You have to dance to it, sing along or make your own music. If a parent or caregiver doesn't feel musically inclined, she said, go to a class. Conley herself didn't begin formal piano lessons until she was eight and guitar at nine. She started offering her Music TogetherR classes last year, after undergoing training on teaching music with age-appropriate methods. The classes are unusual because they include children from birth to four years old, and allow children to experience music at their own individual level, taking cues from their parents' or caregivers' classroom activities.
Parents get newsletters to help reinforce the class themes.
N.J. Some 45 families now participate in her programs. She works with a number of nursery schools, day-care centers and libraries on music enrichment programming, and performs frequently before intergenerational audiences in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, including two concerts as part of Worcester's most recent First Night festivities. She also does birthday parties, where her ventriloquist skills emerge together with her puppet collection. That's my greatest thrill.