We have been in Music Together^® consistently since my 6 year old was under a year. I am an absolute believer in the magic of Music Together. I have seen my children start by just absorbing music and rhythms they hear in their own way, then modeling what they see, and then really feeling it in their bodies. Watching those transitions happen is spellbinding. To see them feel music deep within, repeat a rhythm pattern so effortlessly, enjoy clever word play in a song, free dance to an interesting meter: all of this is most certainly learned through Music Together.
On a personal note, I have seen myself open up to singing and communicating with my children through song. We sing and rhyme and play with words in a musical way every day. Music Together is all about the joy of music and exposure to all kinds of song, and learning to share that in your family and with friends in class. I am so grateful to have learned of this wonderful program when I did.

"I have 3 children and not a musical bone in my body; so the idea of allowing music to be physically alive and letting someone guide me & my children into music was a gentle approach to such an amazing world. We started 8 years ago with my, then, 6 month old daughter in Janet's class. Having the interaction with other mother's and an easy to follow curriculum of songs was both relaxing and fun. Later our son arrived and he was involved with Music together from birth till 5 years old; he now plays the drums at 6 years old, carries a beat and has started writing music. Our grand finale is our youngest son who has thrived in Chrissy's classes and even took his first steps during one of her classes. He sings to every song and is comfortable in the routine of each class. My husband and I have strived to keep our children in Music Together for the past 8 years and sometimes sacrificed a luxury to maintain, what we would prioritize as a necessity our children's lives. Thank you Janet and Chrissy for bringing this program to our community!"

In the days immediately following Rachel’s stroke almost 8 years ago, we knew music would be important to her immediate recovery. We continuously played tapes of her favorite songs through headphones. What we didn’t know was the profound and extensive influence music has had not only on Rachel’s recovery, but also on our family’s ability to heal and grow together.

Having a child with special needs means that as parents we have to seek out a wide variety of therapies, treatments, and programs to have Rachel model behaviors from her typically developing peers. Having been blessed with a second child who does not have special needs, we’ve discovered that when these two girls play music together their differences vanish and their unique abilities emerge to form a common harmony. When they enjoy “the same” songs, the barriers fall away and they no longer see each other as “different”.

Rachel is very sensitive to routines and familiar patterns. We discovered that not long after her stroke, she was able to recognize when the exit to her house off 495 was approaching, or when we were turning on to our street. After listening to Bongos a few times from her very first MT session, we noticed that she’d learned to recognize not only the patterns of some songs she liked such as Mommies Wake Up, or She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain, but we noticed that she’d start signing ‘all done’ when a non-preferred song came on and would then start signing the opening part of her favorite songs BEFORE they came on. In short order, she had effectively memorized the playlist.

We also soon realized that music was a means for helping her learn about schedules and transition between activities. By creating our own lyrics to familiar melodies, we discovered an approach to helping her identify and establish routines and familiar events, faces and activities that help keep her settled down and focus on any task at hand.

We enrolled Hannah in MT at an early age and saw that as she developed into a toddler, she not only developed her own favorite songs but quickly developed skills that helped her speak and learn language quickly. We noticed that she’d learned to sings parts of the non-English songs like Frere Jacques (in French or Spanish) which is a cultural exposure at an early age that will prepare her for adapting in our increasingly multi-cultural world. We’ve also found that before she was verbal, she would ‘sing’ in tonal patterns by herself in her crib almost every night. As we’d crash from exhaustion at the end of the day, hearing her through the baby monitor was some of the sweetest sounds we’d hear all day. Now that she has a growing vocabulary, we find that she continues to sing herself to sleep frequently with her favorite songs. Also, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that by slowly counting out loud before the instruments came out for the jam session, Hannah had learned to count to 10. This ability to count, as well as her fast-track to developing speech and language has put her preschool educational skills on a solid foundation...and its fun too !!

MT has become the soundtrack to our family time. When we’re out of ideas and energy at the end of the day, we put in a Music together CD. Both girls perk right up and start to sing and dance in their own special way. And here’s the amazing part; we’re surprised to find ourselves up and dancing, again, too! Having spent over 4 months in a hospital immediately following Rachel’s stroke, we’re keenly aware that every day together is a precious gift.

The Jam Sessions in MT are a symbol for life on a larger scale. While so much of society is focused on ‘fitting in’ and not being ‘different’ we’ve found that although we each play our own instrument in our own special way, when we play together, although we are marching to the beat of a different drum, we are learning skills and lessons that help us find harmony with whatever life has to offer.