Bucktown Music

Let us introduce you to one of our favorite Kindermusik instruments, the zig zag blocks! Our mini musicians get incredibly creative with them, and they offer so many different ways to keep the steady beat. You can scratch, clap, tap, knock, high hive and more! Double tap if you love the zig zags! 🫶🏼🎶

Parents often wonder if there is any point in having formal music instruction if they or their child do not aspire to play at the very highest professional level someday. Our answer is a resounding, “ABSOLUTELY!” Studying music is about so much more than just becoming the best, or even than becoming a professional musician.

🎵Making music is joyful!
🎵Learning an instrument requires practice and perseverance- skills that are crucial in any field.
🎵Music relieves stress.
🎵Music is a wonderful way to express yourself and your emotions.
🎵Playing music in a group or ensemble teaches teamwork in a way few other things can.

Ready for you or your child’s first lesson? Book it with us at https://www.ensembleschools.com/bucktown-music/lessons/.

🚨New Class Alert! 🚨

Canta Conmigo 🎵

Join Miss Carolina for a fun-filled four week Spanish music class in the month of December! In this class, children will explore the exciting world of music while learning Spanish in an interactive and engaging way. Through songs, games, and musical activities, children will work on developing active listening skills, a strong sense of the steady beat and pitch accuracy all while expanding their Spanish vocabulary and language skills.

Class dates : Dec 2, 9, 16 and 23
Price: $120
Ages: 0-4 years

Register: https://buy.stripe.com/eVaeWd8RD9Vf9gI6or

In our baby, toddler and preschool classes, we devote specific time to developing active listening skills. It takes a lot of practice for children to learn to identify what a sound is and be able to draw conclusions about it, as well as to hone in on one specific sound within a layered group of sounds. We start by listening to familiar sounds a child might hear around their world, like a cat meowing, water running or a car motor, and use vocal play to imitate and explore them. As children get older, we listen to soundscapes like “the beach” where they are hearing waves crashing, seagulls crying and children playing and ask them to listen specifically for what the children are saying. Then once they are preschool age, we listen to an orchestra and work on identifying the difference between the sound of the violin and the cello. 👂🏽🎵

Ready to help your child develop listening skills critical to school readiness? Register for a class with us today at https://www.ensembleschools.com/bucktown-music/kindermusik-lessons-in-chicago-il/.

Check out our very own Miss Carolina being interviewed on WGN TV about how to help your child conquer stage fright at the link below! ⬇️

https://wgntv.com/daytime-chicago/tips-for-parents-to-help-their-kids-overcome-stage-fright/

At Bucktown Music we really value giving students the chance to practice performing, because it is very different from practicing at home or in front of your teacher! This December, all of our students will have the opportunity to perform on our winter recital, and we will give them all the support they need to get comfortable sharing their music with an audience. Be sure to ask you or your child's teacher about how to sign up to be on the recital! 🎵

One of the questions we are asked most regularly is what age we allow students to begin private lessons. After 16 years and thousands of students, we have determined that age 6 is the right age for our studio.

It is really important that children be developmentally ready to begin lessons, otherwise it can be a very frustrating experience for everyone, and their musical journey ends before it has a chance to begin. Children need to be able to move each finger independently, have the hand size and strength to play with safe technique, be able to read, be able to sit and listen quietly for 30 minutes at.a time and be ready to commit to daily practicing over the long term. We have the perfect group piano class for 4 and 5 year olds to prepare them for lessons, and it's really exciting to see how successful students are in lessons once they've completed our early childhood music classes. Book your first class or lesson with us today at https://www.ensembleschools.com/bucktown-music/

Miss Carolina and Miss Patty are so excited to see you all our little costumed up kiddos this week in class! 🥰🍁🎃

We can't wait for Halloween week in our Kindermusik classes! If you and your little one have a costume, we would love for you to wear them to class next week! We will have a fun spooky themed class and some treats for you and we can't wait to see everyone decked out! 🎃💜

They are one of the simplest toys around, and for this very reason, they are one of our favorite Kindermusik props! Hula hoops open the door to so much imaginative movement and play all while helping develop coordination and gross motor skills. We use our hula hoops as cars, boats, train cars, wheels, tunnels, tractors, lawnmowers, and the list goes on.

⭕️ When children practice pushing their hoops to mow the grass, rolling their hoop wheels, or how to hop in and out of their hoop puddles, they are developing spatial awareness, which is a crucial pre-math skill. Anything that helps us build bodies and brains at the same time belongs in the early-childhood classroom!

