An accessible and student-centered curriculum for learning music.

The main instructional resource used in instrument-specific G.G. Music Studios lessons is our in-house method book series, Noise and Buttons Musical Learning Program. Built from the foundational music concepts of Noise and Buttons, each set of method books are designed to teach students to be well-rounded and creative musicians. The Musical Learning Program (MLP) is built from a holistic music learning approach, exposing students to explorative and interactive lessons within tempo, rhythm, timbre, and harmony before learning songs on their instrument. The MLP is a modular curriculum built on levels of learning, allowing any of these skills to be taught at any time in the corresponding level depending on the student’s learning needs.

In each instrumental MLP packet, exercises on each of the four aspects of music (tempo, rhythm, timbre, and harmony) will be introduced for students to learn and practice during and between lessons. A thorough introduction of these elements, both conceptually and through hands-on learning, makes up the first lessons of level one. After becoming familiar with each element, students will practice each element in every level to build their skills. Examples of exercises included in every level include warmups and performer spotlights (performance), rhythm exercises (rhythm), note naming and harmony patterns (harmony), tonguing exercises for wind instruments (timbre, level 4+), and finger dexterity exercises (tempo, level 5+).

In addition to learning about the elements of music, students also gain performance skills, such as songs, warmups, and listening, in the Performance module of each level. These pages are assessments of the prior material learned and piece together the four elements. Students learn songs in a three-step approach: learning by ear, seeing the music, and making new music. Students will learn songs without musical notation before seeing the notes on paper. After the song is mastered, students will get to make new music out of the song by changing one or more of the four elements. Examples of this include playing a song faster (tempo) or playing every note short/stacatto (timbre). While several examples are provided in the MLP books themselves, students are encouraged to find their own ways of changing the song and creating something new. Making new music out of an existing song also helps students learn how to compose and improvise music. Both of these skills are introduced formally in the second half of each MLP book.

The Noise and Buttons Musical Learning Program builds the whole musician by teaching much more than songs. It allows them to explore and make music in several ways while building performance skills along the way.