{"id":2869,"date":"2025-03-07T10:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/?p=2869"},"modified":"2025-03-07T10:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:22:09","slug":"building-a-musical-community-in-your-music-together-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/building-a-musical-community-in-your-music-together-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Musical Community in Your Music Together\u00ae Class"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Getting out of the house with young children can be challenging. You already know this. But once a week, you gather your littles, making sure they are wearing clothes and socks (or maybe not!), and travel to your Music Together\u00ae<\/sup> class. Why? Yes, the music is great; yes, singing and dancing with your child is a lot of fun; and yes, research has shown that music is great for your child\u2019s growing brain. But what about you<\/em>? Are you meeting other local parents with kids the same age as yours? Are you learning the names of the other children in your class, who may end up being your child\u2019s classmates? Maybe you\u2019re making coffee dates or playdates with the other families. It may even be that spending time with people who are going through what you\u2019re going through can help you feel less alone. That\u2019s the power of music to create and support community-making.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Playing<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a deeper look\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near as we can tell, humans have been making music for tens of thousands of years, and the power of making music, particularly in a group, remains a universal feeling. Think for a minute about the last wedding you attended. How did you feel as you danced with friends and family to the \u201cCha-Cha Slide\u201d or a Taylor Swift song? Have you ever been to a sports stadium and chanted with other fans in support of your team? Maybe you spent summer holidays singing in the car with your family, or you remember a room full of people singing \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d to your child. When people come together to make music for a shared purpose, they can experience feelings of togetherness and cohesion. Their heartrates even sync up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern research suggests that people react to music in similar ways: Brain imaging scans (MRIs) have shown that while listening to the same music for the first time, different people\u2019s brains can show activity in similar patterns. In addition, group music-making can support positive social interactions and foster empathy, demonstrated by syncing of heart rates of people engaged in group music-making. And, when you come together to make music in a Music Together class, all of these things are happening for you and<\/em> your children.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Tossing<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

How is community built in a Music Together\u00ae<\/sup> class?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each song your teacher chooses for class uses different activities: fingerplays, bouncing children on laps, and instrument-play, to name a few. Though everyone\u2019s expression of the activities may differ slightly, you are all working toward a common goal: to sing a song together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture your class (adults and children) holding scarves while moving together as you sing. Not everyone is moving the same way, but you are all sharing the musical experience. Picture yourselves sitting in a circle with a drum on your lap (or a child and<\/em> a drum on your lap!). Even though not everyone taps at the same volume, or even on the exact same beat, together, you still make a song. There\u2019s something magical about that. As research suggests (and as millions of families have discovered), the very act of making music in a group can bring you closer to that group. Every week, your Music Together teacher facilitates a musical community\u2014of which you are a valuable part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real possibility of lasting friendships<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One former Music Together mom (her oldest is now a teenager!) met some other mommies in her Music Together Babies class. She was looking for an activity she could do with her 3-month-old during the colder months. She had experienced Music Together as a nanny, so when she had her own child, Music Together seemed an obvious choice. As a new mom, she found that meeting the other parents in her class was her first time meeting people in the same situation as her. She found parenting support among the community because, as she said, \u201cWe were all going through things at the same time.\u201d Getting together with each other in class once a week expanded to walks, playdates, and eventually celebrating holidays and birthdays together. \u201cIt was a community of parents who became like family,\u201d she says. Since those early days, some families moved away but are still in contact. Thirteen years later, her son is still \u201cbest buddies\u201d with a friend from class. Another mom and she had their daughters at the same time. The families have gone on vacation together and are each other\u2019s emergency contacts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, you might not find vacation buddies or emergency contacts in class, but we know how important it is for parents to feel connected to others, and how important it can be to get out of the house with your young children. And making music for its own sake, especially with the same group every week all semester, is just plain fun. So, keep coming to your Music Together class. Keep showing up and waving those scarves and tapping those drums. You are helping your child\u2019s development in so many ways, and you might just make new friends yourself! Your musical community is waiting for you.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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References:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abrams, D.A., Ryali, S., Chen, T., Chordia, P., Khouzam, A., Levitin, D.J. & Menon, V. (2013). Inter-subject synchronization of brain responses during natural music listening. European Journal of Neuroscience, 37<\/em>, 1458-1469. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/ejn.12173<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ilari, B., Helfter, S., & Huynh, T. (2020). Associations Between Musical Participation and Young Children\u2019s Prosocial Behaviors. Journal of Research in Music Education<\/em>, 67<\/em>(4), 399\u2013412. https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/48595364<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirschner, S., & Tomasello, M. (2010). Joint music making promotes prosocial behavior in 4-year-old children. Evolution and Human Behavior, 31<\/em>(5), 354-364.  https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.evolhumbehav.2010.04.004<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting out of the house with young children can be challenging. You already know this. But once a week, you gather your littles, making sure they are wearing clothes and socks (or maybe not!), and travel to your Music Together\u00ae class. Why? Yes, the music is great; yes, singing and dancing with your child is… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[30,40,178],"class_list":["post-2869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classes","category-parent-education","tag-music-together","tag-music-making","tag-musical-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2869"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2878,"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2869\/revisions\/2878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musictogether.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}