🧠Ready for a music and movement class that promotes brain development, physical coordination and social-emotional growth? Register for a Kindermusik class with us today at https://www.ensembleschools.com/bucktown-music/kindermusik-lessons-in-chicago-il/.

One of our very favorite instruments to use in our classroom are the resonator bars. A resonator bar is a percussion instrument consisting of a tuned metal bar similar to a glockenspiel bar, with each bar mounted on its own wooden or plastic resonator. Resonator bars are played with mallets. The sound is similar to a glockenspiel, but with much more sustain. Resonator bars help children develop fine motor skills as they strike the bars with mallets, to keep the steady beat as they tap quarter notes and teach their ears to anchor into a key center as they strike the bars which are often the first and fifth scale degrees. 🎼

Join us to explore all kinds of wonderful instruments with your little one by registering for a class today at https://www.ensembleschools.com/bucktown-music/kindermusik-lessons-in-chicago-il/.

This week, our Playful Pianists Class is learning about the groups of 2 and 3 black keys on the piano! By identifying these groups, you can easily locate the corresponding white keys that represent notes like C (with two black keys to the right) and F (with three black keys to the right.) When we explored the keyboard together, we practiced labeling the groups of 2 and then practiced playing them with bunny fingers (two fingers like a bunny ears.) If you have a piano at home, you can help your child work on finding these groups and you'll be ahead of the game!

We have spots available in our Saturday Playful Pianists for 4-6 year olds class at 1pm on Saturdays! We'd love to meet your little musician! 🎹

Register here: https://www.ensembleschools.com/bucktown-music/lesson-registration/.

We are excited to introduce our wonderful lesson student of the month, Meera D! Meera has been studying piano at Bucktown Music for 8 years and we are so proud of her hard work and amazing progress! It is such a joy to get to watch students like her grow up from tiny kiddos. Here are a few of her own words about her musical journey so far:

"I am so fortunate that piano is part of my life. Thanks to Bucktown Music for the past 8 years, my patient and skilled teacher supports my curiosity about transposing songs, learning interesting scales, and exploring many styles of music. Most importantly, I have so much fun!"

Double tap to say hi to Meera! 👋🏽

One of our very favorite quotes about music comes from author Hans Christian Anderson, and it couldn’t be more true. 🎶

🎵 There are so many deep and profound and even confusing feelings that words just can’t sum up. Music is perhaps the only way to communicate them. The ability to play or sing music gives us an incredibly powerful tool for both expression and communication. Even the simplest tune can resonate with someone deeply and help them understand EXACTLY how the musician or composer is feeling.

No matter your age or who you are, we are excited to help you begin your musical journey. Bucktown Music has a place for everyone from the tiniest babies all the way up to great grandparents! Join us for a class or a lesson by registering at https://www.ensembleschools.com/bucktown-music/.

We LOVE Family Jam! 🎵❤️🥁

Family Jam is a very coveted time in our Kindermusik classes where we bring out the big basket of mixed instruments and let children and their caregivers freely explore together while music is playing. Often even our most shy kiddos really come out of their shells during this time because they are so curious and excited to play. We love talking to our little ones about how each instrument has a different timbre, and how keeping a steady beat with a shaker feels really different from keeping a steady beat with rhythm sticks or with jingle bells. The opportunity for connection as children and their grownups play together is so special and is a great way to reset.

Join us for a music class that nurtures whole-child development by registering at https://www.ensembleschools.com/bucktown-music/kindermusik-lessons-in-chicago-il/.

We are excited to introduce our wonderful lesson student of the month, Meera! We are so proud of her hard work and know she is going to do amazing things as a musician. Here are a few of her own words about her musical journey so far:

“I am so fortunate that piano is part of my life. Thanks to Bucktown Music for the past 8 years, my patient and skilled teacher supports my curiosity by helping me with transposing songs, learning interesting scales, and exploring many styles of music. Most importantly, I have so much fun!” 🎹

Double tap to say hello to Meera! 👋🏽

One of the most beloved props in every age level of our Kindermusik classes is the chime ball! These jingly balls are like a physics experiment for our little ones and help them understand cause and effect. What happens if I push the ball? What happens if I drop the ball? What happens if I throw the ball? We use chime balls for tummy time with our babies, for creative play and labeling movement with toddlers and for teaching team building and hand/eye coordination as partners roll to each other or bounce to the steady beat with preschoolers.

Ready for a music class that hones fine and gross motor skills? Join us by registering at https://www.ensembleschools.com/bucktown-music/kindermusik-lessons-in-chicago-il/.