Tiny little hands clutch colorful egg-shaped shakers. Babies not yet walking gripp drum sticks. Notes ring out from Xylophones struck by children still unable to form complete sentences.
This is just a regular day for Diane Byington—a local music instructor and owner of the Solvang Conservatory—who leads regular Music Together classes in the Santa Ynez Valley. The classes are specifically for the youngest of children and are designed to impart musical fluency to a mind especially open to new information, she explained.
“Their brains are easily wired to learn a new language, so whatever we do, it’s like the wiring to make music is an inherent part of our brains,” Byington said. “If it exists in the environment, our brain will keep it, but if it isn’t then it will be dropped for learning other things.
A monthly Music Together class happens at the Solvang Public Library, Byington explained. The class is free to local parents and their babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. The upcoming event at the library is March 23, but that’s not the only chance local families have to enjoy music making with Byington, she also does a weekly class through the Buellton Recreation Center.
Music Together guides parents and their little ones through a progression of activities that get kids moving with music from various cultures, Byington explained. This allows small children to build a neural latticework of musical understanding which will serve them as they grow up, whether they learn an instrument or not.
“It’s a very rich musical exposure done in a way that really engages the child,” she said. “It’s something that is just really fun to do, but disguised in it is a real genuine musical development and education that is happening unawares.”
Byington’s regular daily gig is teaching private and small group classes for violin students at her business, the Solvang Conservatory. Though not many of her Music Together families take the plunge to learn an instrument, several have, she said.
Byington said learning an instrument is a big commitment for the child and the parents, but private students who were toddling in Music Together arrive with an already rich vocabulary of musical knowhow.
“It’s like a dream come true,” she said. “They have to practice of course to develop ability, but the actual capacity is there.
“And playing an instrument is often a family’s cultural value,” she added. “If it’s valued in the family and they are dedicated to practicing and coming to the events and they stay dedicated, they do well.”
Byington has taught kids practically from the cradle to graduation day, when they take off to college, often as music majors.
But instilling that dedication to music can be a battle, she said, especially in the complicated modern world. It’s up to parents to help their kids by being dedicated to their musical education, whether it’s at Music Together classes while the kids are still in diapers or being at every recital as they grow up performing on an instrument.
“Within the conservatory I have a kind of mini culture,” Byington said. “Some people are out there trying to save the whales, and well, I’m saving our culture. I have a little place where it can flourish and be supported, where we can keep this culture going.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne knows that everyone is potentially musical. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 17-24, 2016.