Hello Kindermusik Friends,
It's about that time! Everyone is getting settled into the fall routine. Hard to believe that "fall" is here already and that summer time has passed so fast!
 I think about the many facets of time often. Many times I've said "Mothers, if anyone, really know about quantum time mechanics! Ten minutes of soothing a crying infant at 3am is eternity and six months of their lives is a BLINK." And as a wonderful Kindermusik educator peer of mine loves to say: "Childhood is a short season." My nephew is starting Kindergarten and my own son has graduated from college and is starting his career, off on his own!
 An especially interesting dimension of time's modern quality is that it seems to go faster and faster while we simultaneously try to cram more and more into each moment. ("And the hurrieder I go the behinder I get!" Yikes!)
Where's the "pause button"?
I've got an idea. There is a pause button of sorts. You find it by being "in the moment" . And I know it happens every Kindermusik class when you are with your child; the one who really does know how to be in the moment. This is the kind of time no one regrets making time for. Your child pulls you into to the moment where sharing the music takes you away from your hurriedness and all your concerns, even if only for the short Kindermusik class time.
What are you waiting for? Have you enrolled yet for fall? The first class is the week of Sept. 12th.
Some things won't wait.
See you in class.
Yvette

Summer greetings to all my Kindermusik friends! I hope you are enjoying a musical summer, whether you are on our summer Kindermusik Zoo Train or driving across the land listening to your CDs or just singing and twirling together!
 This summer has been so full of music; quartets, duets and solos abound! I know many of you have asked me to give you heads up for family friendly live music events in the area.  Here's a very special concert "Love Notes for Haiti"  happening this Tuesday July 26, 7pm (it will be short) downtown at the Basilica of St. Lawrence. It's my own daughter, Claire, giving a violin recital here in Asheville. I'd love to share it with you. Scroll to the bottom of this post for all the details.

 Also I wanted to let you know that the fall schedule is live online . Don't  put off registering as I know certain classes will fill up.:-)
 One more great event ahead. This is a free event and I'm the speaker. I'll be talking about the parent's role in nurturing music education for their child.

Come join the Holistic Parenting Forum on Friday, August 5th from 6-8 pm in the Community room at the West Asheville Earth Fare. Our topic for August is: "Instrumental music education and cognitive development". Presented by Yvette Odell.  RSVP's requested.

It is becoming more widely known that a child's instrumental music education plays a big part in their cognitive development even to the point of boosting student's S.A.T. scores. Parents who hear this have many questions like:

"Really?"
"Would music lessons be appropriate for my family?"
"Is my child musical?"
"What if neither parent is 'musical'?"
"How young should you start?"
"How do you keep them practicing?"
"How do you find a teacher?"
"Won't they just do it in school?" 

What are your questions and aspirations? Yvette Odell will lead a discussion on this topic, adding her own experience, passion, perspective and inspiration, including many other benefits of music education for your family.

And NOW Here's the info on Claire's recital: 

7pm Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Basilica of Saint Lawrence

97 Haywood St.

Asheville, North Carolina 28801

Love Notes for Haiti

A violin recital presented by Claire Gerhardt

Claire Gerhardt is a violinist studying performance and music education at Lawrence University. She is inspired to present this concert of classical music to prepare herself to volunteer at the Ecole Musique Dessaix-Baptiste, a music school in Jacmel, Haiti, for their summer camp. Claire will be working with young students learning to play orchestral instruments.

The recital will include works by Bach, Paganini, Biber, and DeBeriot. Assisting her will be Daniel Pinelli, violin, and Anne Gerhardt, cello. During the recital Claire will be sharing some interesting facts about the musical works, the acoustics in the beautiful basilica, and about the music schools in Haiti.

This recital is free and open to the public; donations are encouraged. Your donations will go towards her flight to Haiti, and any surplus will be used directly for music, instruments, and supplies for music students in Haiti.

 Hope to see many of you there! and don't forget if you want some ideas on how to take  young children to concerts read my blog post! "Taking your young children to live music events"

 Keep singing and twirling!
Yvette Odell
Singandtwirl@gmail.com

www.kindermusikwithyvette.com

Music education: I'm trying to be a tiger mom!

I'm trying to be a Tiger Mom to my daughter, getting her to practice, practice, practice her cello! I'm doing this because I believe playing a musical instrument well is key to developing her confidence, self efficacy, creativity, intelligence....well, to developing just about her whole self. You know when you gaze into the eyes of your newborn and say I want you to be independent, compassionate, confident, capable, trustworthy, trusting, loving, curious, intelligent, productive......(my list is quite long). But I'm not the best Tiger Mom. Ever since this "Tiger Mom" concept hit the headlines I've been thinking about how it applies to me. I'm pretty easy going (wimp?) in every other area with my daughter EXCEPT music.

