ABOUT
Based on the Philosophy of Zoltan Kodaly
At Music Works Magic we believe that music education is the quintessential cornerstone for successful life-long learning. We base our teaching on the philosophies of Zoltan Kodaly, Dr Edwin Gordon, Dr Beth Bolton, Dr John Feierabend, Dr Sinichi Suzuki and Carl Orff.
According to Kodaly, our first instrument is our voice, and at Music Works Magic we take onboard the African proverb: If you can walk, you can dance, if you can talk, you can sing! We develop a positive musical self, if immersed in playful, live, musical experiences. Together we create the space and time for all to develop the self confidence to grow musically and make music together.
With an understanding that the voice is our first instrument, we believe that the skill of singing in tune is enabled through effective listening and the ability to recall the sounds that you hear. Good musicians always sing.
Orff agreed that it is so important to learn to play instruments, and all types of instruments, but that we all need to sing tunefully, as well as experience the beat and rhythmic elements in many ways through our bodies. Feierabend says we must work to develop tuneful, ‘beatful’ and artful students.
Immersion in music best begins before your children are even born. We don’t wait until they are ‘old enough’ before we start talking to them, so why do we defer singing with them? Babies are known to have musical memory from as young as 22 weeks in-utero. Gordon acknowledged that even the youngest babies can sing and vocally respond without words. At Music Works Magic you can enjoy the wonderful musical journey together with your child whilst being part of a community that sings and moves together, interacting through music.
Music Works Magic
Director, Dr Anna Mlynek-Kalman, introduces the amazing 7yo Molly Wright who has an extremely important message for all parents!
Dr Anita Collins, from Austrailan National University, in her inspirational TED talk, confirms through her research that music is the one activity known to vastly improve your child’s cognitive ability. Helping to develop the mastery of languages, create memory systems, help with complex problem solving and positively affect emotional self-regulation, music has been found to be beneficial at any time of life, but most beneficial before the age of 7.
OUR TEN POINTS OF DIFFERENCE
1. We sing live, organically
2. We include Movement
3. Your children are encouraged to be good listeners
4. We help children explore and hear their own sounds and find their special singing voices
5.We help children develop a strong sense of beat 6. We include a range of traditional children’s songs
7. We provide opportunities for audiation, inner hearing and thinking sound
8. We carefully guide children in instrument play and help children identify different timbres or sounds of various instruments
9. We experience a range of rhythmic patterns
10. We take into account children’s diverse learning styles
Music Works Magic is the fun way to help raise brain IQ (up to the age of 7)
Our teachers understand how valuable musical experiences are for brain development, bonding processes and lifetime learning abilities. We also recognise that our older students receive a multitude of life-long benefits from their musical experiences.
