Experience the pure joy of making music with your child!

Music Makers is a unique combination of riveting teaching strategies coupled with:
live music from many genres,
puppetry,
a warehouse of unusual real musical instruments,
creative,
tactile materials, and
movement activities.

Age-appropriate, 45-minute classes give children countless opportunities to express their inner musician. Weekly themes spark children's imaginations in a fun, interactive format. Singing games and rhythmic skill development occur in a seamless stream of sensory-motor based activities while an underlying matrix of piano and guitar accompaniment supports and enriches this musical environment.

Music Makers is not a chain, franchise or "cookie cutter" program. Every class develops its favorite repertoire of songs. Instrumental preference emerges as children are exposed to a wide variety of musicians and instruments.

Music Makers is a multi-generational approach to guide everyone to joyfully participate musically as a means of artistic self-expression. It develops musical passion from within and it provides the conceptual foundation and the tools to enjoy creating music.

Watch one of our students, Lauren at home as she showcases what she learned during her Music Makers classes!

Presto Tots (1 1/2 – 2 1/2 years old)
A perfect introduction to the world of music, young children will delight in learning a repertoire of favorite songs to sing and play. At this stage, we begin to introduce basic musical concepts in a joyful way, geared to your child's developmental stage:

Make musical hand signs to open a magic sticker box!

Bounce and giggle to the lap-song “Rodeo” to learn three tempi: largo, allegro and presto.

Sing high/low pitched songs to demonstrate bass and treble clef.

Tap and strum instruments in our class orchestra and learn instrument care and sharing.

Our goal is to nurture your child's early passion for music while building skills that enhance their self-confidence, social skills and independence. 

Trying out different instruments during class orchestra	Learning to buzz lips to play brass instruments	Playing a violin for the first time

Forte Kids (3 – 4 years old)
As the individuality and motor skills of three and four year olds improve, their independence, musical creativity and imagination also get a boost. Forte Kids are now ready to absorb more complex musical concepts.

Music Makers' playful and engaging games, songs and movement activities encourage your child's musical skills to blossom. Forte Kids discover how to:

Identify and demonstrate their grasp of musical symbols—such as “p” for piano (soft) and “f ” for forte (loud).

Match tones vocally, and join the group chorus.

Gallop, jump, walk and run in time to the music and adapt to tempo changes in the lively Freeze Dance game.

Experiment and develop instrumental preferences by playing a wide variety of instruments in class orchestra.

Music Makers provides Forte Kids with the opportunity to unleash their musical imaginations. They'll create their own special songs and add new ones to a growing repertoire of tunes to sing at home and at play. 

Crescendos (4 – 5 years old)
The growing self-reliance, physical dexterity and attention span of four and five year olds pave the way to more advanced musical skills. Music Makers increases their level of challenge with melodic and rhythmic-guided activities—while nurturing their joy for making music.

Crescendos love to:

Keep a steady drum beat, and play simple patterns with the group.

Sing a song aloud while remembering to silently think a word or phrase which develops inner hearing skills.

Echo four-beat rhythm patterns using quarter, eighth, half and whole notes, and rests.

Sing and use the Curwen hand signs for the “do, re, mi” solfege syllables—a game that combines movement with song to develop singing on pitch and reinforce musical learning.

Play Guess That Instrument—listen to instrumental sounds with eyes shut and identify instruments by just their sound quality or timbre!

Musical inspiration and creativity take full flight here with exhilarating new musical activities.

Guest musician Daniel Celidore demonstrating how to hold an oboe

Ensemble (5 – 6 years old)
Eager and on the go, five and six year olds are increasingly independent, love to sing, dance and act, and are more physically agile. Making the most of these skills and behaviors, Music Makers teaches Ensemble students more challenging musical concepts and sharpens their instrumental skills.

Ensemble students learn to:

Sing simple melodies in tune through echo games and puppetry.

Play a repeated pattern as accompaniment to a song.

Crash cymbals at determined times in a tune.

Experiment playing one rhythm on blocks while others play a different rhythm on drums.

Echo, clap, read and compose simple four-beat rhythm patterns.

Play the Translation game—convert the rhythm of spoken words, for example, “William” into simple rhythmic notation, “ta ta.”

Ensemble students also learn to conduct their fellow classmates in our class orchestra and prepare songs to sing solo or in duets, and arrange instrumentation. For the grand finale, the class visits a real recording studio—where they record their own CD!

Making a class CD at the recording studio

Class Materials

Each child who registers for Music Makers will receive:
A Music Makers T-shirt featuring the musical symbols that we learn in class!
A CD and Workbook of sheet music and activities for home—to help you reinforce what we learn in class.
A real musical instrument for home use at the beginning of the fall and spring sessions.

Engaging to children and adults, four delightful recordings are available on CD to extend musical learning through play into the home.