Krotchet Kidz
This pre-instrumental music course is designed for school-aged children in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2. It is an opportunity for young children to gain an understanding of musical concepts before they commence formal lessons in a particular instrument.
By participating in a range of fun, progressive activities focusing on the areas of rhythm and pitch, children will begin to use music notation. Imagine how much easier it will be to learn an instrument later when you are already familiar with reading music!
The Conservatorium has a wide range of percussion instruments that are used in the Early Childhood Music Program. These instruments will be used also in the Pre-Instrumental Program (Krotchet Kidz), but in a more structured way. Children will develop their aural skills with echo work, play ostinati (repeated patterns) for simple songs, and use their knowledge about rhythm patterns to create their own patterns and start some elementary score-reading.
Children will also have the opportunity to place simple tuned instruments. From Term 2 they will start recorder (parents to buy their child a recorder and possibly a music book), and in Term 3 and 4 they will learn to play another instrument. This is a wonderful opportunity to experience some different ways of making music before settling on a particular instrument to learn, and the children also start to form good practice habits.
There is a range of instrumental music suitable for children to listen to (such as Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Schumann's Scenes from Childhood, Tchaikovsky's Album for the Young, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, Debussy's Children's Corner Suite etc). Each class will include listening activities focusing on areas such as the sounds of different instruments, contrasting tempos, dynamic range, and moods/feelings/images evoked by the music. Children develop their listening skills and aural discrimination, and start learning music vocabulary.
Each class also includes a singing circle game, a free improvisation activity and an opportunity to perform something of their choice (song, rhyme, bongo drum solo! etc). These activitie provide a break in concentration for the children, with physical activity and creativity.
A small amount of homework will be set each week (parents need to provide a scrapbook for pasting in homework and activity sheets). This helps develop a routine for practice when learning an instrument, and a sense of responsibility for the children in caring for their music book and remembering to bring it to music class each week.
The current progressed class will be held on Tuesdays from 4.00-5.00pm, (commenced in February 2010).
An additional fresh class will begin in Term 2 held on Wednesdays from 4.00-5.00pm.
For more information please contact either Valda, Kate or Matthew on 02 4723 7611.
