At Charlotte Academy of Music, 9 years old is the youngest age that we start children in private viola lessons. Younger children may wish to begin with the violin or piano . We begin violin lessons as young as age 4, and piano age 5.

For children ages 3-5, we suggest our music readiness program, Preludes. In each Preludes class children learn about rhythmic notation, the piano keyboard, pitch and participate in various rhythmic and movement activities. Preludes provides a wonderful foundation for future viola or other instrument study!

All students ages 5 and older are encouraged to take our Music Theory Lab. Rhythmic and Pitch Notation, Dynamics, Rhythmic Counting, Key Signatures and many other important theory skills are covered in our lab curriculum. Our lab curriculum correlates with the NFMC Music Theory Examinations, and prepares our students for this important local event.

Yes! We have an excellent class, the Charlotte Academy Chamber Ensemble, under the direction of Connie Beach (MM). The class meets on Thursday evenings and regularly performs at Academy concerts and in the Charlotte area. Chamber Ensemble students need at least one year of private lesson experience to participate. Each student’s music is customized to reflect his/her current level of musical advancement..

Charlotte Academy of Music encourages parents to arrange an appointment with the Academy Director, Regina Ziliani, to determine the “best fit” in regards to a viola teacher. In this regard, a music school is a far superior choice as there is more than one instructor to choose from. We strongly believe that finding the right violin teacher for your child is the key to successful music lessons.

Students may register for a Trial Lesson to meet and work with an instructor before formally registering.

It is important that students are properly sized for their viola. Charlotte Academy of Music is pleased to recommend The Violin Shoppe for instruments and accessories. 2112 East 7th St. 704.373.0551

Music majors are the most likely group of college grads to be admitted to medical school. Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. He found that 66% of music majors who applied to med school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. For comparison, (44%) of biochemistry majors were admitted. Also, a study of 7,500 university students revealed that music majors scored the highest reading scores among all majors including English, biology, chemistry and math.

Sources: “The Comparative Academic Abilities of Students in Education and in Other Areas of a Multi-focus University”, Peter H. Wood, ERIC Document No. ED327480, “The Case for Music in the Schools”, Phi Delta Kappan, February, 1994

High school music students score higher on SATs in both verbal and math than their peers. In 2001, SAT takers with coursework/experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 41 points higher on the math portion than students with no coursework/experience in the arts.

Source: Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by Music Educators National Conference, 2001