NEW! Early Childhood Music Masterclass – Summer 2026

Transform Your Early Childhood Music Teaching This Summer - Register to Take this State-of-the Art Masterclass with Dr. Eric

What my students can do!

5 Videos
"The materials are excellent and very useful. The harmonic learning sequence is inspiring. I am going to be able to continue to use the materials to develop my own audiation."
"Eric's approach to teaching harmonic function is totally inspired. So simple and playful. What a gift to the MLT community to have someone who is expanding the work Dr. Gordon started. (Eric also has a way to help students sort out the modes. Again, such a logical approach.....truly inspired.) Thank you Dr. Rasmussen!! Not only am I prepared to teach my students harmonic functions, but I am ready to develop my own ear for harmony!"
"I loved learning about the HLS methodology. I also really enjoyed the practical aspect of the homework and experiencing the changes in my own audiation throughout the course. The benefit for both teachers and students I think is a really powerful aspect."
"I just wanted to say thank you for your inspiring course. As others in the course said, it filled the void that had been nagging at me for a long time. I now have my work cut out for me in terms of sprucing up my own audiation, thinking up ideas for how to include the HLS in my lessons. . . . I'm looking forward to exploring new terrain!"
"Eric was very encouraging, accessible and promoted a wonderful sense of this being a long term learning process, which I personally find helpful."

Early Childhood Music Masterclass – Summer 2026

Four sessions, 3:00–4:30 PM EDT — July 7, 14, 21 & August 4 (no session July 28)

Register now!

**NOTE: Each participant also receives one 60-minute individual session with Dr. Eric scheduled at your convenience between the third and fourth sessions.

Class Size:

  • Limited to 10 participants for an intimate learning environment

Tuition:

  • $450 — Full course (includes Dr. Eric’s Book of Songs & Chants)
  • $375 — You already own the book
  • $300 — You’ve taken Dr. Eric’s HLS course before

What You’ll Receive:

  • Complete Early Childhood Repertoire — 99 songs and chants for ages 0–9+, organized by type, developmental level, meter, tonality, and alphabet, across all tonalities and meters (except locrian).
  • The Harmonic Learning Sequence (HLS) — Dr. Eric’s revolutionary method for teaching harmonic functions using child-friendly labels (“Yes,” “No,” “Uh-oh,” etc.), root melodies, and hand (and feet) signs — including secondary dominants and other functions seldom used in traditional MLT classrooms.
  • Method & techniques — Learning Sequence Activities at Aural/Oral and Verbal Association levels, teaching Partial Synthesis earlier than ever, and the developmental sequence from listening through composition/improvisation.
  • Rhythm pattern development across duple, triple, and uneven meters (BBANTSS — “Big Beats Are Not The Same Size”).
  • Teaching tonalities, curated playlists, choreography, and Dr. Eric’s complete scope & sequence — what to teach, in what order, and why.

Instructor:

Eric Rasmussen, PhD in Music Education

  • Chair, Early Childhood Music, Peabody Preparatory, Johns Hopkins University (2000–present)
  • A three-year graduate student of Dr. Edwin Gordon at Temple University
  • Over 15,000 hours of practical classroom teaching in Music Learning Theory since 1988
  • Grounded in Edwin Gordon’s Music Learning Theory, refined in recent years with Siegfried Engelmann’s evidence-based instruction principles — while preserving its playful, developmentally responsive spirit.
100% of all participants rated the course, instructor, and materials as either very good (9) or excellent (27).