Welcome!

Taos Youth Music School (TYMS) has been bringing kids and music together for 24 years. We welcome students from public, private and home-schools. Our diverse demographic group creates a unique blend of deeply rooted cultures together to celebrate youth, talent and growth. Our Winter Open House performances often draw hundreds of people.

Students learn musical concepts, voice, and instrument training, as well as collaborative work in a band or choir setting. Students benefit from small class sizes and the individual attention of dedicated and highly qualified teachers. In a safe environment, kids are encouraged to explore their creativity and learn to make music with confidence and joy. The skills, interests, and passions they develop impact their studies and extra-curricular pursuits as well.

To date 100% of TYMS’s alumni have graduated from high school or achieved their GED. We do not think it is a coincidence, as the positive effects of the study of music are many:

  • Children who study a musical instrument are more likely to excel in all of their studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, stay in school, and pursue further education.

  • A Columbia University study revealed that students who study arts are more cooperative with their teachers and peers, have higher levels self-confidence, and are more equipped to express themselves and their ideas.

Each instructor approaches music education and performance in a different way, and activities and instruments vary to appeal to students of different ages and skill level. Some activities include:

  • Singing, playing various Orff instruments, including xylophone, metallophone, marimba, & glockenspiel, as well as a wide variety of percussion instruments, guitar, ukelele, recorder, and keyboard

  • Transferring concepts, such as beats, notes, loud/soft, fast/slow, to real performance and learning to read music

  • Participating in field trips and educational clinics with visiting musicians. Opportunities to see, hear, and understand music in different cultural contexts

  • Developing audience skills of listening to others, and the confidence needed to perform for others. Developing the essential teamwork of working musically with other musicians

 

Explore our site to learn more about our program!

“The classes are fun. We make friends from all over Taos. I plan on attending until I graduate from High School and then I would like to be a teacher from the music school.”
- 4th grade TYMS student