People either have musical talent or they don’t, right?
Wrong, says Matthew Charboneau, chair of the Center for Music at the Music Settlement, music education, music therapy and early childhood centers at two locations and through dozens of outreach programs.
“We think that everybody has some kind of artistic talent and it just needs to be nurtured. The appropriate experience has to be offered for someone to grow as a musician,” says Charboneau, whose center has about 500 private lesson enrollments and 350 group class or ensemble enrollments annually.
Try these programs to help cultivate inner talent:
Dalcroze – Think of it as the marriage of music and movement for ages 3 and older. The children use their whole body as an instrument.
Suzuki – At age 4 and older, children can start to learn the piano and string instruments, including guitar, violin, viola, cello and base (all fractionally sized to match them physically) with this proven method that teaches music in much the same way you learn a spoken language.
Band and orchestra instrument lessons – In grades four and five, kids begin to have the physical ability and the lung capacity to start to learn brass and woodwind instruments.
11125 Magnolia Drive, Cleveland, 216-421-5806,
themusicsettlement.org
