My preschooler loves music–don’t they all at that age?
But after eight weeks in Webop music class, Mooch now knows some basic jazz concepts that will help her learn an instrument, write music, or pursue whatever musical goal her heart desires later.
About Webop In Omaha
The evening Webop class pretending to sing into a microphone with their teacher, Ms. Susie.
Mooch was enrolled in Webop, a program developed by Jazz at Lincoln Center and brought to Omaha by Omaha Performing Arts. I used to work at OPA, and was so excited when I heard about this program starting up in my hometown. It’s phenomenal. Disclaimer: OPA offered my daughter complimentary enrollment so I could tell you about it.
Band Week at the Webop music class at the Holland Performing Arts Center.
For the last two months, we’ve sang, we’ve improvised with instruments and our bodies, we’ve listened to the best story times sung by our wonderful teacher, Susie (who’s a well-known vocalist in our city and beyond).
I say “we” because parents or caretakers not only have to attend with their little one, they’re encouraged to participate.
Our schedule looked like this:
ABC’s of Jazz Curriculum
Week 1: Swing
Week 2: Blues
Week 3: Improvisation
Week 4: Band Week! A review of weeks 1-3
Week 5: Scat
Week 6: Call and Response
Week 7: Form
Week 8: Band Week! A review of weeks 5-7
Ms. Susie with some of the Webop preschoolers at the end of their eight-week program. The program was created by Jazz at Lincoln Center and brought to Nebraska by Omaha Performing Arts.
Every class had a pianist to accompany us and play the melodies, and twice, the class had a band. The kids learned about the instruments and enjoyed playing call-and-response games with the musicians.
Sounds like a great program to you? A new session starts in the spring!
Webop Omaha Spring Classes
Syncopators (4-5 years)
Tuesdays from 6 to 6:45 p.m.: Jan. 24, Jan. 31, Feb. 7, Feb. 14, Feb. 28, March 7, March 14 & March 21
* This is the class with our teacher, Ms. Susie. She was fabulous and my daughter adored her and pianist, Matt.
Stompers (2-3 years)
Thursdays from 10 to 10:45 a.m.: Jan. 26, Feb. 2, Feb. 9, Feb. 16, March 2, March 9, March 16 & March 23
Gumbo Group (3-5 years)
Saturdays from 11 to 11:45 a.m.: Jan. 28, Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 18, March 4, March 11, March 18 & March 25
Want to sign up for Webop?
Sessions are eight weeks and cost $200 (there is a discount for second child in the same family). Get more program details and register online here!
Note: Our class was a mix of 3- to 5-year-olds. It’s an interesting interaction with the older children taking the lead in the beginning, followed by the young ones speaking up more and more as the weeks progressed. Now, they’re offering classes that divide that age range into two separate groups.
My tip for picking a class: Keep your child’s schedule in mind. I signed us up for an evening class because we had soccer on Saturday mornings and I work full-time, so it it was our only option…but wow, 6 p.m. was a crapshoot if my daughter was in the mood to follow directions. Saturday morning’s would’ve been perfect for her.