Maura Brewer: Music time for learning and loving!

Hi! I’m Maura Brewer. I am a mom of (soon to be) 4 children, and a wife to my high-school sweetheart. I moved with my family to Vancouver, WA when I was twelve and have considered it home ever since. 

Something Was Missing
I’ve been involved with music since toddler-hood and I am passionate about the power of music to enrich people’s lives! I started piano lessons when I was five and continued all through high school. Growing up, I also studied flute and took voice lessons. Music is an integral part of my life and who I am and I’m so grateful for my parents who gave me these opportunities as I grew up!

I graduated from Brigham Young University with a BM in Music Education: Elementary Music Specialist with dual teaching certifications in Music Education and K-8 Elementary Classroom. I remember studying various early childhood music programs in college, but always felt like something was missing from the ones I had researched. 

After graduating college, I was teaching full time as a music specialist in an elementary school and starting to teach private piano lessons. I stumbled upon Let’s Play Music while doing an internet search for teaching resources. I watched the online sample videos, read about the philosophies of the program and instantly fell in love! This is was what I had been looking for! This program was not missing anything to help teach a well-rounded musician and it was so child-centered and developmentally appropriate!! I instantly requested info about becoming a teacher and the rest is history! 

Working Mom
After I had my first child, I wanted to devote more time to my family at home, but also keep up my teaching and music skills, so Let’s Play Music was a perfect fit! I trained to become a teacher in Utah, but then a job opportunity for my husband opened up back home, so we moved to Vancouver and I had to wait a year to actually start teaching. I now have a thriving studio with Let’s Play Music, Sound Beginnings, and Private Lessons here in the Pacific Northwest!

I’m so grateful to have Let’s Play Music and Sound Beginnings in my life and in

my children’s lives! I think one of the best things about Let’s Play Music and Sound Beginnings is the learning is so natural, easy, and FUN for the children. They barely even know they are learning complex musical concepts because it is presented in a fun way and provides a happy bonding experience for them and their families! I have seen this in my own children. 

Not Another Checklist Item

My children love music because we play and have fun together. Music is not just another “thing” to add to the checklist, but a time we look forward to spending together learning, loving, and playing. I am so delighted that I have the opportunity to teach my own children and children in the community the beauty that music can bring to our lives through such extraordinary programs!


Learn about my classes here.

Sound Beginnings Class comes to Pittsburgh!

I’m Heather Ann – a mom to three boys and a little girl (just born in January!), a wife to a fun-­loving soccer fan, a recent Pittsburgher, a self­-proclaimed grammar geek, a chocolate ice cream aficionado, and a Sound Beginnings teacher!

A Place to Call Home

My husband was active duty in the Marine Corps for most of our marriage, and we lived in Japan, Washington state, California, Florida, and North Carolina. I have my teaching license for elementary school and for secondary English, but it can be difficult for military spouses to build a career since we move often (12 houses in 12 years for us!). On top of that, I wanted to do something that would allow me to be home with my kids while they are young. Teaching piano lessons was the perfect fit!

We relocated to Pittsburgh, PA, last year after my husband was medically retired, and I started teaching piano lessons just a few weeks after we settled in. A number of parents asked about having lessons for their preschoolers, and I wondered about a music class for younger children. 

Prepare for Music, Prepare for Life

Shortly after that, I was introduced to both Let’s Play Music and Sound Beginnings, and I was blown away by how much these young kids were learning!

I love that Sound Beginnings prepares two­ to four ­year­-olds for both future music classes and kindergarten, and it’s so fun to have parents participate with their children. There are so many songs, finger plays, stories, activities, and dances to keep everyone active and interested. It’s amazing to watch these toddlers and preschoolers learn letters, sounds, numbers, calendar concepts, rhythm, solfege, scales, and more all through music and movement! It’s also wonderful to watch a great sense of camaraderie develop within each class over the 15­-week semester, and I find that having smaller classes in a home environment helps that happen.

I’m so glad to have the opportunity to teach Sound

Beginnings, especially since my own boys have been able to take classes with me! I love the program as a teacher, but I also really love the program as a mom. After taking just one semester, my two­ year­-old knows most of his letters and sounds and can make the solfege hand signs, and my four­ year-old knows the months of the year and tracks notes in the hymnal as we sing at church.

