Cindy Weir, Music is Language

Cindy Weir is a registered Speech Language Pathologist who began working with hospitals and providing in-home care to children of families in the 1990s. As she was working, she thought to herself, “I should learn more music because I’m using it as I work with my students.” Already coming to music with a background in songwriting, she wanted to study music theory, harmony, and ear-training. And so she did, and earned a degree from Berklee College of Music. 

Through her daughters, who have been students at Music Maker Workshops (MMW) for years, Cindy came to know the studio and, in 2017, she began teaching at MMW. Now she has 23 students in addition to working part-time at a hospital, for an ENT doc, for a couple of in-home clients, and an occasional opera singer. 

Although her work differs in each of these areas, she always looks at music as language that connects us all. “That’s the magic,” she says, “When you teach it that way, it’s differ- ent.” She explains that when music is taught as a language, students are given tools they can use as opposed to a “do this or do that” approach where the joy of music and the process of creating it are both lost. She explains that she teaches the nuts and bolts of music while also wanting the process to be light and fun, always keeping options open to be creative. She explains that when music is taught as a language, students are given tools they can use as opposed to a “do this or do that” approach where the joy of music and the process of creating it are both lost. She explains that she teaches the nuts and bolts of music while also wanting the process to be light and fun, always keeping options open to be creative.  

A performer, she does share her gift when teaching and/or helping others, something she does with MMW and with Musicians On Call®, a national group that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. 

For more about Cindy, go to mmwaz.com. She teaches many instruments, all ages and abilities, and she has an amazing gift for working with special needs students.