Music Together® is an internationally recognized early childhood music program for children from birth through age five. First offered to the public in 1987, it pioneered the concept of a research-based, developmentally appropriate early childhood music curriculum that strongly emphasizes and facilitates adult involvement.
Central to the Music Together approach is the knowledge that young children learn best from the powerful role model of parents/caregivers who are actively making music. The program brings families together by providing a rich musical environment in the classroom and by facilitating family participation in spontaneous musical activity at home within the context of daily life.
Music Together is committed to helping families and caregivers rediscover the pleasure and educational value of informal music experiences.
ClefTone Studios brought Music Together to the Rockville area in the summer of 2003 with one class of ten families. We have grown over the years primarily through word of mouth and now bring music into the lives of more than 100 families each semester. We offer classes six days each week in Rockville, Potomac and Gaithersburg (for current class locations, click here). Our goal is to encourage a love of music, instill an understanding of music, and enable an ability to make music in a supportive and encouraging environment.
Terri Winkler, Director, has taught early childhood music for 10 years, and was trained as a registered Music Together teacher in 2003. In 2006 she was awarded Music Together Certification Level I for outstanding achievement in teaching, musicianship, program philosophy, and parent education. Terri has a BA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, and has worked as a musician and music teacher for more than twenty years. She is a member of the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association (ECMMA).
Sue Goodwin, Instructor, has a Masters degree in Social Work and worked in a therapeutic school for emotionally disturbed children. She has loved singing since she can remember and currently sings in choirs, plays the flute, and enjoys making music with her husband and two children. Sue completed her Music Together teacher training in June 2003 and has been joyfully teaching classes ever since. Catherine Liddle, Instructor, spent six years as a Music Together
parent participant before completing her teacher training in 2009.
Currently, most of the music she makes is with her two children, but
she played organ for 15 years and sang in evensong choirs in college
and graduate school. She has a Master's degree in Linguistics from
the University of Oxford with an interest in children’s language
acquisition. She has been a member of Delta Omicron International
Music Fraternity since 1984.
For more information about Music Together, go to the national website at http://www.musictogether.com. You can also click on the following links to read articles and research by and about the developers of Music Together.
Early Childhood Music Education in the New Millennium
by Ken Guilmartin
The Importance of Music in Early Childhood
by Lili M. Levinowitz, Ph.D.
Music Together: The Joy of Family Music
An Interview with Kenneth K. Guilmartin and Lili M. Levinowtz, Ph.D.
Pass It On! Fall 2005, #51
Children's Music Network