Rock 'n' roll - from 3 months

These first classes are designed specifically for you and your very young baby to share together. 

During each class you will both be engaged through gentle songs, fascinating sounds and absorbing activities. There is much to learn and to carry on at home. Many new life long friendships are made during these classes.  Just as language skills are developed early in life, so is musical talent.  Research has shown that children exposed to music from a very young age will have the best opportunity to expand their own development and learning.

 Heigh ho -  from 12 months

These young toddlers love being up on their feet  so lots of dancing and moving encourages the children to explore the space around them and express the music they hear.

During each class the children thrive on the 'steady beat' and are very enthusiastic young members of the Monkey Music band. Themed classes and bold colourful props captivate the children and encourage everyone to get involved. 

 Jiggety jig -  from 2 years

By this stage at Monkey Music the children can really express the joy that music brings them.  They sing, dance, play, move, tell stories, speak, and listen to music together. 

Monkey Music teachers make sure that the children develop their sense of rhythm whilst playing in time to Monkey Music songs and games. Hoops, parachute games and circle dances are always popular Jiggety jig activities.

 "I have taken both my boys to Monkey Music (now aged 4 and 7) and it has done wonders for their confidence as well as bringing on their musical ability. They have both been diagnosed with learning difficulties but I am sure that the sessions have helped with their learning, social communication skills and co-ordination. Of course they are great fun too and a great way for mum to meet people!!  I have also been blessed that the teacher is absolutely brilliant and a joy to meet every week." 

Monkey Music mum. 

Ding dong -  from 3 years

Up until now the children have been listening and responding to music they hear. Now that their ears have been ‘finely tuned’ we teach them what music means when they see it written down.  Reading simple traditional musical notation comes easily to Monkey Music children as it is integrated into the final part of our interactive curriculum. 

 “….I was called into school this evening by my daughter’s form teacher and music teacher because they were stunned by her knowledge of music. They had been on a class trip to a children’s concert and she was able to say what a crescendo was and what it meant in the musical story she was listening to.  They also said she was the only child able to name every instrument including the cello and double bass.  I attributed it to Monkey Music…”

Monkey Music mum. 

How can music help my child’s development ?

Angie Davies - Monkey Music's Founder and MD - explains how children benefit from early music classes:-

The ear is the first organ to develop fully in the womb, enabling babies to to take comfort in the music of their mother's voice at just 11 weeks.  All children are born with instinctive musicality and only if this is encourage early enough will a child fulfil their natural musical potential.

The benefits of music for very young children, particularly when taught within a group, go much deeper than this.  Early exposure to singing, listening to and playing music can sharpen up a whole range of educational skills. Language and numerical skills flourish through action songs and rhymes;  fine motor skills are refined through playing hand held percussion instruments, while an awareness of space and one another is developed through movement. The children's confidence and self-esteem grows rapidly as their involvement in the group increases.

Music makes us feel good, whatever our age, and sharing a song with your child is precious time spent together and makes your child feel loved.

A music class should give you lots of ideas for how to create opportunities to sing and make music with your child back at home. By taking your child along regularly to a music group your own musical confidence will grow and your baby will benefit from hearing and seeing how you also respond to the positive effect of music.

With my own 5 children I have strived to include regular exposure to different musical experiences as part of their daily lives. Now aged between 3 and 16 they are able to choose and express their interest in music in different ways but they all use the power of music to communicate how they feel and to learn more about the world we live in. Music has given them the confidence to make friends, encouraged them to be disciplined and to reap the rewards of attaining high standards and new levels of enjoyment when regularly practising a new skill.