We all know the songs for the semester (even my seven ­year-­old!), and we often have instruments, the gathering drum, or the parachute out to enjoy with friends or our family.

Something Special for Boys?
I’ve taught piano lessons for about 15 years, and I’ve recently noticed a huge increase in the number of boys who are interested in learning music. In my first year of teaching piano lessons, only three of 30 students were boys, but this year, half of my students are boys and I have one Sound Beginnings class of all boys! I’ve been thrilled to see this change, especially as a mom of three boys who wants to instill a love and knowledge of music. I’m excited to continue teaching Sound Beginnings classes and to have my boys start Let’s Play Music next year!



Learn more about registering for Heather Ann's classes in Pittsburgh here.

Melissa Ashby: This is How Music is Taught

Hi, I'm Melissa. I grew up in Alberta, Canada. I now live in Hillsboro, Oregon with my husband and our 3 kids ages 14, 11 and 6.

This is How Music Should Be Taught

Music has played a big part in my life. I started playing piano when I was  9 and flute at 11. I was always involved in music lessons, bands, music productions, and choirs. I have  a B.S. in Child Development and have always enjoyed teaching. When I taught private piano lessons, I always tried to find ways to incorporate games and fun activities. The students could not seem to sit at the piano for 30 minutes! 

Then I found Let's Play Music! This is exactly how music should be taught! This was something I wanted to teach! I have been teaching Let's Play Music for 6 years now. I love it; I can't say enough wonderful things about it.  


Seeing is Believing

I started teaching LPM in Utah and after 2 years moved to Oregon. I didn't know anyone in Oregon except my in-laws. I asked my sister-in-law to send an email to her friends telling them about my sample class. With just one sample class, I filled 2 Red Balloon classes. These parents had no idea who I was, but they could see how amazing Let's Play Music is. This program sells itself.


I love that teaching LPM has taken me out of my comfort zone. Just last week I admitted to my current Red Balloon parents that my biggest fear when I first started teaching was singing in front of parents!  It terrified me!  Now, I don't even think twice about it. I am having too much fun! I break into song all the time, embarrassing my poor teenage son.

It Makes My Day
I have really enjoyed teaching my own children, although they can sometimes be the toughest students in the class. My youngest was 1 when I started teaching.  Let's Play Music has been a big part of his childhood. He is now in his 3rd year of LPM. I love listening to him sing all the time. I love his grasp on music theory. It makes my day when I hear him make up songs on the piano. 


I love learning. I really enjoyed college. Over the years I have enjoyed various community college classes and I'm currently doing an online program.  I love that with Let's Play Music I feel like I'm always learning and growing. Whether I'm brushing up my theory skills in order to answer an extremely inquisitive student or parent, rearranging classroom management strategies to help each child have the best experience, or attending an amazing LPM training or symposium, I love it all and feel like I am continually learning so much.

- Melissa Ashby, B.S.
Let's Play Music Teacher 

Sign up for my classes and watch a video of me teaching HERE

Rosalyn Ellsworth: LPM Fills a Need in My Soul

I caught up with Rosalyn Ellsworth who recently relocated from Gilbert, Arizona to Mapleton, Utah where she teaches three classes one day a week.

Tell us about yourself and your move:

Rosalyn, far left, with other teachers from her area.

I’m a native Arizonan, so living in Utah has been a grand adventure!  It is beautiful here, the mountains are magnificent, and the people have been friendly.  None so friendly, though, as my Let’s Play Music family!  I inherited half of my current students and it has been a great blessing to find an immediate network of teachers and parents in a new location.  I am grateful to those who have welcomed me and trusted me to teach their children.  I'm a single mom and have 7 children ages 6-24.

Before ‘Mom Explores Michigan’, there was ‘Mom’s Beat’

I remember when all 5 of our children were in school and I had picked up some classes at the community college to explore my next chapter.  One day I came upon the "Mom’s Beat" column in the Arizona Republic newspaper showcasing Let’s Play Music with an interview of Shelle Soelberg.  I couldn’t figure out how to pronounce her name (was it Shell or Shelly?), but I was riveted by her teaching philosophies of how to reach and utilize a child's imagination and heart to give children a full grasp of music.  I nodded in agreement as Shelle described parent-to-child bonding as the fuel powering the curriculum vehicle of playful songs and musical games, transporting music deeper into a child's heart and mind.  

