Certification Courses

Music-Ade, LLC offers both First Steps in Music© and Conversational Solfege™️ Levels 1&2 teacher curriculum certification courses endorsed by the Feierabend Association for Music Education.

My classes are a mix of ages and backgrounds, and I welcome all interested in music literacy and learning about the Feierabend approach to building musically literate communities.


Teacher curriculum certification courses run a minimum of 24 hours. During the course there will be time for learning, teacher practice, coaching and questions. During the summer months Music-Ade hosts several regional certification courses. During the school year, for curriculum adoption training, districts bring a certification course to their teachers in either three or four consecutive days, or spread out over the course of the year to coordinate with staff development days. Check out the 7-steps to bringing a certification program to your district.

Credit

Optional graduate credits or CEUs available through Seattle Pacific University while earning 24-hour FAME certificate. Read more…

Where to Begin?

John Feierabend recommends starting with First Steps in Music to begin growing Tuneful, Beatful and Artful skills in students before teaching them to read music. Many teachers are drawn to Conversational Solfege first, interested in the impact that long-term literacy instruction can have on a program . If a teacher hasn’t already taken FSM before CS, they realize during CS that they wished they had because their student’s ears would be ready for reading with an ear-first approach.

This course breaks open the teacher manual to optimize a child’s natural Tuneful, Beatful, and Artful abilities.

Significant class time will be spent…

  • hearing, experiencing and discussing the overview, demonstrations, and pedagogical considerations of each step.
  • surveying the teacher manual and all of the activities, directions, performance indicators, and lesson plans.
  • learning the techniques and activities of each of the eight steps to keep musical growth.
  • exploring the many supplemental resources and current pedagogy.
  • practicing leading others in the techniques.
  • singing, dancing and moving expressively together.
  • scroll down to view Course Descriptions.

Successful participants receive a certificate of completion from the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME). 

My goal in offering these classes is to make them easily accessible to music teachers everywhere because I know how career changing Feierabend training can be. 

This course takes a deep dive into the teacher’s manual and the framework for teaching music reading with an “ear-first” approach.

Significant class time will be spent…

  • Learning about each of the twelve steps by listening to an overview, experienceing demonstrations and discussing pedagogical considerations.
  • Using the teacher’s manual to plan measurable learning units. 
  • Picking repertoire that best achieves objectives.
  • Practice teaching techniques that intensify musical thinking at every step.
  • Explore techniques to quickly assess student achievement. 
  • Singing, Dancing and Moving Expressively to Great Music.
  • Successful participants receive a certificate of completion from the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME). 

Download a printable PDF Info Sheet on Feierabend philosophy, the Curricula and the instructor.

Feierabend Info Sheet Download

Upcoming Courses

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The best part is seeing the light bulbs go on in participants’ eyes when it all gels together in their imaginations and they can’t wait to get back to their classrooms.


Earn Graduate Credits

Optional graduate credits (2) or CEUs available through Seattle Pacific University while earning 24-hour FAME certificate. Read more…

🗝Credit registration link will be sent once
registered for the course. 🗝

Register for a Course

My favorite parts of the class include…

  • the singing and dancing,
  • listening to participants imagine the curriculum in their program,
  • listening to the room of experienced teachers problem-solve a variety of concerns for classmates as questions arise, and
  • seeing the light bulbs go on in participants’ eyes when it all gels together in their imaginations and they can’t wait to get back to their classrooms. I get goosebumps every time I see that light bulb!  😊

Course Descriptions

First Steps in Music© curriculum is designed to build a child’s musical potential by exercising their natural Tuneful, Beatful, and Artful abilities. First Steps in Music for Infants and Toddlers provides developmentally appropriate lessons that are well suited for children under three years old with their caregivers. First Steps in Music for Preschool and Beyond provides lessons for children as young as three, but is appropriate for any aged child who needs to further develop their ability to think tunes, move with the beat and respond to the expressive qualities of music. Traditional folk songs, rhymes and classical music are the primary source materials used to develop their musical minds.

Created by Dr. John Feierabend, from his decades of research, this pedagogical approach is contained in two books and eight CD’s, packed with repertoire, activities and directions, performance indicators, assessment tracking, and three years worth of example lesson plans for infants/toddlers or preschool through elementary.

Significant class time will be spent on learning the techniques and activities necessary to get started while exploring the rich repertoire of Pitch Exploration activities, Fragment Songs, Simple Songs, Song Tales, Expressive Creative Movement, Circle Games, Action Songs, Beat Motion activities and more.

Participants who successfully complete this course will receive an official certificate of completion from the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME). Graduate credits (2) are available with additional work as are CEUs (20 clock hours). Click here for more information.
Conversational Solfege™  is a music-reading curriculum that grows literacy by developing a deeper understanding of music reading through patterns, traditional folk songs, rhymes, and classical music as the primary source material. CS is intended for music teachers who have completed First Steps in Music and learners who have already demonstrated they can think tunes, move with the beat, and respond to the expressive qualities of music. 

This course will show how to use the teacher’s manual to introduce students to music literacy by an “ear-first” approach, similar to how we all learned a language as a child. Music teachers will learn how to utilize Feierabend’s 12 steps to build student’s conversationally improvised musical ideas into original written compositions.  

Significant class time will be spent learning about each of the twelve steps, how to use the teacher’s manual to plan measurable learning units, how to pick repertoire and practice techniques to create lessons that intensify musical thinking for every student, and techniques to quickly assess student achievement. 

Participants who successfully complete this course will receive an official certificate of completion from the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME). Graduate credits (2) are available with additional work as are CEUs (20 clock hours). Click here for more information.

Interested in being district certified? Check out these Feierabend Curricula steps to do just that!

Seven Steps to District-Wide Curriculum Certification

Download a printable PDF Info Sheet on Feierabend philosophy, the Curricula and the instructor.

Feierabend Certification Course Info Sheet

Upcoming Courses

Contact
info@music-ade.com
text/call  503-278-5959