This was an interesting read:

Sorry Tiger Mom, it doesn’t have to be drudgery to be productive and character building.
Getting over the “hump” isn’t just about reaching the inherent rewards, it’s an integral part of the confidence-building element of Sistema previously referenced here. Confidence, in this context, is virtually synonymous to Albert Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy, a term he used to describe our belief in our own ability to ......(go read it!)

This I found at a blog by Johnathan Andrew Govias. It's a short article and touches on music education and self-efficacy AND a program to lift children over the drudgery, the "hump" of learning to play an instrument. Do read it! The program he is talking about is El Sistema and....hark! I hear now the timpani in the distance! El Sistema is coming to Asheville. (In about 18 months.)

Here's a listening experience for you if you'd like goose bumps. The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra contains the best high school musicians from Venezuela's life-changing music program, El Sistema. Led here by Gustavo Dudamel, they play Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, 2nd movement, and Arturo Márquez' Danzón No. 2.

Who wouldn't want this experience for their child? I believe every child can.

Does your baby LOVE music? Does your child sing all the time?

Have you considered trying out a Kindermusik class but wondering if your child would enjoy it? Or if your child is old enough?

This FREE music, movement and story time all rolled into one really fun class is a great chance for you to try this out. You'll even receive a free CD or card to download free music to your mp3 player for your family to make music at home!

Free Preview Kindermusik class (newborn to 7+yo)
July 6 in south Asheville at Skyland United Methodist Church (1984 Hendersonville Rd.)
OR July 7 at the Asheville Performing Arts Academy (193 Charlotte St.).
We'll have 2 different times at each location:10am or 11am.
Please RSVP to tell which time and location works best for you:
singandtwirl@gmail.com

For more information on Kindermusik with Yvette see her website.

Kindermusik in Asheville wins honors!

The families of Western North Carolina have voted on family friendly activities, restaurants, programs, and much more.  The Kindermusik educators of of Western North Carolina are humbly grateful to have been voted "BEST" in two different categories! Thanks to you we are recognized as WNC Parent's BEST PARENT/CHILD Program and BEST MUSIC Program! HOORAY!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

 

It really is the BEST thing to do with your little ones. You'll have a moment each week where it's all about the two of you. Delve into your relationship with your child. (Grandparents and dads you are welcome to be here. It's not just "Mommy and Me". This is great for you too.) You will see your child's thirst for musical fun, curiosity in full swing, creativity in movement and sound.

I am so happy that we are recognized as BEST MUSIC Program as I feel so passionately about the power of music to make a difference in the child's cognitive development---and social, emotional, physical development, as well as their musical development. I'm so pleased with the new set of Kindermusik graduates who are stepping into the world of music lessons with a huge advantage of being literate in music reading, listening skills that are turned on, an understanding of music such that they can listen to a piece of music and tell you if the beats are organized in groups of 3s or 4s. Most 7 and 8 year olds would not know what you are talking about if you asked them about meter in music.

If you are interested in registering for the 5-7+yo class with Yvette then send me an email or check out the website. This class was packed full last fall and most likely will be again this year.

AND!!! The summer classes (begins July 8th) still have room (nearly full!) so it's time to try out the shorter summer sessions!

Kindermusik Birthday Party!!

So SWEET! I did the cutest little birthday party yesterday. It was very simple and the children smiled and giggled almost the whole time!

Here's the recipe for the perfect summer birthday party:
Choose a park close to home decorated with wonderful shady trees.
Invite family and friends.
Instead of gifts as the friends to bring a healthy snack to share.
Invite Yvette to bring her guitar and her suitcase full of fun Kindermusik instruments.
(You can request your favorite songs and Kindermusik activities).
Bring a yummy sheetcake and candles (don't forget the lighter).
Have your camera handy.

Schedule the fun music about 15 minutes after the start time of the party with egg shakers, scarves, jingles, beach balls and the parachute!









By your example encourage all the adults to join in the fun. This is actually when I notice the look of the children change to full joy. They love it when you play too. What's written all over their faces is love, love, love. 





 
 Next, enjoy the snack and enjoy conversation with each other!

When it's time for cake make sure to get lots of great photos.









After singing "Happy Birthday", blowing out candles and eating cake let the little ones play on the park equipment or in the sandbox while the grown ups do some visiting! 

A wonderful thing to do after the special day is to make a little memory book for your child. Sit down together and look at the  pictures.  Ask them to explain the photos from their perspective and tell what they remember and what they liked the best. Write down their thoughts as well as yours.  Put any birthday cards in the memory book too!