At first I was elated by what I saw as a breakthrough in children's music instruction.  But then my heart sank. Twice.  Once, because I wasn’t involved in something so energetic and meaningful, and twice, because my children were too old to participate.  I studied the article, re-reading key points and then I recognized the name of the columnist, Brooke Romney, a new friend I had met a few months previously.  

Shortly thereafter, I volunteered with Brooke at a cub scout activity.  I mustered the courage to compliment Brooke on her article.  This was hard because I was still broken-hearted to be left out of LPM.  Imagine my surprise (and gratitude) when Brooke let me know Let's Play Music certified teachers for teaching the curriculum and encouraged me to become a Let’s Play Music teacher!  As if she hadn’t already encouraged me enough, Brooke then registered two of her boys in my classes.  We had a ball, and the rest is history.  

"You lift me, and I’ll lift thee, and we’ll ascend together"

I was just thinking the other day how Let’s Play Music fills a very real need in my soul.  I was 8 years old when I began violin lessons with my Grandpa, Beryl Folks.  It was hard work.  I wanted so badly to please my Grandpa and he had exact expectations that required serious practice.  There were many tears, and what felt to me, long practicing sessions.  I am sure I only practiced one hour a day, but it felt much longer!  Piano began a little later, and while piano seemed easier since I didn’t have to create the correct pitch, I found it also required diligence and focus.

About that time, my parents took our family to see a stage musical and brought the soundtrack home.  The play had captured my imagination and the soundtrack kept it alive.  My sister and I sang along and reenacted that play over and over.  Soon we added new songs and musical soundtracks to our interpretations.  I felt happy singing and dancing, happier still, when Mom would curl up on the couch and watch.  Singing and performing with my sister are some of my happiest childhood memories.

Then, Up With People! came to town and I fell in love.  I was 11 years old had found my calling in life!  I wanted to be on that stage, singing and dancing wearing lip gloss and holding a microphone!  Touring with a show choir to destinations like Russia and New York enticed my young mind.  What strikes me now is the fact that show choirs and musical theatre are built on MUSIC.  At my young age, I didn’t equate music study with joy – and I certainly didn’t realize the very violin and piano study I was painfully enduring was the backbone for my dream.

Decades later in my studio, I find my polar opposite childhood musical experiences have merged.  I now enjoy a satisfying blend of playful showmanship surrounding serious musical instruction. My students and I get to play while we enjoy and learn music together.  

Share some of the Surprises You've Found while teaching?

My children were ages 10-18 when I began teaching and they were as supportive as teenagers can be when Mom embarks on something new.  My now 22 year old daughter shared that she learned more music theory listening to me teach my young Let’s Play Music students than in her childhood piano and high school choir experiences combined.  A few summers ago, after overhearing my phone conversation with someone in the corporate office, my then 18 year old son said, “I thought Let’s Play Music was just a little music class.  I didn’t know it was a thing.”  To which my husband quipped, “Oh it’s big.  It’s like NASCAR.”  Today, I can start singing any Let’s Play Music song and my big kids will jump in with me to sing the rest – Happiness!

A more recent and fun surprise for me has been the chance to finally attend class as a Let’s Play Music parent.  Our twin girls who arrived during my first year teaching are finally old enough to be students! While I attend classes with a smile and sing my very best, what has surprised me most is what happens during the week between classes.  Silly me, I thought all the fun was had during class.  Now, I thrill every time I hear precious little voices spontaneously singing their favorite Let’s Play Music songs.  Games played during class sometimes morph into crazy family bedtime procrastinators with Dad and the big teenage brothers.  And if I mimic the teacher’s antics just right during a puppet show, my little girls dissolve into giggles.  Seeing love and joy shine in their eyes feeds my soul.

Describe your studio?

The LPM studio at Ros's house.

I carry a small to medium studio and I love it that way because I am still in the thick of parenting.  Still, teaching fills me with joy and puts a bounce in my step, and I think makes me a more effective Mom.  This year, I’m teaching one day a week and it works.  Even with my few classes, I pour my heart into my preparation and my students.  I find I work well in clearly designated teaching areas. I have been blessed to be able to dedicate space in my home almost exclusively to my classes.  Teaching out of our homes provides a warmth to students, I think, that fosters trust and safety as we explore music together.  When parents attend class, I want them to feel comfortable moving around and participating with their child.  My goal is for parents of my students to find confidence in my professional commitment, teaching effectiveness and consistency.  

