Early Music Classes Help Your Child Read

There is a direct correlation between music and literacy according to current research in early childhood development. Children that participate in music classes at an early age have a higher level of phonetic/phonemic awareness leading to becoming better readers.

According to Science Daily, March 2009: "Children exposed to a multi-year programme of music tuition involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and practical skills display superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared with their non-musically trained peers, according to a study published in the journal Psychology of Music."

In Little Notes classes we work on musical skills that will help your child do his or her best in school. In Little Notes classes we teach music as a language by reading and telling stories with music and movement, imitating rhythmic and tonal patterns, and developing the feeling of a steady beat. We do this and many more activities in a fun musical environment.

Give your child a head start by joining us for a few semesters of Little Notes classes.

Piano Recital DVD 2010-2011

I just received my copy of the Erickson Piano Studio 2010-2011 Piano Recital DVD! Pegasus Portraits and Productions filmed ALL of our recitals this year. They have everyone's performance on one professional DVD and it looks great! One can watch an entire recital, or use the directory to watch a specific performer. The neatest feature is that one can use the directory to watch a student perform in October, then in December, and then in April. Talk about a great way to see a student's progress!

Don't worry! I have extra copies at the studio if you did not get a chance to purchase one yet.

Cheery Cherries!

First cherry harvest!

My piano students walk past our little cherry tree (about 4.5 feet tall) on the path up to the house. Our neighbor told me to cover the cherries as soon as the first one started to turn red. I put a thin bird net over the tree. Several students commented such as: "There is something on your tree", "Somebody put something on your tree", and my favorite, "Somebody lost their kite on your tree".

There are enough cherries for a small cobbler. Maybe next year there will be enough to make a pie!

April Piano Recital

Erickson Piano Studio had 2 great piano recitals at Grace Fellowship Church on April 8th and 9th. The kids and adults played really well! The photo is from the Saturday recital.

Many of our students are practicing to play at the MMTA Districts in September at Truman State University. Yeah!

Musical Cicadas!

This afternoon I was preparing for my Little Notes music class that I am offering this summer (theme: Nature's Music). There will be activities such as: different animal noises and movements, dances, fingerplays, and of course singing! I was making lesson plans and singing about "Wiggley Woo", the worm. As I am working on the songs and activities the Cicadas were drowning out my practicing with their own music. At first this really frustrated me! Later, I thought about my lesson plans and the different sounds in nature. Every bird, frog, cicada, worm, etc. has it's own song and movement. Each one is part of the eco-system and each one is important in its own special way. The cicadas will be with us for a few more weeks and then their songs will stop, but the music of nature will always be with us.

Hello Little Notes, Goodbye Kindermusik

Yesterday I taught my very last Kindermusik class. We had such a wonderful class! The kids were happy, we had a lot of fun, and everyone learned a lot. Looking back it is amazing to see how much progress and growth these kids have made. I will miss teaching Kindermusik, but am looking forward to new music classes this summer with the Little Notes program.

Little Notes classes will begin in June. We will have family classes for babies-to 7-year olds called Nature's Music at First Christian Church.

For older kids we will have pre-piano camp and beginning piano camp at Erickson Piano Studio.

Kindermusik was the beginning... but the learning will continue with Little Notes.

Erickson Piano Studio Mascots!

Juneau
Tripod

Alaska- (Mascot in Training)