Case Studies and Support from Experts in Education

“Curtis Madigan’s courses are truly special. Students all over the world practice with metronomes all the time, but it seems there’s only a handful of players who really achieve great rhythm. It’s as if it’s in their bones and can’t be taught. Curtis’s method is the first that I’ve seen that can really teach that X-factor of great, deeply rooted rhythm. I feel like every musician should check this out.” – Drew Taubenfeld, Musical Director for Selena Gomez, Meghan Trainor, Demi Lovato, and Leon Bridges

Curtis Madigan’s innovative theory of rhythm heralds the arrival of an entirely new paradigm for music education. In my twenty years of evaluating arts programs across America, the Sound Formation Method is the most exciting and promising music step-by-step learning system I have seen. It capitalizes on the natural integration of music and mathematics and catapults student learning in both subject areas. Fortunate are the students who have access to this program! This isthe future of music education.– Lynn Waldorf, PhD, Arts & Education Consultant

 

I believe parents of gifted children will find Sound Formation an excellent resource for their children. This visual-spatial approach to music is highly engaging and can improve attention and focus. Once visual-spatial learners see the visual representations of rhythmic patterns, they are able to read musical notation more easily and effectively, remembering the shapes of the various rhythms. I also enjoy Curtis as a person; he is a good human!
Linda Silverman, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Director, Gifted Development Center
Author, Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner

It’s brilliant how simple and elegant The Rhythm Compass is. It’s offered me a way to visualize and simplify seemingly highly complex beats. Very intuitive.
– Sameer Bhattacharya, Multi-Platinum Guitarist of Flyleaf

Curtis’s method is the first music instruction approach I’ve seen that accounts for the interhemispheric nature of learning. While dominant auditory learners who think symbolically and sequentially and love structure, come naturally to traditional music instruction with its focus on notation and sequential processing, right hemisphere dominant learners need visual, overview and explicit instruction. The Rhythm Compass creates a visual representation of the symbolic, abstract concepts of time and number. In this way, both hemispheres are engaged in learning how to play music. As a result, Curtis has revolutionized music instruction, allowing all students, whether dominantly auditory or visual, a way in to their innate ability to learn musical instrumentation.– Catherine Conlin, PhD, CCC-SLP, Owner and Director of Bright Brain Thinking

 

The Rhythm Compass is brilliant because it entrains the musician to recognize groove elements VISUALLY as well as aurally and physically.

-Michael Hewett, Guitar World author, Berklee grad, accomplished recording and performing artist

Curtis Madigan, known as the “Rhythm Doctor,” is brilliant. His highly engaging and creative teaching of rhythm through a visual-spatial language, is exciting and innovative. Utilization of his Rhythm Compass brings alive the power of visualization. His strategies for teaching music can also improve focus, attention and physicality. Curtis embraces whole brain learning, which totally resonates with my own professional work in vision therapy. His method should be the future of music education! -Dr. Lynn Hellerstein, International Speaker, Award-Winning Author, Vision Visionary

Curtis Madigan is a visionary music educator with a creative approach to the teaching of rhythm. He has invented a clever series of graphic organizers that will help beginners to develop a sense of pulse and subdivision. He teaches students to feel rhythms in their bodies and to go “beyond the metronome.” For advanced students and professional musicians, he offers practical solutions for practicing asymmetric meters and polyrhythms. He is so helpful in answering questions during live presentations and answered questions submitted by our members that covered piano repertoire from Bach and Chopin to Debussy. I am pleased to recommend him as an outstanding presenter and workshop leader.

Jonathan Flowers, Vice President, Main Line Music Teacher’s Association (Philadelphia, PA)

Curtis and Sound Formation did AMAZING work at Westgate! He conducted music and math workshops with our 1st – 4th grade students. Our kids loved their teachers and he understands the needs of gifted learners. Bring this wonderful organization into your schools and homes! He is very talented!

-Sharon Collins, Executive Director of Westgate (Gifted Charter School)