Junior Music Course
4 and 5 year olds
The Junior Music Course (JMC) is Yamaha's flagship educational programme and our most popular course at Matrix Arts Centre. The curriculum has been designed carefully to capture the aural potential of this age group.
Overview
‘Timely education’: JMC lessons are designed especially for this age group. This is the progression we use as the children learn their pieces in the JMC: Listening and absorbing the music first, then singing it, followed by playing what we sang on the keyboard, and finally by reading and writing the notes. In this way, children play the keyboard with the musical expression of what they have already absorbed.
Comprehensive music education: The JMC explores the whole picture of music: children listen, sing, play, move, read and write. Solfege (do re mi) is used as a key learning tool and the children learn this much like they would a language. The students gain a real understanding of the music and this shows in the natural and musical way they play.
Group lessons: Learning music in a class means the children enjoy learning in an engaging way while they share the experience with their friends in a supportive environment.
Parental involvement: Parents attend the lessons with their child to see what and how the children are learning. This will help when supporting practice at home.
The Junior Music Course is great fun, and parents love watching their child absorb many styles of music naturally and with great enjoyment.
See the JMC brochure for a more in depth explanation of our approach.
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4 or 5 years
'younger fours' may consider starting in Music Wonderland
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60 minutes (includes class changeover)
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Up to 10 - plus parents accompanying
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There are 4 sets of materials over the 2-year course. Each set includes a book, workbook and access to the music and videos via Yamaha’s streaming service. Each book lasts 6 months.
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Click here for open day information and class times
Further information
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Parents accompany their child to lessons.
For the most successful outcome, the adult who attends lessons with the child should be the one who is supporting the practice in between lessons. If more than one adult is helping at home, taking turns to attend lessons is the ideal situation.
Please communicate about your child’s progress with your teacher - we love to hear about successes and we need to hear about concerns. We also welcome feedback in the office at any time: we are best reached by email.
Please do not book individual piano lessons in addition to the group lessons. One to one piano lessons are offered later on towards the end of the next course. Adding further piano tuition at this stage disrupts the learning process.
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Children will need a keyboard with regular sized keys at home from the start of the course
There are models to suit all budgets - new or second hand
If you have a piano at home please ensure it is tuned to concert pitch (A=440Hz). You may also like to consider buying a keyboard which has lighter keys and access to different sounds
Very importantly, please put the instrument in an accessible and inviting place at home - it makes a big difference
You will also need a device to stream the audio and video recordings - listening, singing and playing along with the backing tracks is crucial to the children’s learning
Please ensure that the children are listening to a high quality of sound at home (phone speakers are not satisfactory)
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Students have the opportunity to celebrate the end of the JMC by participating in the Fundamental Skills Survey (FSS) - a joyful occasion! - and a great way to experience a first music assessment.
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We stage several concerts each year: every child has the opportunity to take part in an annual ensemble concert. Younger students are also invited to attend the older children's concerts: look out for ensemble, composition, and performers' platform concerts - all of which can be very inspiring for younger ones.
Yamaha celebrates the work of the young composers with Junior Original Concerts: Matrix Arts Centre student composers often represent the school at both national and international levels.
You can listen to some of these performances on our news and events or on our social media.
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Children progress onto the Junior Extension Course (2 years), where many other subjects are studied including composition, keyboard harmony and accompaniment, theory, and playing ensembles
The Junior Advanced Course (2 years) is where piano lessons are introduced alongside the group lessons each week
The Advanced Extension Course (3 years) continues with a more academic focus as well as the practical musicanship subjects - including enjoying advanced ensembles
After this, the students graduate from the Yamaha Music School: if your child starts in the Junior Music Course they will be around 13 at this point! We invite YMS graduates to join in ensembles in our annual concert every year and many continue their piano lessons with us until they finish school. We love hearing what our YMS graduates are doing - you can see some of their stories on our social media
Course progression
You can join our courses at any time between the ages of 2 and 7
New courses start every April and November
“We love going to the music lessons! It is impressive how much Sofia has learned in just a few months! Best of all, the lessons are so fun and enjoyable!”
“We have been absolutely thrilled at how Matthew has developed confidence in singing, playing and listening to music. It has been such a different experience from traditional piano lessons (which I endured as a child). It has given him a depth of musicality and a great sense of achievement, and he’s only just finishing book 2!”