The sound of music

SUNY Freodnia's music program is no longer just for the abundant amount of music majors at Fredonia. On September 23, a new program called "Pathways to Music" will be launched, setting the stage for a new kind of music study.

"Pathways to Music" is a program designed for young children ages six months to five years old. The plan for this program is to introduce music at a young age through a variety of different activities. Movement, singing, listening and playing instruments are all elements of the musical environment in which each student will have the opportunity to participate.

"We've always thought that it would be a great idea to have some early childhood classes to get the children involved," said Sonja Inglefield, one of the faculty members for the Pathways.

Inglefield has had much experience working with children, beginning her journey in Baltimore where she worked as a childhood music educator. After spending a few years there, she knew that this was what she wanted to do with her life.

"I really loved working with small children and bringing music into their lives," Inglefield said. "When I moved here, I was surprised that there was nothing coordinated with the school of music."

Currently, a community program known as "Musical Journeys" provides community members the opportunity to study music and to join groups such as the New Horizons band. The Pathways program is the new branch of "Musical Journeys" now enabling children to become a part of the music world.

"We have been talking about starting something like this at the college for a while now… I think it's a great way for them to incorporate early childhood education with the school of music here on campus," Inglefield said.

Three classes are available, each meeting for 45 minutes once a week for 10 weeks. Depending upon age, the children will split into groups. Pioneers: children ages six to 24 months, Explorers: ages two to three and Adventurers: ages four and five. Pioneers will meet Saturdays at 9:30am, Explorers at 10:30am and Adventurers on Thursdays at 6:15pm. Curriculum will consist of age-specific activities, all of which are modeled on Dr. John Feierabend's, "First Steps in Music."

"I am teaching two of the three classes… Each individual class will focus on different ideas," Inglefield said. "Finger plays, rhythm exploration, dancing, vocal exploration and instrumental play on things such as tambourines, xylophones and drums are all parts of the class."

Kay Barlow, the second faculty member for Pathways will be teaching one of the groups as well. Together, Barlow and Inglefield will be working with children in a "playful and fun way." Their goal is to gear each class toward the particular age group that they are working with specifically in an effort to help children develop language, social, motor and creative skills.

"It is music and movement for the young child," Inglefield said. "We'll be getting up and moving around, feeling a steady beat and all that fun stuff. It's going to be a great time."

Although this is the first year that Pathways is running, Inglefield has high hopes for the future of the program. In following years, Inglefield's goal is to eventually expand the classes to include more ages.

"If we can expand the program in the future, our goal is to eventually not only offer these classes for children, but also use it to provide the music education majors with another opportunity to observe and to learn how to teach childhood music," Inglefield said.

Sign-ups for Pathways have already begun and will continue until classes are full. To register, visit www.fredonia.edu/music/community/pathways.asp and mail in the registration forms to reserve a place in Pathways to Music.

"The program will give all the children the opportunity to not only begin their journey in music but to have a positive interaction with their parents. We hope that this will be a continuing, ongoing program that will positively influence and motivate children for a long time," she said.