Striking a positive note with children

Lifestyle – Denise McNamara hears of novel music and movement classes geared for young kids

Most parents would love their child to play an instrument. But many of us are plagued with lingering memories of mind-numbing repetitive scales at the piano or countless versions of the Blackthorn Stick on the tin whistle.

So, when Fidelma Sheridan had the idea of opening a music school on being made redundant from her engineering job after a lifetime of playing the piano and clarinet, she searched around for the most innovative thinking in the field.

She came across a programme which originated in Germany and later developed in the US called Kindermusik where the emphasis was all about the process of learning music as opposed to performance.

These music and movement classes geared to students, from newborns to seven years old, are designed to make learning music fun while learning other skills along the way.

“I wanted a music school where kids come in to learn something they’ll have for life, rather than just for an exam,” enthused Fidelma.

After undergoing a three-month online training programme, she became a licenced educator for the programme, which has been taught to over one million families in 70 countries.

So what exactly is Kindermusik?

It is based on the The Kodály Method, developed in Hungary during the mid-twentieth century, which introduces children to musical concepts through experiences such as listening, singing, or movement.

It develops skills such as inner hearing, rhythmic co-ordination and harmonic hearing at an early stage.

It was Zoltán Kodály who once said: “To teach a child an instrument without first giving him preparatory training and without developing singing, reading and dictating to the highest level along with the playing, is to build upon sand.”

The Kindermusik builds upon that philosophy and starts first with the singing voice, the primary instrument.

“Kids feel the music, instead of sitting them down in front of a sheet of music. They learn about tempo, soft and low, rhythm, they hear music from all parts of the world with different tonality.”

Fidelma’s classes are divided between toddlers and kids aged 4 to 7.

They get an introduction to basic instruments from about 18 months, instruments such as a dulcimer, recorder and glockenspiel.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.