Our Philosophy

As one of North America’s leading schools of Music, thousands of families have entrusted Merriam to help them receive the profound gift of lifetime musical enjoyment and appreciation. We call it “Music for Life.”

Whether you consider a one week summer camp, our signature “Keyfest” method or any of our more than 15 renowned programs, Merriam School consistently delivers the highest quality musical experience available. Recognized by key Universities, arts organizations and professional musicians, you are assured the Merriam difference will be one of the most valuable investments you make in you or your children’s future.

What Makes the Merriam School of Music Special?

The trademarked Keyfest Curriculum!  Local and international research shows that learning to play a musical instrument enhances intellectual and physical development as well as providing a long list of transferable life skills and benefits. Merriam's advanced “Keyfest” methodology is specifically designed to go far beyond the traditional music lesson and provide a completely balanced curriculum delivered in a highly professional and fun learning environment; each of the following areas of development is optimized ensuring the ultimate goal of "Music for Life" is obtained.

  • Intellectual enhancement: Merriam’s broad based music literacy-based curriculum can increase spatial temporal reasoning or “logic” skills by up to 33%. This translates into an approximate 11% differential in IQ development between students who study music and those who do not.
  • Physical enhancement: The fine motor skills and coordination required to play a musical instrument are fine-tuned and positively reinforced through every music lesson.
  • Creative enhancement: Rather than the traditional rote learning approach, Merriam students are always challenged to explore the creative parts of music by learning to play by ear, improvise and compose. Our students also enjoy sharing and making music with their friends and families by participating in our many performance and ensemble opportunities. Merriam helps students gain higher levels of confidence levels and self-esteem which can have far reaching benefits in so many other areas of their lives.
  • Life enhancement: Learning how to set and achieve short and long-term goals, paying attention to detail, problem solving, concentration skills and delayed gratification are all life skills that Merriam students gain through our renowned programs and methodology. We ensure every student is motivated to continuously improve and receive rewards every step of the way; we guarantee it!

Did you know?

Music is one of the few remaining activities that reinforce the lesson of delayed gratification (the satisfaction of attaining goals following hard work)?  Merriam's Keyfest Curriculum step-by-step approach provides students with the long term gratification of becoming more competent on their instrument while recognizing the small "wins" required to reach the goal.

What do parents have to say?

"Merriam has motivated my daughter to really enjoy playing the piano."  J. Cieslik