I teach music theory and composition to young children

It’s no secret that learning music comes with enormous benefits. Music can stimulate emotional and aesthetic responses, develop creative, technical and social skills, improve communication, confidence and self-esteem, and facilitate positive changes in wellbeing. It is also known that music and math are closely linked. Beat, rhythm and scales is just a creative way of learning how to divide, create fractions, and recognise patterns. I am qualified music teacher, producer and award winning audio-visual artist. I focus on teaching a play-based music theory to young children but over the years I have shifted the emphasis from “teaching music” to “loving music”. That means that there is no pressure to perform or deliver. The teaching aims to gently assist in opening the door to the wonderful world of music. I believe that once that door is open, you can return to it anytime and find comfort throughout darker times in life when all the other doors have shut. In my music theory teaching sessions I focus on using imagination and improvisation; the music is created by playing different musical instruments, responding with movement, singing songs, getting familiar with rhythm (based on the Kodaly method), training the ear with “magic” exercises to open the head register, and learning basic piano. Improvisation is a natural way to learn to be in the present moment and to achieve a calmer and more focused mind. Another meditation-like technique I use is doodling to classical music – creating drawings in an unconscious or unfocused manner as a response to music. Composition is also an important part of my sessions – I encourage students to compose and record their own piece and guide them into the digital music making world. In addition to my music teaching I also offer audio-visual productions. This is a fun activity for children: we start by recording their audio performance and then proceed to creating vibrant music videos. Children might discover that they want to go on and study music theory further, play an instrument and perhaps express themselves in composition, which is wonderful if that is what they want. But if they don’t that is also completely fine, and I think that the best way to go about it is to relax and know that they can return to it later. Even if it’s just few months of “loving music” it will make a difference and play a positive role in a subtle or more obvious way.