Highlights of your career so far?

Ros and some of her students.

Oh, there have been so many.  Like my first little group of students who learned the curriculum along with me – they will always be dear to me.  There’s the vibrant “I can” in the childrens’ eyes when they master playing their chords.  Or the satisfaction and accomplishment at the end of the third year, when they perform their own composition and take home a published copy of their work.  It’s thrilling.  There are the dedicated parents who carve out resources to provide this experience for their children, arrange child care so they can attend classes on parent days, learn ALL the songs, games, chords, puppet shows and hand signs, AND THEN supervise practice time with play, humor, emotional muscle and patience.  I absolutely respect and honor the Moms and Dads who walk through my door. 


Advice for parents who've enrolled in Let’s Play Music?

I would encourage parents to stay connected with their child’s teacher as they progress through the program.  One easy way is to make the parent orientation meeting held before classes begin a priority, then ask questions and get clarification throughout the semesters.  Communicate if you are struggling to master a musical skill during practice time and let your teacher help you identify and remove hurdles or suggest a new angle.  Share something that works well during practice time. Working together to reach each child more effectively is a win-win.

Advice for new teachers?

Believe in yourself and be your best self.  Trust that as you train in the Let’s Play Music philosophies and methods, and provide a quality product with integrity and consistency, you will attract students to your studio that work with your personality.  I am a firm believer in an abundance mentality.  Children in your area need you.  Other children in your area may need a different personality; that is one of the beauties of being a Let’s Play Music teacher.  Teachers complement each other in our cities throughout the country, even while we build friendships and support each other.   Which leads to my next suggestion, find a mentor friend.   Call and bounce ideas off each other.   Have confidence in the camaraderie.  Through the years I have been pleasantly rewarded for reaching out to teachers both in and outside my immediate area.  I count them as friends for taking my questions seriously and considering possible solutions with me.

Any parting words?

The Mom of a former student recently reached out and shared something her 7 year old had confided while preparing to meet his new private piano teacher: “I’m probably not going to ever have a music class as fun as Let’s Play Music.  Maybe we can send my new music to Mrs. Ros and she can tell us how to make it fun!” ❤

High Adventure in North Carolina: Sara DeVries

High Adventure Sara DeVries

Let's Play Music teachers come in all flavors. This month, we'd love to show you how fun it is when an adventure-loving woman like Sara turns her attention to teaching music in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Sara's Philosophy: "The world is beautiful and people are good. Live and love fully, with no regrets."

Dreams accomplished: Sara has: danced on a roof in London, kissed on top of the Eiffel Tower, was a glacier guide in Alaska, swam with pink dolphins in the Amazon Jungle, was a river guide on the Main and Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, helped orphans in Ecuador, loved, lived among, and served Filipinos while on a volunteer mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter­day Saints, mountaineered above 20,000 feet, rappelled off the Grand Teton, summited Mt. Rainier, spoke Mandarin for a year, had a piece of writing published, stayed up all night in Scotland, went scuba diving in Mexico under a full moon, has two lovely children and a wonderful husband.

Dreams yet to come: Sara plans to: see a sunset in Africa, learn yet another

language, live/travel with family to a foreign country, get a novel published, win a photography contest, be kind all the time, continually make a difference for good, perfect my Southern accent, have another baby! (due December 18, 2015)

Your Let’s Play Music History? "I have been a Let’s Play Music teacher since 2008 and LOVE the program. I graduated in secondary education and enjoy being able to help develop young musicians and meaningful relationships with both parents and students. 

I taught for several years in Alpine, Utah, with a large studio (9 classes, 3 of each year) and am in my second year teaching in Charlotte, NC, with a small studio (3 classes in all). It's fun watching the program blossom here in the South."

Why Let’s Play Music? "After teaching in the public school system and wanting to stay home with two children, Let’s Play Music was a great fit for many reasons. 

