All virtual music classes should be accessed through the livestream and/ or the students' google classroom.

Go to https://encore.lmtsd.org/ for full details and links!

Why music?

I find that when my mind is overwhelmed with thoughts of worry, fear, anxiety, and/ or anger, music has the power to TRANSFORM. We can't escape our thoughts, but we can re-focus them. My favorite tool for mental transformation is making MUSIC. Whether I'm singing, playing an instrument, or making electronic music, when I make music, my mind becomes ONE-POINTED and FOCUSED on that musical endeavor. When my musical adventure is complete, I look around and feel like I had an experience elsewhere and now I've returned, more like myself, more happy. May adults and children alike find lots of happiness in their chosen MUSICAL ADVENTURES!

SING, PLAY INSTRUMENTS, MAKE YOUR OWN INSTRUMENTS, MOVE TO MUSIC, EXPLORE MUSIC WEBSITES, and most importantly HAVE FUN!

:) Mrs. Hillary Eisenman

Mrs. Eisenman's philosophy of music education:

My mission is to engage students musically and make them feel like they are playing, especially with my K-2 classes. My hope is that every student feels musically stimulated and challenged, no matter what stage they are in musically. I achieve this by having children actively participate in a rich and varied music environment.

All children have the potential to be musical. All children have the potential to be active music makers. Determination and a desire to learn is absolutely imperative in raising one's music achievement.

Children's music environment should be filled with a variety of tonalities (major, harmonic minor, aeolian, phrygian, dorian, mixolydian, lydian, locrian, etc.) and a variety of meters (duple, triple, unusual 5/4, 7/4, etc.). Playing music from various places around the world is a fantastic way for creating a rich and varied music environment for children. Not only should children be immersed in music from their culture, but from other cultures as well.

There are parallel's between language learning and music learning. We become fluent in language first by listening, then by speaking, next by reading, and finally by writing.

Similarly, we become fluent in music by first listening, then by interacting (singing, chanting, moving, etc.), next by reading, and finally by writing. Music learning should be scaffolded in this way.

In Mrs. Eisenman's music classes students should HAVE FUN making music by:

• Singing

• Chanting (rhythmic speaking using neutral or specific syllables)

• Moving

• Dancing

• Playing Instruments

• Listening

• Improvising

• Audiating/ Thinking music

• Describing

Much of my philosophy in how we learn music comes from Gordon's Music Learning Theory. It is important that children audiate (Gordon coined this term) music. Gordon says that thought is to language as audiation is to music. When we audiate music we are hearing music in our minds that either is no longer present or never was present.

Resources can all be found in GIA publications:

Jump Right in; The Music Curriculum, by B. Bolton, A. Reynolds, W. Valerio, C. Taggart, & E. Gordon (2000 and up)

Music Play; The Early Childhood Music Curriculum Guide for Parents, Teachers & Caregivers, by B. Bolton, A. Reynolds, W. Valerio, C. Taggart, & E. Gordon (1998)

The Developmental and Practical Applications of Music Learning Theory,edited by M. Runfola & C. Taggart (2005)

A Music Learning Theory for Newborn and Young Children, by E. Gordon (2003)

Learning Sequences in Music: Skill, Content, and Patterns, by E. Gordon (2003)