“As children, they sing because they must, they move because the music prompts them, and they dabble with instruments and sound sources out of curiosity, a need of tactile experience, and because it ‘feels good’ to do so.”
- Patricia Shehan Campbell¹

“Musical activities contribute to a person’s quality of life and well-being.”
- Heiner Gembris²

“Music is central to identity…”
- Margaret S. Barrett³

Cross-culturally, music making and learning transcends traditions and are astonishingly similar. Every person, no matter the age, no matter the experience, no matter the culture, has the capability to be musical – each and every person has this innate ability to partake in musical play and music making. There are never-ending possibilities for musical growth! As Susan Hallam states, “all humans have the potential to make music and that musicality is as universal as linguistic ability.”⁴ Music provides us with the opportunity to come together in community and live out human expression in a way that inherently is natural to us all. All people have both the potential and the capacity to be musical.⁵ To be musical is another way of interacting with the world around us, because in our world today, we are exposed to music everywhere we go, usually relating to specific contexts and environments. Through that exposure, we start to subconsciously learn what is appropriate for certain environments, and thus our musical understanding begins to take shape at an early age.

The voice is our primary instrument and serves as a natural center for our musical perception. The vocally-centric classroom is a place that not only allows us to grow in musical ability, but also affords us the opportunity to be creative and express ourselves in ways not necessarily accessible in everyday life. Through the development of appropriate singing and a well-balanced singing voice, every person immediately has the opportunity to be musical for the rest of their lives!

It is my sincere hope and goal that every student who would study with us at Barbara Ingram would not only find their unique individual voice, but would also grow to appreciate and respect the true art of singing through becoming excellent musicians with a strong musical self-confidence. I strive to be a teacher who can inspire and nurture the talent of each and every one of my students. My desire is that each student would foster an appreciation and understanding for music – not only in an academic sense, but also an understanding for what music can provide individually for each and every one of us.

¹Patricia Shehan Campbell, “Global Practices,” in The Child as Musician, ed. Gary E. McPherson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006): 433.
²Heiner Gembris, “The Development of Musical Abilities,” in The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning: A Project of the Music Educators National Conference, eds. Richard Colwell and Carol Richardson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002): 502.
³Maragaret S. Barrett, “Aesthetic Response,” in The Child as Musician, ed. Gary E. McPherson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006): 186.
⁴Susan Hallam, “Musicality,” in The Child as Musician, ed. Gary E. McPherson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006): 104.
⁵Susan A. O’Neill, “Positive Youth Musical Engagement,” in The Child as Musician, ed. Gary McPherson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006): 463.