I looked at the lesson plans and saw that all five learning types of students would be reached, that curriculum focused on movement, play and experience, and that the philosophy of Let’s Play Music centers on a quote from Plato, “The function of beauty in the education of children is to lead them imperceptibly to love through sensory experience what they will afterwards learn to know in its own form as an intelligible principle.” Beautiful! 

Let’s Play Music curriculum encourages me to teach in a way that comes naturally to me—through play, positive experiences, and relationship development. I love “leading” these darling children on their path to musicianship and I learn much from them, too!

What are some things that make your studio stand out?: It's fun to be in a class with a friend, or to have someone to carpool and share childcare with. To help current clients as well as new families know that their friends will have an opportunity to register, I pass around my waitlist monthly for clients to write their friends' names. I make sure not to completely fill my classes for the next year until I have contacted the new friends. Basically, friends and family get to register before the general public to ensure they get a spot!

To help make dancing to the song, “Baby step, leap” even more adventurous, we might pretend we are at the ball with lovely gowns on and we are dancing in the middle of the ballroom. We do the song with elegant steps and leaps and delicate trots “down again”. Especially for the boys, we might pretend we are in the middle of a jungle, surrounded by the enemy and we have to get across the room without stepping on any landmines/bombs. We step and leap through the jungle and run “down again” when we see the enemy. 



The first time I had second-year students graduating, I had a few that hadn’t missed a practice all year. At the end of year program, I rewarded them with  small gift and perfect practicers award. I also had the parents of these perfect practicers stand and receive a single rose. We all know that behind a perfect practicer is a dedicated parent!  Now my first year students already ask if they can be perfect practicers when they are in the second year! This also sets the tone for parents that expectation are both high and achievable for students to accomplish a perfect practice year. Of course I offer an opportunity for make-ups if students travel and miss a practice or two.




REGISTER for classes with Sara in Charlotte, NC, or contact her.

Making Practice Fun with Bonnie Slaughter

I'm Bonnie Slaughter, and I love Let’s Play Music!  I love helping children blossom into musicians.  I love the excitement on their faces when they discover how patterns they sang about in Red Balloons and Blue Bugs come to life at the keyboard and in notation.  Thank you creator, Shelle Soelberg, and the LPM team for all the research and work you continue to put into making this program really special!
 
I have been teaching piano for over 40 years and maintain a studio of around 90 students aged infant to older adult.   I would like to share with you a few of my favorite tools for encouraging practicing.


Practice Abacus

The first tool my piano parents love is the Practice Abacus.  We all know that
repetitions are essential to solid learning and muscle memory.  So how do we make it fun?  With a colorful, personalized, hands-on tool that children can make themselves! 
  
After many trials, I came up with a design that is easy, economical and sturdy.  You will need foam board, 3 pipe cleaners and 30 beads.  I start with a piece of foam board and cut the board into 5” x 6” pieces.   

• Punch 6 holes down each short side about 5/8” from the edge.   
• Push  pipe cleaners up through the hole on one side and add 5 beads.  
• Put the end down through the hole on the opposite side.  Bend to go up into the next hole, add beads, and push down into the hole on the opposite end.  So one pipe cleaner makes 2 rows.  (I know that is pretty confusing instructions, so I show you how to make one on my You Tube channel.)  

You could make an abacus with your child as a gift at the beginning of Green Turtles.  What a special way to bond and get excited about the new semester! If you'd rather buy one, they can be purchased.

Practice Incentive Games 
I also created a packet of Practice Incentive Gameboards for you.  These seven creative games help make practicing fun!  You use them at home with any instrument (or chore!).  

When children color these themselves, it increases their ownership in the project, so I highly recommend planning a fun, special 'date' to make a game with your child.  Laminate it to make it super-special.  You can use the time together to talk up the excitement of the upcoming semester and plan how exciting it will be to use the games.

The student's set includes Musical Land, Football Fun, Practice Piggy, Majestic Music Mountain, Staccato Slalom Maze and Hanging Ornaments.  

You and your child are going to make up your own rules about how to move on the game and what the reward will be when they have finished.  Rewards might be a date night with Mom or Dad, an ice cream cone, or money. Decide together, and choose whatever is tickling that child’s fancy that month.  (I also
have large-sized gameboards for teachers to use in their studios.)