A party like this is very special. The children did not once get overwhelmed or over stimulated. There were no tears at all.  Even the grown ups (the mom too!) enjoyed themselves as far as I could tell! I've been to a few parties in my day (including for my own children!) and I've learned the lesson of making memories worth keeping means not going over the top, no matter HOW much we love the birthday girl or birthday boy. After all that IS what matters!

If you'd like to know more about inviting Kindermusik to your birthday party send me an email! singandtwirl@gmail.com

What do you do with a baby, an infant, in Kindermusik?

I've been teaching Kindermusik since 1995. Maybe it was in 1998 that I began teaching the brand new Kindermusik Village class for babies who are newborn to 18 months. Now families did not need to wait until their baby was a year and a half old to experience this great program! But, oh, my goodness! What does one do with these babies? And just how young should they start???

The miracles that I experienced in teaching babies over the years turn out to be everyday occurrences! Miraculous nonetheless! One day I noticed a tiny, tiny baby babbling on the resting tone of the song that I was singing. (The resting tone, or tonic, is the tonal center. You might recognize it as the first note of the scale a song is built on. For instance in the song, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, the tune both begins and ends on the resting tone.) Now THAT was a miracle.  That baby is a genius! A musical prodigy! I heard it! And now after more than 10 years of hearing this miracle in nearly every class I still believe each and every one of those babies is a musical genius. I hear them babble, sing, fuss and even cry on the pitches of the songs we sing in class every day.

Babies in Kindermusik come to me as young as 5 weeks old. Here they're a bit older and more able to act on their curiosities. They are able to prove to us their receptivity to musical experience. With the very tiny babies we must trust in their ability to process musical input with out the obvious feedback. But if you watch very carefully, and know what to look and listen for, the proof is right there!

Shinichi Suzuki wrote in his beautiful book Nurtured by Love: The Classic Approach to Talent Education that he had witnessed a newborn sibling of one of his violin students wriggle in recognition of the music that the student had been working on while the baby was yet unborn. This newborn infant's reaction to music is miraculous too! But many, many mothers have reported that their newborn babies are calmed or animated by music that they had enjoyed when pregnant.

The article below explains some of the research being done to document an unborn baby's music perception. I  have read that the ear begins to perceive vibrations as early as 23 days gestation and this article states that it is fully functional around 5 weeks before birth.

Infants Recognize Melodies Heard in the Womb

 But, getting back to tiny babies in Kindermusik, I'd like you to know of other miracles I notice on a regular basis. One of my favorite musical activities, favorite because it always gets the babies' rapt attention, smiles, and active participation, is the stop and go game. For this we sing a song like

"Walk all around now, walk all around. Walk all around now, walk all around. Walk all around now, walk all around. Walk all around now, walk all around, and STOP!"

(you can download this song from Kindermusik.play.com )

I ask myself "How much self control or physical body control does a baby have? Can a 6 month old, or a 2 month old, play in this stop and go game? The walkers (the older ones who can prove their musical processing to us) can stop and can even learn to anticipate the phrase to stop at exactly the right moment. But in observing the babies in their mothers' arms do it too! They go from wiggling arms and or legs, moving their heads around, vocalizing, etc. to absolutely motionless! The entire room is silent and motionless. Another miracle! These babies can measure and predict the timing of the phrases just like the older ones! The rest of the games includes extending the "waiting" of the stop until you get a signal from the baby to begin again.

Here's the important lesson I have learned.  

Babies get it.  They come out of the womb already knowing about the pitches, tonalities, the patterns of melody, rhythm, phrases, sounds and silences, and so much more.  We adults have to be ready to notice it too. If they notice that we notice it (repeatedly) then they will decide it is worth knowing about, worth remembering. THAT is when the neural connections solidify and become permanent. Otherwise this music aptitude just goes away! 

And the question for the parents of these musical genius' is "How long should we wait before bringing our baby to Kindermusik?" How many missed opportunities to notice musical cues? Many grown-ups need coaching in noticing and how to show your noticing to your baby. That's my job! Don't wait. Come to visit a class for free with your baby. I'll help you to see the miracles for yourself! 

http://www.kindermusikwithyvette.com/index.php/home/free_class/

There's my baby with my oldest (just 15 years ago)! She began her Kindermusik journey in utero! Her out of womb experiences in class began at 3 weeks. She helped me teach all my classes! Her very first class was a Kindermusik for the Young Child class (5-7yo).  She cried and cried when the parents came in for the sharing time. I decided to sing the explanation for the home activity and like a miracle she stopped crying and was very attentive!