at an individual pace in a supportive community environment. Self confidence and performance skills develop naturally because students feel safe and know that they are only expected to share, sing or perform if they want to, and that doing their best is always good enough.  My goal is for students to become active and self-sufficient musicians who derive joy from daily interaction with music because of their high level of knowledge and comprehension.

Da Capo means “from the beginning.”  Students in a Da Capo class explore principles of pitch and resonance through hands-on exploration of tuning forks, tone bells and a variety of other instruments including the piano, violin and Appalachian dulcimer.  Chromatic and whole tone scales are explored as a foundation for understanding the western diatonic scales.  Solfege (do, re, mi...) is taught to give students a concrete way to identify the sounds they hear in songs.  The difference between rhythm and beat is learned through play with poetry, and a foundation is set for understanding meter.  Students also enjoy guided listening to classical music each class.

An Educated Ears class provides a great foundation for students who are interested in music but aren’t completely sure about which instrument is the best fit for them.  These classes are also a help for students who could use extra support with music literacy and eartraining for their private lessons.

8 week summer session
Fridays from July 9 to August 27

Age

Time

Tuition

3-5

11 a.m.-noon

$125

9 & up

1:30-3 p.m.

$175

5-8

3:15-4:15 p.m

$125

For more information and to register, contact Kathy Rausch.

Email Updates
Sign up for Kaleidoscope School emails to get up to date info about events and lesson availabilities.