Philosophy
“Musical training impacts a set of processes in the brain that are related to many other activities, from intelligence and reading to the ability to focus and do well in school” . Dr. Sylvain Moreno, Lead Brain Fitness Scientist, Rotman Research Institute
While the other arts rely on an established relationship between words or images and everyday life – books, theatre, film, sculpture, painting. all involve words that we use to communicate or recognizable colours and forms – music is different. Music is the international language that transcends all social or cultural barriers. It has an ability to communicate and include. Because music is so ‘user-friendly’, musical ideas have been exchanged around the world for millennium.
In our fiddling program, learning is active, not passive. The violin gives students an instant experience. As they begin to control the instrument, it begins to communicate. In a few hours students learn basic patterns and begin to build on these patterns. In a few days, they are performing in public. There, the audience appreciation reinforces their sense of accomplishment and paves the way for self esteem and focus. The experience opens the door to a new path of learning and a journey into a bright and positive future.
Student Trainer Andrea Finney, from Sioux Lookout, works with students at the Parry Sound Fiddle School, 2006.