“What is Sprouts, anyway??“

Sound Sprouts is an Early Childhood Music class that builds a foundation of music literacy.

Suzuki Sprouts combines Pre-Twinkle (early beginner) Suzuki violin skills with many of the same elements as Sound Sprouts.  It’s Sound Sprouts, but with violin. 

Sprouts uses primarily classical and folk music.

This is a purposeful decision. What we expose our children to at a young age will, in a sense, determine their affections for music. A child will always be exposed to popular music. It’s in every department store and restaurant. But they may not find Bach or Handel on their own. They may not learn to sing the same folk song that your grandmother learned as a child, unless we are purposeful to teach it. These elements of music connect us across generations.

Sprouts places an emphasis on music appreciation by introducing children to the instruments in the symphony orchestra, famous composers, and musical periods.

We will always have a deeper appreciation for things we know more about. If you take a six year old to the symphony without any previous exposure or knowledge, it is unlikely he will enjoy his time—quite the opposite is more likely. Now take that same child and begin to show him pictures of instruments from the orchestra. Allow him to hear each instrument in isolation. Talk about how it is played. Then discuss the piece that will be played. Learn about the composer, when they wrote the piece, and what inspired them. Knowing when that musician lived and what was happening historically will give tremendous understanding of why the music, for example, sounds sad or cheery. This is an aspect of music instruction that cannot be omitted.

Children are introduced to basic music theory components.

In class, we experience dynamics (how loud or soft) or tempo (how fast or slow) with certain activities. We have pieces that have contrasting dynamics or tempo to help children experience these ranges. We also introduce different tonalities to contrast against a typical major scale.

Sprouts empowers parents to be the primary teacher, allowing children the opportunity to practice regularly at home.

If we equate learning music to that of learning a language, we would instantly understand the need to hear music and practice it daily. We would never think of only speaking to our child in our native tongue one day a week for an hour at a class with other families and believing that would be enough for our child to become a fluent speaker. We know our children need to hear language daily and practice it daily. The same is true for music. Every child (and adult) can learn music if given sufficient opportunities.

The Classical Play portion of the class allows for creative play in conjunction with classical music.

Play is crucial to a child’s development. When play is paired with an excerpt from a great classical work of music, your child will not forget these moments. We have create imaginative scenarios that pair with great works of music, encouraging expression and movement.

Children can begin Sprouts as young as infancy, listening and participating as best they can, so that music becomes a natural aspect of life, almost like a second language.

We are often asked what ages our program is designed to reach. Our answer is typically birth and beyond. We have had babies as young as six days (new record!) in our classes, responding to the music. Again, much like developing a language, it must be heard often from as young of an age as possible. No one is ever too young or too old to learn music.

Vocals are done with pure tone, encouraging children to sing along.

You will quickly notice that the vocal quality on the recordings we often use in class sound different than most you would hear on the radio. We have purposefully recorded these with a pure tone. The idea with this quality is that it encourages children to sing along and find their own voices, rather than mimic someone else’s voice.

Singular accompaniment by piano is a deliberate effort to help children easily focus on the melody and not be distracted by multiple instruments.

Much of the music created for children today is busy and often synthesized. When there are too many instruments or sounds present in the recording, it can be difficult for the child to focus in on the melody of the song to learn it. In class, your teacher will often play the violin as well.

Participation in “recitals” is strongly encouraged to give children the experience of performing in front of a group (even if that group is a few family members).

Sometimes we create performance opportunities for Sprouts students, either in class or even just something done within an individual family. There is value in giving children the opportunity to have positive experiences in front of a group. The more often a child performs, the more it becomes a natural part of life. If this aspect of Sprouts is done consistently, it gives a child social and emotional confidence in all areas of life.