how does music house work?

How It Works - An Introduction
• Physical Environment
• Lily’s First Lesson
• Activities
• Examples
• Trees
• The Teacher’s Role

Some Instruments
• The Piano – A Map of Music
• The Autoharp – The Magic of Harmony
• Other Instruments

Comparison Chart - Music House vs. Traditional Lessons

Kids' House

Meet Some Students
• Sam, the Renaissance Man
• Lucy – Bread Dough
• Andy – Windows of Readiness
• Paul’s Street Sweeper (a long article)
•  “Significant Things Happen Near Chaos”
• "Mr. Music"

How It Works - An Introduction

Examples

If a student first goes to the piano, any one of several things may happen. He/she:

A. ...has a song in mind and begins to play it.
B. ...waits for me to ask a question or offer an idea.
C. ...names a song that he'd like to learn by ear.
D. ...explores the notes of the keyboard.
E. ...asks a question, for example about musical notation.
F. ...says she wants to make up a song about a particular subject.
G. ...says he's ready to try something I suggested in a previous lesson.
H. ...assigns me a part, either melody or harmony, while she plays the other part.

Each of the above has any one of several ways it can go. For example, if the student chooses D...

a. She lands on a particular interval, i.e. a fifth. I ask her what would happen if she moved the fifth around the keyboard.
b. He finds a pattern that sounds familiar. It turns out to be part of a song that he wants to learn to play.
c. She discovers a pattern that sounds nice and uses it to compose a new song.

These are only a few of many options, each in turn leading to numerous possibilities. And this is only if the child is at the piano! You can imagine all the complex permutations such a give and take can create. It explains why no two individuals can possibly have the same experience. Like snowflakes, each child's musicality reveals itself as something unique.