Newsday Newspaper TT

Women's Magazine Feature Article 24/12/17

By James Dupraj

Music literacy is considered more than reading notes or playing a piece by heart; it’s the ability to think in sound, to imagine, be creative, improvise, and play in an ensemble. As the school states, “We wanted children and adults to be versatile and have that freedom to express themselves without having to depend on a sheet of music but also be skilled in reading and composing.”

Alabanza’s primary instrument offered is the keyboard, but the school also offers lessons in tenor steelpan as well as signing up students for theory and practical exams. However, at Alabanza exams aren’t the main focus; practical life skills are.

Alabanza means “praise” in Spanish and as such, the school nurtures a culture that Music and Language are inextricably linked.

Their mission is to provide training in music and second language development from early childhood to adulthood in order to empower individuals with the necessary skills to become confident and versatile in self-expression. They also hope to be the leader in early childhood music education in the Caribbean and to enrich lives across generations with a deeper understanding of the immense transformative power of music. This is especially true for youngsters, whose affinity for music and learning far surpass those of adults.

Since inception, many of the school’s instrumental students have stayed with the school and have seen a literal maturity in music. The school boasts that all of their students have some ability to play by ear, meaning that students can pick out notes to a melody or find musical chords without using sheet music.

A few years ago the school put on a musical entitled “Viva la Musica”, which was the culmination of Vacation music and Spanish learning with children from as young as age 4. “We did the script writing all on our own and the acting was done entirely in Spanish. It was a tremendous success with parents,” says the school of the enrichment and creative expansion of its students.

Over the years, many parents sought keyboard training for their toddlers and so the school started doing research on early childhood music education and created their own age-appropriate programme.

Recently, Alabanza stumbled upon “Musikgarten”, an early childhood mode of teaching music to youngsters that is interactive and fulfilling. Internationally recognized, Alabanza is the only music school in TT that offers the Musikgarten programme.

Musikgarten is the leader in early childhood Music Education internationally with a presence in the USA, Canada, Germany, Asia, Australia, and now Trinidad & Tobago. (You’ll now find the Trinbago flag on the list of countries offering Musikgarten.)

It is a multi-year education programme, which helps infants, toddlers, and young children develop a love of music and the ability to express it.

The programme recognizes the inherent importance of music and movement for children, who are naturally interested in music. As Alabanza proposes, music evokes movement, which children delight in and also require for their development and growth.

“Music also engages the brain while stimulating neural pathways associated wit higher forms of intelligence such as abstract thinking, empathy, and mathematics,” Alabanza explains, showing how music can enrich several aspects of a child’s life.

“Comparing it to all the other programmes out there, we found that it was pedagogically sound and started using some of the material in our early childhood music sessions. The kids loved it and so we thought it would be great to have a programme like this here and make adaptations to include more local and Caribbean content,” says the school, adding that both kids and parents were delighted with the comprehensive programme.

Miss Lisa Darmanie, founder of Alabanza Music, decided to get more training and certification in Early Childhood Music Education, to be a certified Musikgarten facilitator.

Musikgarten’s full programmes are offered in Curepe and San Fernando at Alabanza’s school locations, and Port-of-Spain.

“This lovely twin island has a rich and diverse musical culture unlike any other place in the world, but we have been losing many of our unique oral traditions and folk culture,” is Ms. Darmanie's stance, hoping to bring back the basics of our musical creativity and history to youngsters.

Alabanza is also adamant that Musikgarten can help to bring back these musical traditions in the home and at school with folk and classical music, not just in their classrooms.

“TT has been starved for programmes that are age specific for early childhood music experiences. Parents who see that their children have an interest from an early age want to get them involved but don’t know where to go. Some try to get them playing an instrument from age 3 but many private music schools don’t take children for formal instrumental training until it’s developmentally appropriate at age 5 or 6,” says Alabanza. “We only know about music education in this country to mean playing an instrument, doing theory, and preparing for exams but it is so much more!”

Musikgarten is the now the first and exclusive provider of early childhood music education from birth in TT. This is the first time any specific early childhood education programme from birth has been introduced on our shores. While there have been a few scattered singing, music, movement, and play groups in our country, many do not have an established curriculum.

“There is also no preschool curriculum for music and the presentation of music in many preschools. Musikgarten will help educate families, teachers, school administrators, and the general public on the importance of starting young, using developmentally appropriate activities, and understanding their functions for the holistic development of the child.”

While the programme is still in its infancy stages, Alabanza hopes that their holistic approach to the indoctrination of youngsters to music lends itself well to the ethos of Musikgarten. They also highlight that research over the years has proven the countless advantages of children starting music education at a young age.

They hope that the programme will attract the attention of parents and youngsters alike who hope that an education in music can supplement and add positively to the development of children, as well as those who understand the therapeutic and disciplinary power of music.