Amazing Parents
The most critical tool for student success is parent education and involvment.  Nothing your teacher does can replace the role of parents in empowering and motivating your own children! No one knows your children better than you do! 

I so wish I had known back when my kids were young what I know now.  I have been refining interactions with my piano students over the last few years and have had incredible experiences in making a difference in their lives.  It's hard to sum up every tip, but here are some I find important:

• Parents, start with identifying why you want your children to study music. Remind yourself regularly. Share it with your children.  It will help you stick to your guns. Music study isn't always easy! Don't give up!
• Communicate with your child. Demanding that they practice is confusing and contentious, but joyfully sharing your vision with them as you encourage them to practice is fun. Be compassionate about the hard things and the scary things they try. Be excited with them when they succeed.
• Remember, LPM is Let’s PLAY music.  Play WITH your child.  Sing, dance, enjoy the journey. Your attitude during the journey is important. Model it.
• One of the most powerful and motivating statements is, “I love hearing you play!”  Stop.  Just enjoy where they are right now and love them!

Empowering Students
All of my students have Declarations: a set of positive affirmations that they created and recite every day at home and at lessons.   As part of introducing themselves at our studio recital this last spring, each student stood and firmly stated their Declarations.  Many parents commented on how extra-special this recital was.  

We all know that when you are waiting for your turn, your mind is focused on what you are going to do next.  Imagine the difference between “Oh no, it is almost my turn, and I going to blow it? Will I be able to remember my piece?  What if I forget? Will they like it?”  compared to “I am an amazing pianist.  My family loves to hear me play.  I bring joy to people’s lives.”

Our thoughts and words have great power.  An inspiring writer I turn to, Dr. Masaru Emoto, has done fascinating research on the power of our words.  His book Hidden Messages in Water is a must-read for parents and teachers.

I have found such continuing drive for helping parents that I recorded an audio CD set called Surviving the Music Lesson Rollercoaster: Tools to Help Your Child Excel at Their Instrument and Life.  I have a CD for parents and one for teachers.  I am currently working on one for students which will feature first hand stories from my students.  I am also writing a music camp manual that includes some of these tools along with Magic Formulas for learning.  Developing formulas to encourage learning in fun, engaging ways is my way of teaching my students to fish, rather than simply giving them a fish.

For more information on the abacus, practice incentive games or Music Lesson Rollercoaster CDs, check out my website at:

www.oakwood.musicteachershelper.com or email me at bmusic@ida.net

More about Bonnie
BONNIE SLAUGHTER, NCTM is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music. She is member of the Idaho and Utah Music Teachers Associations. She has served as President of the Bridgerland and Ogden UMTA Chapters. She has also served on the Utah MTA State Board.
 
She has published 5 books, including music camps, which she enjoys sharing with music teachers across the country.  She has also created Theory Strips, a series of music theory workbooks to help students better understand and apply theory.

She is a member of the Music Educators Marketplace and Music Teacher Store which are internet sites dedicated to products for music teachers.

Bonnie is the founder and director of the Northern Cache Valley Performing Arts Festival which is held in Preston, Idaho each spring for solos and ensembles. The mission of the Festival is to provide adjudication and performance opportunities for students of all musical genres and abilities.

She is now offering classes and personal mentoring to parents and music teachers where they learn tools to empower and motivate their children and students. She is married and has five children and 19 grandchildren. 

Becca Smith: "Fulfilled in Teaching My Children"

Ms. Becca I Knew I'd Be a Teacher

My name is Rebecca Smith and all my students and their friends call me Ms. Becca. I started playing violin when I was 5. I grew up in a very musical family. My mother is an excellent pianist and taught through all my growing-up years. All eight siblings played at least one instrument, and those gifted ones did several. 

I had excellent teachers and during my high school years we moved from Salt Lake City to Knoxville, TN for my father’s calling in our church, where we had an incredible opportunity to study with Mark Zelmanovich, the concert master of the Knoxville symphony. I was also able to be a part of the Knoxville youth symphony, a great program in the area.  

In the fourth grade I had written in one my school projects that I was going to be a music teacher when I grew up. After graduating Farragut High I went to BYU to further my education. I felt inclined to become more well-rounded and achieved a B.S. in Health Sciences. I have continually taught 1 or more students violin from the time I graduated high school. 

