Ages: 4-6
This course, which has a theoretical basis focusing on children’s musical behaviour, has been tested in practice in the course of experimental studies carried out at kindergardens. It was created by Yamaha Music Foundation and is implemented with great success in its schools all over the world.
Children’s aural skills develop rapidly between the ages of 4 and 6 and the Junior Music Course therefore places great emphasis on aural recognition of sound pitch, the names of notes and the harmonic relationships between chords.
A Keyboard instrument is the learning tool for this program. Pre-school age children undergo a period of rapid development in acquiring their aural skills. They can easily memorize whatever sounds and words they hear for the first time. Therefore, if they are exposed to a variety of music by listening, singing and playing at this critical point in their lives, they will acquire a fundamental sense of music that is both solid and balanced.
In the "Junior Music Course" the most appropriate teaching content, approach and style of lesson is adopted in line with children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development levels. Considering music as a language, children can learn in the most natural way.
Children who enter the Junior Music Course are aged from 4 to 5 years.
The goal of the Junior Music Course is:
• To nurture musical sensitivity and creativity through in-class musical group experiences.
• To sing what they hear, to play what the sing, to read what they play, using the keyboard instrument as a learning tool
• To obtain a comprehensive approach of music, learning the basic elements of music, melody, rhythm and harmony
Length of course: 2 years
Size of group: 6-10 children accompanied by their parents
After attending the two-year Junior Music Course, children will also be able to play on a keyboard. Their natural sense of rhythm is reinforced through experimenting with rhythmic patterns and the use of percussion instruments. Children learn to place the voice correctly, since singing is an essential part of the lesson. Their natural mobility is channelled into musical games that help to bolster their rhythmic control, and the teaching process takes the form of a music group in which each child plays an active part. Communication is thus encouraged from the very first lesson, thereby helping to increase the social skills of the young pupils, and at the same time a love of music is fostered and nurtured. Classes are spread over a total of 24 months; children who have attended the Junior Music Course are then deemed mature enough to proceed either to more advanced Yamaha programs or to classical music studies.
Enrollment at Junior Music Course is possible until the end of November for the first semester of studies and until the end of February for the second semester of studies.
