Curricula - MusikMakers

From the writers:

We have written the MusikMakers programs in the strong belief that every child can derive great benefit from exposure to music at an early age. Research in Australia and other countries has demonstrated that young children's involvement in musical programs enhances their concentration, listening skills, creativity, spatial awareness, motor co-ordination, language development, co-operation and a host of other desirable outcomes. The research is backed up by our own experience as early childhood music educators of long experience.

MusikMakers has developed music programs specifically for Australasian children. They are therefore culturally appropriate for these children.

In compiling MusikMakers programs, our aim has been to engage the children in a way that fosters their development and promotes their natural enthusiasm for music. We are not aiming to teach music; our aim is to expose children to musical experiences and to build an appreciation and love of all things musical. Children who have participated in our programs will be ideally placed to begin formal music lessons should they, or their parents, so desire. However, even if children do not proceed to music lessons, they will have gained something that will add another dimension to their lives.

MusikMakers is intended for all children. It is not just for the gifted and talented, or just for those with wealthy parents. Our guiding principles in compiling the programs have been to make them developmentally appropriate and affordable.

MusikMakers Maestro

MusikMakers Maestro is a two year program for children aged 4½ to 7 years. If required, the second year of the program can be taught as a self contained unit to older children, aged 6+. The emphasis in this program is the development of musical concepts such as loud and soft, fast and slow, high and low, going up and coming down, beat and rhythm. The children participate in a variety of activities, sing and play simple songs, listen to stories and play games designed to develop these and other musical ideas. The ideas are developed through imitation, experimentation and repetition as the children listen, watch, move, move, act, use their voices and produce sounds on musical instruments.

Towards the end of the first term, children begin to develop some of these concepts through use of a set of colour-coded chime bars. The chime bars are used in lessons and later, at home to reinforce concepts introduced in class. Home activities are an integral part of the MusikMakers programs. Each week the children are given activities to complete and a Parent's card gives background information and instructions to parents.

Making instruments is a feature of MusikMakers Maestro. As part of the home activities, children make, decorate and play their own simple instruments from materials provided. Among others, the instruments include a tin-can drum, a straw oboe, a paper-plate tambourine, a poly-pipe horn and a bottle violin. These are made at home and brought to class for use in a range of musical activities. By making and playing these simple instruments, children learn about the production of sound.

Throughout the course, children use graphic (pictorial) 'notation' to develop their sense of high and low and as an aid to seeing the melodic outline of a short song. The symbols are placed high and low to represent high and low notes. Before playing takes place, much time is spent on singing and moving to the melodic outline and working with the beat and rhythm. In the latter half of the second year, children are introduced to pre-notation and the musical alphabet, but a staff is not used and there is no attempt to teach musical notation. Children of this age group are not ready to learn notation and read music, especially when many of them have not started, or are only just beginning, to read words.

In each year of the program, children are introduced to composers. They listen to brief excerpts of well-known pieces of music from a few of the great composers. At the same time, they learn a little about the life of the composer and the era in which the composer lived. Complementing the introduction to composers, the children are encouraged to make up their own simple compositions, using graphic (pictorial) 'notation' and two or three notes on their chime bars.

Experience from the pilot programs run in Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland, has shown that children find MusikMakers Maestro interesting, challenging, rewarding and enjoyable. Feedback from parents has been universally positive and many have expressed surprise and satisfaction at the social, intellectual and motor development shown by their children while participating in MusikMakers Maestro lessons.