Posts Tagged "Sing-play classes for children"
Music is an intrinsic part of all of us: rhythm in our heartbeat, breathing, and movements; melody in our laughing, moaning, crying, or singing; the full spectrum of human emotions is contained in all the various musical styles and genres. These powerful connections with music are hard-wired into our brains and we can access them when shown how, regardless of any disability.
Research shows that music lessons help special needs children improve their development while engaging them in a powerful expressive outlet. It’s proven to help people with Down syndrome:
- Social and Communication Skills
Music classes help children and adults with Down Syndrome improve communication skills. In addition, group music classes can promote many social interactions, encourage positive social development, and boost their self-esteem. The structure and interaction provided by music lessons are highly effective. Children learn to interact with the teacher as well as other people in the group. They learn how to work together to make music. This positive, and creative engagement is truly beneficial.
- MotorSkills, Movement, and Coordination
The rhythmic nature of music gives students a better understanding of movement and timing. Repeating tasks and working on rhythm helps them to improve their motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination. If kids have a hard time understanding speech or saying certain words, music can help. Often learning to imitate animal sounds is a great way to improve speech. It improves their articulation and over time allows them to improve their communication skills.
Learning chants and songs is also a great way of improving memory as well as speech. The rhythm of the words can be played on a body part, drum or piano. Guessing games challenge the child to hear the song when you sing the words in your head while playing the rhythm of the song. There are many, many songs that incorporate actions so the child not only learns the names of body parts but has fun in the process.
Whoever you are, music can make your life better and brighter! To learn more and to find out if music lessonsare right for you, contact Judith now!!
Many of us took music lessons as a child but stopped when we left school, went to college and life took over. Now more than ever, is a particularly good time to upgrade all those things that you learned as a kid so that your music-making can help enrich your life as an adult, so what are you waiting for?
Ahh… don’t say you are too old for learning music or that you will never be as good as your favorite musician. Remember, it is never too late to start again!!!
Learning how to maximize music’s deeply therapeutic power becomes a wonderful adjunct to our daily health and wellness programs. Listed below are some of the well-known scientifically proven benefits.
- Music reduces stress and anxiety
- Music improves our immunity and therefore general health
- Music decreases feelings of depression and loneliness
- Music enhances memory and recall
- Music alleviates pain and promotes physical rehabilitation
More importantly, you will have a lot of fun and enjoyment in the process. So if you think it’s time to get that item ticked off your bucket list, just go for it. In fact, as an adult, you will have developed a whole bunch of skills that make progress in your lessons so much faster, and deeply rewarding. Of course, this comes with the caveat that you may now as an adult have more responsibilities than you did when you were a kid!
You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Contact Judith now!!
This is an approach that has evolved over many years of teaching. I am always trying to improve how I teach and have tried many things. The obvious issue starts with music notation. Those fixed black things on a page that the jazz musicians call the dots, to try and demystify them.
The most basic impulse that we all have is to sing, this is totally different from having a trained voice. If you were given a baby or young child to hold who was crying you would naturally try to bring comfort to the child by singing to it, and rocking it from side to side. You would not be concerned about getting the words right, or being in tune, your concern would be to sooth the child.
Sing-Play is an approach to music learning that develops the ear over the eye, so that the individual immediately can start converting what they hear into the instrument that they are learning ie a digital pattern. This starts from the simple songs that they learnt at kindergarten, to more complex songs, as they master the technical aspects of the specific instrument that they want to play.
My students are often surprised at how many songs they know, or instrumental fragments, (depending on what sort of music they listen to) and are thrilled to be able to Sing-Play.
I get all my students to sing while they play. They notice immediately that if they Sing-Play, their level of digital accuracy immediately improves. So if it is a song they want to play they will learn the words of the song. They will be also able to play the rhythm of the words on their instruments. This gives them the experience of making music from a deep instinctual part of themselves, as they are free from the tyranny of music notation, right notes, right rhythm, correct pitch and all the other rules and regulations. Learning to play all your favorite songs on your instrument means that you always want to play it because you are making music.