In this 4 week class we will explore different fundamentals of music while playing games and having fun!

Week 1: Can You Find the Beat? 
In week 1 learners will be introduced to the beat and rhythm.The beat is the steady pulse that you hear when listening to music. Often when we clap or tap our feet along with a song we are doing so on the beat. Think of the ticking of a clock, very steady and unchanging. The rhythm is the value of the notes within the music. Music is not only played on the steady beat, it takes all different note values in different orders to make a piece of music! 

In this lesson we will explore finding the beat by listening to a metronome. We will try to keep our own steady beat without speeding up or slowing down (this is much more difficult than it sounds!). Then we will introduce the eighth, quarter, and half note values, practice counting each value and then practice putting them in different orders. We will play fun musical games such as call and response games. And each learner will have the opportunity to compose their own unique rhythms throughout the lesson! 

Week 2: Solfeggio 101
In week 2 learners will begin to build a foundation for an important musical skill - solfeggio! Solfeggio is a system that helps train the ear to recognize relationships between pitches and hear patterns in music. It is never too soon to begin building this musical foundation! In this lesson we will learn the solfeggio syllables (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti) and the hand signs used for each. We will play different musical games, including call and response and imitation games, to reinforce these syllables and hand signs. Finally, we will learn solfeggio and hand signs for the melody of a common children's song so that learners will be able to practice at home. We will incorporate concepts from rhythm and beat from the previous week throughout the lesson.

Week 3: What's That Pitch? 
This lesson will begin by looking at the five line staff and students will practice drawing their own staves. After drawing the staff we will learn about clefs and add the treble clef to our staff. The staves and clefs are like the pages on which the language of music is written. Once we have our pages (staff and clef) written, we will learn the names of the lines and spaces on the treble staff. Then, we will learn how to write three different notes and rests, eighth, quarter, and half. We will practice writing different note values on different pitches on the staff while incorporating the concepts of beat & rhythm and solfeggio syllables from the previous weeks. 

Week 4: Put It All Together and What Do You Get? 
In this final lesson we will practice combining all of the concepts and elements from previous weeks. We will play musical games, sing common children's songs and review all of the concepts from previous weeks. We will put them all together to make music! 

This class is for beginning musicians, no prior knowledge of the skills covered is necessary, just a willingness to try something new and have fun!