Teaching Isn't Quite the Word

When people ask me what I do, I often tell them that I teach early childhood music. And they often reply, “Do they really make basses that small?” or somewhat incredulously, “What do you teach two-year-olds about music?”

No they don’t make basses that small, and I don’t really teach them about music at all. I don’t teach them skills, I don’t teach them instruments, I don’t even teach them to sing.

What I do do is create a musical environment (mostly by singing songs and musical patterns), in which children can interact, play, and develop. I fill children’s ears. I model motions. I propose games. I notice and reinforce behaviors. I have musical conversations.

You don’t have to teach a child how to play on a playground - they already know. But as they play, they are developing body awareness, balance, coordination, etc.

It’s the same with early childhood music class. It’s a space that children enter not to be taught how to do something, but rather to play, experiment, and learn to music for themselves.