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Music as Play
From the outset children should be actively engaged in music-making: singing, playing and moving to music. All playgroups should use music but there are some which use music as a basis for their activities. They may follow a particular teaching method or approach. If they do it is well worth enquiring a little further. All have their fans and their critics. It is best to ask advice from your local authority, school or other parents. You may find it helpful to contact the Pre-School Music Association. If you can go to see classes for yourself, take your child to give them a chance to try it out.
If they offer a balanced diet of singing, movement, percussion, play and listening to music then it is probably worthwhile. But the teachers can make a big difference. Are the lessons lively and varied? Do the teachers seem committed?
Pat Wislocki, is British coordinator for Colourstrings, a method with a history of teaching children as young as eighteen months.
"We're playing lots of clapping and marching games and singing. You start with little two-note songs so the child can learn to sing in tune." Colourstrings originates from Hungary and follows the Kodaly philosophy of learning through play and song from very early on.
Elizabeth Chambers has two children doing Colourstrings. She says: "It really captures them. It's right where they are, with enjoyment and games."
DaCapo is another method that aims to make music fun. It emphasises the importance of song and training the musical ear with games and exercises, not just before beginning an instrument but right through to the teenage years.
Jane Cutler is one of its founders. She says of conventional teaching: "Children starting an instrument have no idea of the difference between two notes. They can't hold a pulse, yet you're giving them a cello to play. It's a joke, it's impossible."
Learning an Instrument
The Suzuki Method teaches children as young as two and a half to play complicated pieces, usually on violin, by copying. Alison Apley, Suzuki teacher and teacher trainer, says: "It only works if the parent, child and teacher work in a triangle."
Although it is effective, Suzuki is also controversial. Sheila Nelson, a well-known specialist in string education and teacher of violinist Nicola Loud, who became Young Musician of the Year in 1990, says: "It's fine if you want children to play organised music at a young age but if they want to be real musicians, Suzuki isn't on, mainly because there's nothing creative, no singing, just copying straight onto the instrument. They have difficulty reading music, particularly rhythms. It's too much cart before the horse."
But Steve Lawrence, parent of two Suzuki children, says:
"It's very child-centred and because they are in a performance situation once a week, making mistakes doesn't matter to them, they just carry on."
In the end the choice is yours, the important thing is to find out about the kind of class you are considering for your child.
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