Parent’s Role

All children have the natural ability to learn to sing in tune, keep a beat, and participate with confidence and pleasure in music and movement, provided that their early environment supports such learning. At Music Together® we introduce parents and their young children to the joys of actively making music rather than passively consuming it from CDs and television. Young children learn through play and experimentation, and by watching and listening to the grownups they love enjoying making music. Parents don't need to have musical skills, just a desire to play and have fun with their children!
In class, children and adults have many opportunities to create and to play- making up rhythm patterns, making up new words to songs, making up movements to express a sound. Children may or may not participate as they choose and are given the freedom to respond according to their developmental level and temperament. The class experience, reinforced by listening to CDs and parent involvement, stimulates learning at home.

Class Descriptions

Mixed Age Classes
Most classes are mixed ages from birth through and including four.
A child's music development benefits greatly from early exposure as an infant.Three and four year olds benefit by having the opportunity to be leaders in the mixed age classroom. Activities focus on adult/child interaction rather than child/child, so children of different ages (such as siblings) can enjoy classes together. Sibling discount is available.

New! Intergenerational Class
Senior citizens at Briteside join in the fun, singing and dancing along with area children and their parents or caregivers. Infants, toddlers and kindergarteners get a chance to befriend older folks in the neighborhood. For many seniors and families alike, participating in our class is the highlight of their week. Briteside is a friendly adult daycare center where seniors, staff and community members share the joy of intergenerational music-making with one another each week.

What is Music Together®?

A community of families sharing songs, instrument play, rhythm chants, and movement activities in a relaxed, playful, non-performance -oriented setting.

Music learned through developmentally appropriate activities that support and respect the unique learning styles of very young children.

Six to twelve children (infants, toddlers, and preschoolers) participating at their own levels in family style classes of mixed ages.

Our teachers creating a fun, easy atmosphere and guiding parents, caregivers and children in 45 minutes of 12-14 music and movement experiences.

A new song collection every 10 week semester, each containing carefully chosen folk songs, chants and original music, all pitched in just the right range for children's developing voices. Songs in unusual meters and non-major tonalities provide a rich and varied music experience.

2 CD recordings and an accompanying beautifully illustrated songbook containing information for parents on how children learn and music activities to do at home. An introductory DVD and booklet for parents new to the program.


The Collections

The Center for Music and Young Children (CMYC) has developed nine non-sequential song collections, each characterized by its own graphic, color, and instrument. These collections each include a recording and songbook and are designed to be used one collection per semester. A family can begin Music Together classes at any time with any collection.
Original songs and arrangements by the program coauthors make these collections especially unique. Outstanding instrumentalists play a variety of instruments, such as guitar, bass, flutes, keyboards, and percussion. And all of the songs are suitable for mixed-age groups, perfect for families with children of different ages.
Music Together’s song collections are research-based and artistically conceived and produced. They are also classroom- and family-tested. Since 1987, the feedback of hundreds of teachers and thousands of families has been incorporated into these constantly evolving materials.