Bright eyed 3-year-olds stare expectantly as a big circle is drawn on the whiteboard in front of them. With a burst of energy, their teacher, Janice Morris, adds a squiggly line and two dots. “This is a smiley face”, she exclaims. Janice Morris, founder and director of The Music Place, Fine Arts for Children!  has developed an innovative teaching method that enables children as young as 2 to begin music theory while having fun. Blue eyes twinkling, “Miss Janice”, as the children know her, dips her finger into pretend paint, makes a comical squeaking sound, and the “smiley face” suddenly becomes a “dirty face” and then a quarter note.

Charmed by her antics, the children giggle with delight. Mrs. Morris explains she is going to add a stem to the dirty face and it will become a quarter note. Now everything comes together as she asks, “How many counts does a quarter note get?”