The room is full of the chaotic energy one would expect from a large group of children, but once the music starts, everyone happily settles down for the opening words of the “Hello Song.” At this mixed-age class for children 0 to 4, infants are rocked by their caregivers, while toddlers and older children sing on their own—but all of them are starting their musical journey at Eastside Westside Music Together.
It’s a journey that Deanna deCampos, owner and director of Eastside Westside Music Together, which has locations on both the Upper East and Upper West Sides, says should be educational and fun. “It’s about families making music. In many cultures where music is embedded into the fabric of everyday life, children are singing in complex harmonies and complicated rhythms at an early age,” she explains. “But that is not the case in America, because we are very passive when music is concerned. We consume music, we don’t make it so much.”
DeCampos and her co-owner and co-director, Sally Woodson, hope to change that with each and every class they lead. And they have an excellent platform from which to do so. Music Together is a well-established program with fans around the world—the program is in 22 countries and approximately 2,000 communities. First offered to the public in 1987 by Ken Guilmartin, it boasts a researchbased curriculum for ages 0 through kindergarten that revolves around the idea that all children are musical and can learn to sing in tune, keep a beat, and engage in music making with the people who love them most—their parents and caregivers.
This means that family participation is integral to Music Together. “We want to equip parents with the tools they need so that they can be music makers—so they can be models for their children,” says deCampos. “Because our children learn to be who they are from watching us.”
While Music Together is a national enterprise, each individual center is run independently, offering its own unique spin. On this particular day at Eastside Westside Music Together, deCampos, who has a BM in voice performance and an MFA in acting, brings her guitar and her beautiful voice, leading the class in singing “Apples and Cherries.” She then asks the children and adults to insert their favorite foods, which range from “carrots and hummus” to “ice cream and candy.” DeCampos makes the adults laugh with her own choices of “chocolate and red wine.”
Next, the class gets up on its feet for some stomping, skipping and hopping. Even the infants are following the adults’ lead—crawling faster or bouncing to the music in their caregivers’ arms. When everyone sits back down for some percussion time, some moms tap drums with their child’s hand and some children keep the beat with an instrument on their own. As always, everything is developmentally appropriate. “You want to put instruments in the child’s hands that will support them in their music development,” says deCampos. “It may be an egg shaker so they get an immediate response because they can feel the motion in their hands.”
While the mixed-age class remains one of Eastside Westside Music Together’s signature classes, the program offers others as well, including classes for ages 0-8 months, ages 3-4, ages 5-6, and intergenerational classes. Whatever class a parent and child take, it is deCampos’ mission that they bring what they learn inside the classroom home with them. “Our 45-minute class is just a jumping-off point,” she explains. “We want to give the parents an idea of how they can translate a song to the home environment, so that families use the music in their every day lives.”
To further the musical experience outside the classroom, parents get two Music Together CDs when they sign up for a class–one for home and one for the car–and an illustrated songbook. It’s not unusual to hear parents say that the first songs their child sang at home were from Music Together. “It is really important to us that families not just come here to make music, but that they continue to make music. It is one thing that really sets us apart from other programs,” explains deCampos.
Because she believes so wholeheartedly in the importance of music to families’ lives, deCampos doesn’t want any family to miss out on the opportunity to take a class especially in these tough economic times. This past year, deCampos and Woodson have seen many families struggle, so they talked with them to find a way to make the classes work on their budget. “Sally and I made a commitment years ago that we wanted to make sure we reached as many families as possible,” says deCampos. To that end, they are also working on an outreach program with fellow teachers Teri Gabriel and Liana Stampur to bring arts programs to underprivileged and at-risk families. “It’s been our dream for a long time,” she says.
That’s because music, according to deCampos, “is one of the most bonding experiences a family can have. I don’t know of anything stronger.”
Various locations, 212-496-1242, eswsmusictogether.com
