Music for Young Children Program

Requirement: Personal piano or keyboard at home. Parent participation.

Sunshine is a keyboard program for ages 3-4 and the starting point of the MYC Method, building their foundation in music reading and playing the piano. Students experience movement through beats and rhythms, as well as developing fine motor skills with rhythm instrument ensemble playing. Children start learning the geography of the piano and note-reading through MYC Critters and stories they can relate to. By the end of Sunshine, children are able to play their first scale, C Major, and read from the staff. Pre-reading experiences such as identifying like/different sorting, patterns, and reinforcing music concepts through at-home activities with gluing and coloring are all part of this level. Once a child has finished Sunshine, they are ready to move onto Sunbeam.

For the best success in this level, Sunshine students should be turning 3.5 or 4 years old within the first three months of the start date of the class.

How this level differs

• Sunbeam covers all keyboard critters over the first 10 weeks, compared with 24 weeks in Sunshine.
• Sunbeam students move to staff reading as of week 11, compared with week 18 in Sunshine.
• Sunshine students need more reinforcement to build a strong foundation before transferring to Sunbeam.

Goals

• Create a positive, happy habit of learning music
• Develop the child's listening skills
• Master the music alphabet from A to G
• Recognize and reproduce on the keyboard high, middle, and low sounds
• Play patterns on the keyboard by ear
• Read line and space notes
• Echo sing different patterns using doh to lah
• Use 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures
• Employ different rhythms in singing, clapping, dictation, and reading
• Reinforce left and right modality and fine motor control in the individual fingers
• Experience independence in learning and interaction with other children
• Learn dynamics by connecting daily sound levels to music
• Play in a recital, either solo or with the class, in a keyboard ensemble or rhythm ensemble

Available sessions

• Saturdays: 9:15 - 10:05 am
• Saturdays: 10:15 - 11:05 am FULL
• Sundays: 9:15 - 10:05 am
• Sundays: 10:15 - 11:05 am

Starts

August 22, 2026

Ends

June 6, 2027

Tuition

$1560 (includes $50 registration, $250 materials, and $1260 tuition)

Enroll in MYC Sunshine

Requirement: Personal piano or keyboard at home. Parent participation.

Sunbeams is the entry point of the MYC Method for ages 5-6. Students are first introduced to piano geography and rhythms through MYC Critters to help set their foundation of music knowledge and education, while the pace of learning matches their developmental stage. Vocabulary development is the focus for this age group. This level introduces big kid terminology, finger numbers, and keyboard geography. Once a child has finished Sunbeam, they are ready to move onto private lessons.

How this level differs

• Sunbeam covers all keyboard critters over the first 10 weeks, compared with 24 weeks in Sunshine.
• Sunbeam students move to staff reading as of week 11, compared with week 18 in Sunshine.

Goals

• All goals from the Sunshine Program
• Play warm-ups including short studies and scales in the keys of C, G, and A minor
• Learn primary chords in C, G, and A minor
• Transpose some simpler pieces from the key of C into G and A minor
• Play simple nursery rhymes by ear
• Read middle C to high C in the treble clef and low B to ledger line D in the bass clef
• Echo sing using hand and arm signs
• Begin to sing in 6/8
• Recognize major and minor tonality in singing and keyboard pieces
• Develop the use of the two hands separately and together
• Apply musical knowledge to compose original music

Available sessions

• Saturdays: 11:15 am - 12:05 pm FULL
• Sundays: 11:15 am - 12:05 pm FULL
• Sundays: 3:00 - 3:50 pm

Starts

August 22, 2026

Ends

June 6, 2027

Tuition

$1560 (includes $50 registration, $250 materials, and $1260 tuition)

Enroll in MYC Sunbeams