Serious Theory...for Children!?
After I had been married a short time, my sister-in-law was telling me about an amazing music program called Let’s Play Music her children were enrolled in. I was intrigued and the more I looked into it, the more I thought, "I’ve got to have my own future children do this!" The music theory and concepts that the program teaches were what I was most impressed with first, since I hadn’t heard of any other program that introduced these concepts so early! After a year (and a move back to Knoxville) I knew it was time to look seriously into Let’s Play Music because there were no teachers in Knoxville. I started teaching one class of four kids in 2007 while I was working full time and had a few violin students as well. Slowly I added more classes and have just loved watching this program bless the lives of children and their families learning and understanding music in such a fun way! 

Here Comes The Surprise:

Life can throw you some curve balls, for sure. My husband and I were surprised and excited when we found out during our first pregnancy we were expecting twins! With no parents in town at that time, I was nervous about how I would care for babies and keep the music classes going. But I said to myself, “Remember, you are teaching this for YOUR babies to do one day.” I did somehow work it out and got back into a great groove of juggling babies and teaching. 

Fast forward almost 2 years and, surprise! We were expecting triplets! I had

just started an amazing group of first-year students and knew I couldn’t let them down. I will never forget the great group of moms who were so sweet and understanding of my challenges. They were fine with starting 2nd year later the next year in January and going straight through the summer so I could “manage” my babies. I’m just in awe that I’ve been so blessed to teach awesome children in my community and to have my own family have a great start in music! Wouldn’t you know we have 5 boys and, wow, they need that balance of music to help them to do well academically and offset all the sports!

A Musical Community

The twins just graduated LPM this spring with the largest group of third years I’ve ever had: 17 students. The triplets have loved Sound Beginnings and will be starting red balloons this fall. I have absolutely loved being integrated into the community in this way and have enjoyed all the people we have come to meet. I think back to those few crazy years and remember feeling my head was just above the water. Still, I wouldn’t change a thing. I feel so fulfilled teaching my own children and grateful for the opportunity our family has had to get to know remarkable families in our community. These families are doing fantastic things with their kids and I’m so happy to be a part of it.

Learn more about Ms. Becca's classes in Knoxville, TN, at:  Beccasmusic.com

Brooke Stevenson: This program does it ALL

Hello from Oregon!

I am really excited to talk about Let's Play Music.  Ever since I first started hearing about it, I couldn't talk enough about it to my friends and neighbors.

 

Brooke and some of her students celebrate on recital day.

Passion for Music

I have always enjoyed music; I took piano lessons and played flute as a teenager, but really became passionate about high school choir.  I was lucky to have a teacher, Kelly DeHaan, who instilled in me a deep love of music.  He changed my life and helped me realize music must always be a part of it.

I majored in vocal performance in college, but really excelled in my theory and composing classes.  My senior year I was selected to teach a college-level music theory class for music majors and I had a blast preparing lessons and teaching all the elements and rules of Baroque style music.

Shortly after graduating, I accepted a position teaching music at an elementary school.  I was impressed by the Kodaly curriculum and all the folk songs and games I played with each class.  The kids were receiving a great music foundation, especially in learning to sight read with solfege.

Where Do Music Teachers Send THEIR Kids??

After I had my first child and moved across the country, I quit teaching in the elementary school, but taught some private classes on the side.  I stumbled upon Let's Play Music after hearing about it from two different college music-major friends in the same week.  Both had put their children in Let's Play Music and they LOVED it.  They loved the theory and aural skills their five- and six-year-olds were learning in class each week.  To top it off, their kids thought the class was tons of fun! I wanted that for MY kids, too.

Sure enough, after browsing the Let's Play Music website, I realized how right my friends were.  LPM incorporates the Kodaly elements I love, even more than I thought possible! Full-body involvement, aural training, chord training, solfege, rhythm and harmony training, classical music listening, piano foundations, and a culminating composition of the student's own! I could NOT believe it was all included. This program does it all!

I have been a Let's Play Music teacher since 2011, in Portland, OR, since 2012.  The time has flown by and it's been like a match made in heaven for me to be involved in LPM.  

I get to teach my passion (music theory and aural skills) to kids just at the age when their brains are wired to learn it like a native language AND I get to teach my own kids right in my home.  

