Why musicianship? Musicianship is a group class that teaches your child to read music. Think of the wonderful world that opened to your child when they began to read books! There is a similar world of music, just waiting for your child to unlock the mystery of musical notation. For a musician, reading notes is as important as reading words – not reading (or reading badly) is a major handicap. The Musicianship curriculum teaches rhythm training, aural skills, mapping the instrument (knowing where the notes are on the fingerboard) and musical symbols (clefs, lines and spaces, pitches, rhythms) through enjoyable games. As your child progresses through the Musicianship curriculum, they will learn about keys, scales, musical terms, and learn how to identify intervals by ear and on the page. Musicianship builds to reading music while playing your instrument, and is an excellent foundation to playing in orchestras and chamber groups. Violin students who are 6 and older will complete musicianship levels Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green. Cellists who are 6 and up will complete Musicianship Cello, then join up with their violin friends in level Green. Once students have completed our highest level of Musicianship, Musicianship Green, they're ready for more advanced note reading opportunities, like playing in Orchestra! As part of the Musicianship curriculum, our Music & Movement class provides a setting for young children (under 6) to learn various musical concepts and skills through body movement. Largely inspired by the Dalcroze method, activities will focus on developing singing, feeling rhythms with their bodies, and group participation. More specifically, they will learn concepts such as: high vs low pitch; fast vs slow tempo; ability to detect different emotion in music; rest and silence; identifying steps and leaps; and identifying down beats in different time signatures.