Children’s Programs
Music Basics for Kids is a general music program designed for elementary school-age children, kindergarten through sixth grades. The classes are held Saturday mornings in the Choral Room (#0113) which is located in the basement of the music building on the Stony Brook University Campus. The times of the classes are as follows: Kindergarten 9:30 AM; 1st and 2nd grades, 10:30 AM; 3rd through 6th grades 11:30 AM. Each class session is 50 minutes. The curriculum is based on a methodology known as Dalcroze Eurhythmics.
• What is Dalcroze Eurhythmics?
Eurhythmics was developed during the early part of the twentieth century by Emile Jacques-Dalcroze, a Swiss composer and teacher.
His unique pedagogical approach, based on physical movement, ear-training, and improvisation, was designed to develop coordination between ear, mind, and body. Originally taught to students at the Geneva Conservatory, Eurhythmics is now taught at music schools and conservatories all over the world to musicians of all ages.
In class, students experience music through games and exercises that allow them to use physical movement as they learn the basics of pitch, rhythm and notation. By developing their musicianship - the ability to hear, think, read and feel music more deeply - they are able to approach their instruments with new understanding and skill. The idea that students experience music physically before they wrestle with symbols and theoretical abstraction is at the heart of Dalcroze work.
