Every student is different, with unique goals, capabilities and needs that we need to meet. One of the core strengths of Musicologie is our adaptability, using both proprietary and third-party curriculum to meet the needs of every student. We don’t pretend that we have a single method that is best for every learner, or a curriculum that can fit the teaching style of every Teacher. What we have instead is an Educational Philosophy that informs every lesson, every class, regardless of instrument or curriculum.

We start kids young. There is a window of opportunity in a child’s brain between birth and age seven. After age seven, growth of intra-brain connections slows down and it’s much harder to learn new skills and habits. You can see this in action with language. If you learn a language as a kid, you’ll have native proficiency. If you start learning later, you’ll never be as proficient as native speakers. Music is the same.

Our lessons are experiential and immersive, not regimented. Think of language as an analog for music education as a whole. Children learn language through immersion, not through practice. A baby learns how to speak even though it’s never given any English homework. In the same way, music lessons for young learners should be immersive and experiential, not regimented. Many caregivers expect a regimented experience. They want their child to start daily practice immediately. This is wrong! Think about it: We don’t approach any other kind of education like this. We don’t expect daily homework for a five-year-old, daily sports practice, daily language drills. So we shouldn’t expect or require daily practice immediately, at least not for a young music student.

We believe lessons teach life skills in addition to specific instrument skills. Music lessons at Musicologie are about much more than learning a specific skill. We teach students how to be good human beings. We teach emotional intelligence, discipline, and self-awareness. We teach motor skills, dexterity, and spatial recognition. We teach reasoning and logic. This learning all happens no matter how good a student gets at their instrument or how much they practice at home.

We encourage mistakes. Disciplining students for making mistakes doesn’t teach them not to make mistakes, it just teaches them to hide them. We want students to make more mistakes. That’s what learning is. You try something, make mistakes, and try again. Each time you try, you get a little bit better. If a student is afraid to make a mistake, they won’t take risks and try new things. They won’t be excited to meet new challenges, they’ll avoid them. Encourage mistakes!

We assume good intentions. This is for young learners in particular. Kids don’t want to be bad. At the root of every behavior is some small good. Being scared to try something new means a child really cares about doing a good job. Getting frustrated and angry about mistakes means they desperately want to succeed. We dig deep looking for the good. We acknowledge it. We encourage it. We assuming the best about students and show them that we do will grow trust, mutual respect, and confidence.

We teach how to love the whole process of learning. We want to build a foundation in students for understanding the language of music. We focus on the process rather than the product, facilitating discovery rather than dictating information. We teach how to learn, not just what to learn.