As a bonus, the kids think it's all just a really fun class each week.  One dad told me his daughter looks forward to class each week like it's Disneyland.  She can't wait to get there, and is super pumped up and excited the rest of the night after she gets home.  AND she loves practicing every single day.

This is why I enjoy teaching more and more each year.  I strive to give my students what my high school teacher gave to me: a passion and joy for music that will last the rest of their lives.

-Brooke Stevenson

You can learn more about Brooke's Portland, OR, studio, and register for her classes HERE.

Darlayne Coughlin: Drumline, Band-leader, LPM Teacher!

Darlayne Coughlin, Middleton, WI

Hello!  I'm delighted to be in this month's Let's Play Music Teacher Spotlight.  My musical journey began at age 10;  I started learning to play the flute in the 5th grade band and never quit. I've been teaching music for 10 years and Let's Play Music specifically since 2010, when I stumbled upon the program in a funny way.

A short time after finishing up my degree and student teaching at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, I took on a part-time babysitting job watching a whole slew of kiddos while a music teacher taught classes to young children in her home.  Being in the room next door to the classes and a musician myself, I was always intrigued as to what was going on in that room where I heard laughter, singing, and merriment.  One day that teacher (Gina Weibel) said to me, "Hey, you're a musician, why don't you glance through my lesson plans and maybe you should become a Let's Play Music teacher too!"  The moment I read through the curriculum I was excited and, no doubt, hooked.  

I currently teach 6 classes each week and will be training soon to teach Sound Beginnings as well.  My husband is a musician too, and we recently built a home in Middleton, WI (a suburb of Madison) with a studio space designated for Let's Play Music classes, flute, and percussion private lessons.

Join the Band

In addition to teaching Let's Play Music, I am a full time middle school band director in Middleton.  When I began my career, my job included teaching general music to Kindergarteners in addition to the middle school band responsibilities.  When my teaching assignment shifted to band only, I missed my really young students quite a bit, but that's when Let's Play Music serendipitously showed up in my life.  

I can't count how many times I have talked about the program or told parents of my students that their 4 or 5 year old has a stronger foundation in music than my middle school band students (even after they have/had music classes multiple times per week every year they've been in school!).  Nearly all of my LPM students have been from my neighborhood or a neighborhood close by.  Many of my current students and graduates will attend the school I work at in a few years.  I can't wait for the day when I see my Let's Play Music graduates as members of my band class.  I know they will be the leaders and already have the skills needed to not only read and interpret music, but also know what it means to have to, "Practice everyday..." so "lots of songs they'll learn to play!" 

Rhythm Skills that Work

One of my FAVORITE things about the Let's Play Music curriculum is the way in which we teach rhythm!  The rhythmic patterns that are taught in Blue Bugs and the way in which they are transferred to "real counting" by the 3rd year is amazing!  Middle school band kids often struggle with rhythm and counting and I've spent countless hours thinking about how to adapt and adopt the methodologies behind our rhythm instruction to suit their needs.  

Miss Darlayne Rocks the Drumline

I've always enjoyed the teaching side of music more than the performing side of music (unless you count leading an ensemble of band students or kids performing at a recital performing...I really enjoy doing both of those).  But, despite my "dislike" for performing music, I do perform at every home game played by the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.  My husband directs the Tundraline, the official drumline of the team; he and I are two of the original members of the group since it's inception in 2007.  

One of my fondest memories as a member of the group was from this past winter.  A local music store brought our group in to perform as guest artists and I, of course, invited all of my students.  It was AWESOME to look out into the audience, where I saw the smiling faces of my Let's Play Music students.  They were in awe of the performance.  I could tell they had no idea Miss Darlayne could flip, spin and twirl a pair of cymbals like that and in preparation for this spring's recital asked many times if the recital was going to be just like Miss Darlayne's concert with the drumline.  Getting students and parents excited about not just being a learner or performer of music but also a connoisseur of the art form is one of my goals.

I feel so lucky to have the most rewarding job in the world.  There's nothing more fun than enlightening young minds through music.  Being a Let's Play Music teacher and teaching the Let's Play Music curriculum has not only made me a better musician, but it has also made me a better music teacher in all facets of my career.  

Register for Darlayne's classes in Middleton, WI, HERE.