Musical Me: Celebrating 26 Years!, By Edita McQuary

By Edita McQuary

Musical Me

Celebrating 26 Years!

Hello, everybody! Hello to Ivy, Asher, Nathan, Norah, Betty, Lila, Zara, Aria, Mia, Mommies, Daddies, Nannies, we’re so glad to see you!” sings teacher Lizz Hodgin Weihrauch, on a beautiful Aptos morning at Willowbrook Park as she starts another Music Together class. The group of infants, toddlers and their adults were happy to be there again.

Lizz was teaching nine infants and their parents and caretakers on the grass while people walking their doggies kept to the paved pathways. Everyone sat on his or her own blanket at least six feet apart in a big circle.

A graduate of Soquel High School and UC Santa Cruz with a theater arts degree, Lizz has been active in the local theater community. This summer she’s playing the plumb role of The Old Lady in “Candide” with Cabrillo Stage.

Lizz

As well as the degree, Lizz is a mom and stepmom to three boys (talk about real life experience!), studied Early Childhood Education at Cabrillo College and is a Certified 1 Music Together Teacher. She took an intensive course in teaching music to children aged from birth to five years at the Music Together headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey.

Music, the universal language from infancy and beyond, soothes, comforts, refreshes us and makes us happy. According to Carlotta Nelson, director of the documentary “Brain Matters,” “We’ve always known that music has a powerful, transformative and unifying effect on people.

“But only now do we know that music contributes to better memory and cognitive skills. This is because listening to and playing music produces changes in the brain. Also, both activities can release a healthy dose of endorphins, the so-called ‘happiness hormone.’ “

Lizz Weihrauch, owner of MusicalMe and local licensee of the worldwide Music Together program, whole-heartedly agrees. For 26 years she has been teaching children

MTO Outdoors March 2021 from birth to five years old, their parents, and caretakers the basics of music-making which produces lifetime benefits.

“Music learning affects all learning. What we learn in class has the potential to make a huge difference not only in a child’s musical ability, but in every measurable way. Please check out the testimonials on our website to see what an impact our research-based Music Together program has made for local families.”

Lizz and her teddy bear (appropriately named “Teddy”) went through audiation (making musical sounds), as in “Shh, Shh, Shh (whisper, whisper, whisper), pump, pump, pump, (rocking back and forth) and dancing with babies and their adults to a folk tune. Besides Teddy the bear, she uses a variety of developmentally appropriate instruments, lots of small and large movement, and dance in her classes.

Lizz says, “All this activity supports music and brain development. Children are like little tape recorders. They come to class, push RECORD, and then later their brains push PLAY. They soak it all in and process it while the adults model the joy of making music.”

The class ends with a lullaby. Then parents, caregivers, and all the littles leave refreshed and happy. MusicalMe has outdoor classes in Aptos, in Felton at Roaring Camp, in Santa Cruz on the Westside and Mid-Town, Scotts Valley, Cupertino, Campbell, Marina, and indoors and outdoors in Los Gatos. Lizz says, “Join us for free a free preview class! Babies birth to four months are free. Siblings aged eight months and under are free, if both are over eight months, there is a sibling discount. “ n ••• Visit www.musicalme.com, e-mail registrar@musicalme.com, call or text 831-332-9002. Photos provided by Musical Me