A note from Kate Yoder, Founder and Executive Director

Every music learner is different, and comes to the journey with a different background, strengths and goals. The Concord Conservatory of Music honors those differences and strives to be sensitive and responsive to them.

At the same time, we believe that in order to thrive as independent, creative musicians, all students need a set of Foundational Skills that deepen and personalize their connection to the music they hear and play.

Concord Conservatory calls these the Musician’s Toolbox—the tools that no musician should be without.

The External Skills are executive and technical: Notation skills (reading music and basic music theory) and how to play the instrument, including posture, stance, bowing, picking, embouchure, breathing and fingering.

The Internal Skills are creative and expressive: Having a sense of rhythm, understanding melody and harmony, developing relative pitch. Eventually, they evolve into generating one’s own musical ideas through composition, improvisation, collaborations and playing by ear.

The Internal Skills are sometimes regarded as “instinct” or one’s “musicality.” Some people are born with many of these skills, but they also are learnable.

You’ll see! And we will share your joy as you discover you, the musician.