In 2005, Shiho Yamamoto, a renowned, LA-based musician originally from Japan (and currently a resident of Beverly Hills,) developed a truly revolutionary methodology by which to teach very young children the fundamentals of music. She called this process ColorSoundation(tm). And today, this highly successful approach to teaching music, along with the school she founded, the Conservatory of Performing Arts, headquartered in West Los Angeles – a school which specializes in offering progressive academic music lessons to a diverse range of young students – each celebrate their 10th anniversary.
During May, the school achieved another landmark milestone by welcoming its 1,000th ColorSoundation student, Swara Amare, age 4, of Westwood in Los Angeles. Young Swara attends the Montessori Discovery Garden preschool in Westwood, where she loves her music classes. Her parents, Mayura, a graphic designer, and Paresh, an architect, wanted her to further explore her musical foundation by enrolling her into the ColorSoundation program. Swara represents the 1,000th student to study this program worldwide – ColorSoundation is offered in select schools across the United States and throughout Asia.
Yamamoto’s ColorSoundation process blends a combination of singing, playing and ear training, along with the illustrated activities of seven colorful, original animated characters and the integration of color-coded stickers and instructional booklets. The Conservatory of Performing Arts believes that there is no better way to set children up for success in music later in life than by starting them off with this truly one-of-a-kind program.
“Children reach a greater understanding of music by focusing first on the development of the ‘ear’ and singing voice, and then by concentrating on rhythm and musical notation,” says Yamamoto. “Our ColorSoundation process offers lessons which are broken into small steps, and interactive games, so as to not overwhelm children with too much information at once. These lessons allow students to absorb and grasp the fundamentals of music through voice, handbells and basic percussion instruments, in efforts to ultimately interest them in choosing an instrument to play when they get older.”
About SHIHO YAMAMOTO
Shiho Yamamoto currently serves as the Director of The Conservatory of Performing Arts. She oversees the curriculum of the school, and travels around the world to train and evaluate instructors whose schools have licensed her trademarked ColorSoundation system. A professional musician who has toured the globe as an orchestral violinist and has explored different music and cultures, Shiho is also a violin and piano instructor who has long studiet the ways in which young children learn, identify and process sounds.
With a deep personal passion in Early Childhood Music Education, Shiho founded the ColorSoundation method in 2005 – a method that was cultivated from her experience studying music as a young child who dreamed of becoming a world famous violinst. Born and raised in Japan, Shiho would cry when, at the age of 3, her parents hired a teacher to give her violin and piano lessons. To allay her fears, her teacher showed Shiho an early and very basic version of a color-coded music system, which she enjoyed. She began to embrace her lessons.
When Shiho was 15, she moved to New York City, where she had 10 years of intensive violin training under the professors Lewis Kaplan and Aaron Rosand. She earned a Bachelors and a Masters Degree in Music from The Mannes College of Music.
Shiho moved to Los Angeles with her husband, Nobu, and son, Kent, in 1999. Shiho taught private music lessons initially from her home, but in 2005, she leased a commercial space where she began teaching music with her fellow teachers to large classes. This was the start of the Conservatory of Performing Arts. By 2008, she had over 200 students there every week, and her teaching system caught a wave of popularity throughout Southern California. During 2015, the Conservatory of Performing Arts celebrates its 10th anniversary milestone.
About COLORSOUNDATION™
Developed by musician Shiho Yamamoto, ColorSoundation is a groundbreaking method of early music instruction based on the relationships between colors, musical notes and tones. This technique offers a solid, structured and nurturing environment for children ages 3-8 to stimulate and engage them with an enjoyable learning experience through which they learn music literacy, rhythm and pitch perception. Students of this process develop both social and personal skills through a multitude of engaging physical exercise, group activities and individual assignments. See:
http://www.colorsoundation.com/
Described as a “rich and stimulating learning experience, where bright waves meet brain waves,” through color-coded activities, ColorSoundation is comprised of four levels, with each level offering 20 lessons. The multi-dimensional teaching style of educators based at the Conservatory of Performing Arts provides students with positive reinforcement and an emphasis on problem-solving skills. This approach highlights the importance of practice and repetition to improve self-esteem and self-discipline, critical listening and communication, and fine and gross motor skills in young people.
“Music is an excellent tool for introducing children to concepts of language, math and social interaction,” says Yamamoto. “As many scientific studies have shown, it is during the formative and sensitive period of early childhood development that young minds are most adept to learn language. We believe the same cognitive principles apply to learning music. We feel that it is paramount for children to enjoy music when learning, and through our innovative teaching process, our students increase their capacity to think critically and to express themselves creatively.”
A select number of schools across the United States and throughout Asia include the ColorSoundation program within their curriculums. These include schools
located in California, New York, Texas, Arizona, Florida and Nevaga, as well as in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
About THE CONSERVATORY OF PERFORMING ARTS
Founded in 2005 by musician, teacher, wife and mother Shiho Yamamoto, and headquartered in West Los Angeles, with an additional site in the South Bay (Lomita, CA,) the Conservatory of Performing Arts (TCOPA) offers individual and group classes in music and dance, along with children’s ballet and hip-hop classes, as well as ballet classes for adults. In addition to Yamamoto, TCOPA is also the home to numerous strong teachers who support her instructional ideas. The school owes its success to its roster of well-established teachers who specialize in educating young people to the performing arts.
The Conservatory of Performing Arts is the home of the revolutionary ColorSoundation method, developed by Yamamoto. Teachers at the school believe that there is no better way to set up children ages 3-8 for success in music later in life than by starting them off with the ColorSoundation program.
TCOPA also offers private music lessons as well as group music classes for all ages. Whether a student is just getting started or has been playing an instrument for years, the school is designed to improve the skills of a diverse group of students in a fun way. TCOPA’s teachers are professional musicians who have years of experience – catering lesson plans uniquely to fit the goals of each student.
In Southern California, the Conservatory of Performing Arts is located at 2372 Veteran Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90064, Phone: (310) 470-6006. A second location is 24205 Narbonne Ave, # 101, Lomita, CA 90717, Phone: (310) 534-0777. For more information about TCOPA, please visit www.tcopa.com
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