Musical Homes, Musical Families

From our friends at Music Together® of Portland

Music Together® of Portland invites you to make your home a more musical place this spring! Discover the everyday joys of singing, dancing, and playing at home with your kiddos.  A virtual community of amazing music-making families awaits you!

Spring session runs April 12 – June 19. Register today!
Or, try a free class, and experience the magic firsthand!

Why do an online Music Together class? Throughout the past year, the dedicated teachers and staff of Music Together of Portland have been bringing the music to you! Through live, interactive Zoom classes and pre-recorded, interactive on-demand classes, family music-making is still happening all around Portland— in the living rooms, bedrooms, and playrooms that have been transformed into home music classrooms. Babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and big kids (up to age 8) are thriving musically in their home environments. Weekly classes plus other online experiences and resources create a comprehensive, high-quality music education program that is fun for the whole family!

What happens in an online music class? The Zoom Room opens. One by one, the little black boxes that pop up on the screen fill with little ones and their most beloved grown-ups, and their home “music classrooms”— any space conducive to singing, playing, and moving to the music! Families greet each other and their teacher, and find whatever materials they’ll need for class. Today, it’s a scarf (or dish towel or baby blanket…) and a laundry basket (or box or plastic tub…). Don’t forget a favorite stuffy, if you’d like!

The music begins. “Hello, everybody, so glad to see you!” With each friend welcomed and greeted by name, the play and silliness continue. Children bounce to the beat as they sit on a parent’s lap, riding their “horses” through the countryside. Families waltz, twirl, and jump around their living rooms, joyfully waving their scarves and tossing them in the air. Children hop in their laundry baskets, sailing the open seas in the finest boats you’ve ever seen. Those same laundry baskets flipped over become a drum, and the whole class jams together as they sing and play their favorite instruments— a beautiful, multi-family band. They snuggle tenderly, rocking and softly singing a lullaby, a calm moment of love and connection before heading into the rest of their day. And finally, they sing, “Goodbye, so long, farewell my friends….” Virtual hugs and high fives. A promise that they’ll see each other again next week, and the fun and learning will continue!  

What are the benefits of virtual music-making?

• Connection Music brings people together, even virtually! Grandparents who have not yet met their infant grandson join from across the ocean each week to connect through music. Every class, upon entering from the waiting room and seeing her teacher, a smiling two-year old waves with both hands and sings, “There she is!” Two four-year-olds squeal with delight and bond instantly upon realizing they have both brought a stuffed sloth to class. We are still building community, and our shared experiences now will create even stronger connections later!
• More music = more fun! Participating in class from home inspires families to make more music together throughout the day and the week, even more than when taking classes in person! Little ones are learning that their homes are musical places, that their families are musical families. Parents and caregivers are discovering (or perhaps remembering from their own childhoods) that their homes are rich with music-making possibilities! A laundry basket can be a horse, a boat, a bathtub. A soup pot can be a drum, and wooden spoons the drumsticks. A metal water bottle can be a bell.
• Musical development With all that music happening at home, children are blossoming musically in their first and most important classrooms (their homes), with their first and most important teachers (their most beloved grown-ups). In every class and throughout the week, children are soaking up the rhythmic and tonal elements of music. They are meeting musical milestones and becoming the musical beings they were born to be. By singing, dancing, and playing along, parents and caregivers are supporting children on the path to singing in tune, keeping an accurate beat in their bodies, and being lifelong music-makers— and they are having FUN doing it!

Make your home a more musical place this spring with Music Together of Portland!