Stillwater Music is thrilled to be working again with the DMS student body for music instruction! Our approach for music classes is to have fun first because we know that having a fun and positive experience learning music is the secret to becoming a life-long musician! Kids (and frankly, beginning adults too) start out in our band classes playing real music and performing right away. This leads to a fun and successful experience early on.

 

If you visit Stillwater Music – especially in the afternoons after school – you will witness this mission in action every single day. We are a full-service music school with after school bands for kids, private lessons, early childhood classes throughout the day, in-school music classes, adult bands of varying levels of musical proficiency, and inclusive classes that bring together people with and without disabilities for a wonderful music and movement experience.  We have approximately 800 students annually participating in our programs, 80% of whom are kids.

 

On Wednesdays this year, we welcome the entire student body of DMS to our facility where the older students engage in our signature rock band model, and the younger students are developing musical literacy by exploring rhythm, pitch, melody, and learning what it’s like to play music with a fun group of their peers. 

 

We’re different from  traditional school music programs like concert band, orchestra or choir. Our kids might not read music, and it’s not a requirement to participate in our bands. We meet each student where they are and design a repertoire that is accessible to each student in the band. As students work their way through our band program, it is common to see the students switch instruments between tunes so that, by the time they have been in our program for a couple of years, they are comfortable playing multiple instruments. Our instructors, Easton, Jeroen, and Makiah, are excited to share the joy of playing music with DMS’s students this year!