I am located near the intersection of Maple Grove and Overland, in a subdivision just north of Molenaar Park.

Let's Play Music for the beginning musician. 4, 5, and 6 year-olds are eligible to being the first year. The curriculum is specifically designed for these ages.

1st Year: 45 minutes

2nd Year: 50 minutes

4rd Year: 60 minutes

The change in class time does not impact tuition cost. The tuition price you pay in the first year remains the same throughout the program per student.

Let's Play Music is organized into sequential semesters and years. Each semester is a pre-requisite for the next. There are 3 years of Let's Play Music with 2 semesters in each.

The calendar year runs parallel to the school year. Thus, classes begin at the end of semester and run through end of April/beginning of May. There are 15 lessons per semester and classes meet weekly. We do not have class the week of Thanksgiving break or Spring Break and there is a 3-4 week winter break between semesters. Ms. Katie may schedule other week breaks in the year, but that will be communicated well in advance. Click here to see an example of the yearly calendar.

No. Let's Play Music is highly sequential, meaning that concepts are introduced and then built upon. Completion of the 1st Year is a pre-requisite to registration for the 2nd Year. 

Ms. Katie strives to have 6-8 students per class.

It has been well-documented that children in group settings learn and perform better. They are more comfortable and simulated in this environment. They thrive on the synergy and playful interaction of the Let's Play Music class.

Please keep in mind that every child has a different temperament when it comes to group settings. There may be some days when your child may want to mostly observe class and not sing and move with the group. This is normal and age appropriate. The beauty of a group class is that your child will still benefit even if they aren't always singing or doing the actions. All temperaments and emotions are welcome in my classroom as long as everyone is safe.

Parent involvement is crucial in your kids' music lessons. Each program relies on parent involvement at home. 

In Let's Play Music 1st year, the parent/caregiver attends with the child every other week and you can expect about 15 minutes of at-home music playing together. 

In the 2nd and 3rd years, parent attendance is only once a month, though at-home increases with the advent of practicing regularly at the keyboard. 

At the beginning of 2nd year at home keyboard practicing is expected 5 times a week and takes about 5 minutes, but increases to about 10 minutes at the end of 2nd year. 

Similarly, in 3rd year keyboard practicing is expected 5 times a week and takes about about 15 minutes, but increases to about 25 minutes at the end of 3rd year though by the 3rd year the parent does not need to oversee practicing as closely as in previous years.

Let's Play Music adheres to the philosophy that the voice is the first musical instrument. Most of the class time is spent singing. The voice is trained to sing in tune, to sing naturally and openly, to sing in harmony, and to sing accompanied. During early years, specific tone, placement or support instruction is not completely beneficial. The Let's Play Music classes are not performing groups.

There is a beautiful balance of ear training and note reading in the Let's Play Music programs. Note reading is not delayed and the traditional letter names are taught so that graduates make a smooth transition to traditional private piano lessons.

Research has proven that age 4-5 is an ideal age for music instruction. The ears are at prime listening capacity and the brain is busy cnnecting a network of neurons. Let's Play Music captures this opportunity window by training the ears without requiring the finger strength or dexterity that a piano does.

In Let's Play Music 1st Year, lines and spaces of the staff take on meaning as children are taught to read steps and skips, ups and downs. An awareness of how the staff works is internalized before children are required to memorize the letter name of specific lines or spaces. In the 2nd Year, intervals and chords are added to staff reading skills as well as select note names such as middle B, C, and D. The 3rd Year adds the letter names of all the lines and spaces of the treble and bass clefs. Most children are 6 or 7 at this point and are ready for this letter labeling of staff position. 

Although there is typed written information in the homework booklets and songbooks in Let's Play Music, children do not need to be reading to be successful in this program. Parental involvement aids in the written word component.

Three main instruments are utilized in the 1st Year. The first is the singing voice. We sing, teach to sing in tune, sing in harmony, and sing accompanied. The melody instrument is the Tone Bell set, which is arrnaged step-wise like a piano but does not require individual finger control or strength. For harmony training, children learn chord quality and accompanying skills by playing the autoharp.

The piano becomes the instrument for instruction and practice in the 2nd and 3rd Years. Each child plays on his or her own full-sized keyboard in class and needs one for practice at home. Because of the intensive training in staff reading during the 1st  Year, this transition to the piano is smooth and natural.

After graduation from Let's Play Music and Presto, students are prepared to excel in private piano instruction. They enter private lessons with knowledge of note names, rhythmic values, chord structure, etc., and with skills of playing scales and cadences in five keys, transposing, and composing. 

Let's Play Music is the ony program that contains over 25 original songs, games, and activities that teach precise musical concepts. It incorporates the philosophies of Kodaly, Orff, and Dalcroze and adapts them specifically to the piano. Classical music is introduced in "puppet shows" that will forever endear children to this genre. There are numerous innovative, creative ideas for internalizing music. In addition to these items, Let's Play Music differs from traditional piano methods in that musical concepts are taught through games and full body involvement, it is in a class setting with a local music teacher, and ear training is emphasized from the start. Let's Play Music also differs from other ear-training-based methods in that note reading is emphasized from the onset and that the traditional letter names are used.

Your child will LOVE it! You will love it because you will see him/her demonstrate advanced musical concepts and skills. Your relationship with your child will grow as you enjoy class time and practice time together, in a playful, nurturing environment. With guidance from a local music teacher, your child's talent will become evident as he/she develops into a musician with an in-depth understanding of music theory, classical form, harmony and composition. Your outlook on teaching children music will never be the same!