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111 MUSIC®
free music creation for all children, young and old
Everything is based on expertise backed by two years of experimentation.
The methodological handbook was developed and consulted by a three-member expert panel. The first member of this panel was Prof. Jiří Hlaváč, a university lecturer, clarinetist, composer, former rector and dean of the Faculty of Music at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
The second member was Mgr. Jaromír Valášek, a graduate of the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, teacher at the František Kmoch Elementary Art School in Kolín, and principal clarinetist of the State Opera Orchestra in Prague. These two members of the panel have more than 35 years of professional teaching and musical experience.
The third member is the protagonist of the entire pilot project of free music education for children, author of the 111 Music® method, and teacher with 12 years of experience at the František Kmoch Elementary Art School in Kolín, Jan Valášek, DiS. Jan Valášek is a graduate of the Prague Conservatory in the class of clarinetist Prof. Milan Polák and also completed five semesters at the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in the class of Prof. Vlastimil Mareš and Prof. Jiří Hlaváč, which he was unable to complete due to tendonitis. The aim of this college was to create a comprehensive view of the issue of free music education for children, which will make it easier for future teachers to implement this idea and, by extension, an innovative approach to teaching children, as there is no such comprehensive free system in the Czech Republic.
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The experiment comes into practice
The Czech countryside – home and birthplace of the 111 Music® method
The aim of the two-year experimental verification was to determine whether, during these two years, Free Music Education through the 111 Music® method would prove itself in regular individual music lessons for children. Changes in the children's approach to playing musical instruments were also examined in relation to their overall emotional and mental state in everyday life. Children aged 5 to 15 were included in this verification.
This innovative pilot project brings free music education to children. Imagine what it would be like if it were possible to preserve children's memories of experiences and situations, including the emotions and feelings associated with them. This is exactly what this free music education project offers children, and much more. Here, children have the opportunity to develop in a free, innovative, and largely individual way, creating and playing musical instruments with this unique overlap into their free creativity. They have the opportunity to record this and much more through their own compositions in the form of sheet music, musical mind maps, and dozens of videos on topics related to the Czech countryside. They can draw inspiration for their work from the musical stories Cesta k babičce (The Journey to Grandma's) and Cesta do pohádky (The Journey to a Fairy Tale), which are specially prepared in the Music Mind Maps 1 and 2 workbooks. These do not have to be real situations, as this project helps children enter the realm of dreams and fantasy and can therefore also be about their boundless imagination. The children will keep their compositions permanently and can play them at any time in the future, immediately recalling a given situation, such as a trip with their parents, a vacation at their grandmother's, a walk with a friend in the woods, etc. In this way, they will retain vivid memories of their wonderful experiences from childhood and adolescence, which will last them a lifetime.
In this two-year verification experiment, children were given the opportunity to freely and individually create and then interpret their own compositions exactly as they wished and felt, with only slight corrections from the teacher. In this way, they learned to play and interpret a musical instrument in a completely unique and entertaining way, without stress or fear that they would not be able to do something or that someone would make fun of them. This is the complete opposite of conventional teaching in current school systems. For example, they can discover the connection between music and nature, intertwine compositions with their family, friends, travel experiences, etc. Over time, the children realized that they were gradually improving and enjoyed what they had already achieved. The quality of the compositions is not the most important thing, because the most important thing is their content (theme).
The lessons used materials created by the children themselves, such as handmade books, primers, interactive videos, CDs, etc. The mission of this free music education is to teach children to play and create freely with a musical instrument, so that they can then compose their own little pieces. They can pack their recorder (more musical instruments are planned for the future) in their travel backpack for a trip with their parents, a visit to their grandmother, a bike ride, a walk in the woods, an outing with a friend, a summer campfire, or any other activity they enjoy. As soon as they find themselves in a beautiful place or encounter a pleasant experience or enchanting situation that appeals to them, they can immediately play the feelings they are experiencing at that moment and record them in the form of notes in their music notebook or music travel journal.
If we carefully "wrap" each child's composition in their emotions, feelings, moods, imagination, and stories, we create a completely original gift for them in the form of a musical mind map, which contains a unique memory of the situation that the student had the opportunity to freely create through music on their instrument and then further interpret.
The findings of the experiment confirmed the following facts
This pilot project was tested over a two-year period from 2023 to 2025. Ten children of a wide age range participated in the test. The youngest children, aged 5, were included, as well as older pupils around the age of 15. The two-year testing confirmed the following conclusions: Without exception, all children developed a positive, relaxing relationship with music, which they began to deepen in their lives. Both younger and older children experienced an emotional deepening of their perception of situations they encountered in everyday life in connection with music. The youngest age group of preschoolers and children in grades one to three created their compositions, for example, during weekend stays with their grandparents, etc. They came to individual lessons with joy, wanting to show and play what they had created themselves. The experiment also pointed to the fact that in the case of this free education, the children's stress and fear were very quickly reduced during play, not only towards the teacher, but also towards other people. This leads to the conclusion that the children who participated in this project subsequently had a natural desire to show off what they had created and composed, as they knew very well that if they made a mistake while playing, they would not be judged or given a bad grade. This verification also clearly showed that if children are offered a free form of music education, sooner or later they will find their own, fully individual path to public musical performance. The children organized their own concerts at home in their safe space for their loved ones, mainly their parents, grandparents, and siblings. However, it is important to mention that no one forced them to do so. In the case of older children, the experiment showed that they composed their pieces at school camps, for example, as demonstrated by a specific student in the reference video. This third-grade elementary school student describes in his own words what his composition means to him. He says that the leaves and sand he glued to the paper will forever evoke feelings of that place, which he will be able to recall when he is older. This is summed up in his composition, which he created based on his experience at school camp.
It was also found, as evidenced by the children in the reference video, that the youngest children, who could not yet read or write, had the same opportunity to create their compositions as children who could already do so. And that is one of the greatest benefits of this project. This free form of music education can offer the same conditions to everyone, even the youngest. This is a truly groundbreaking development that is not possible in other educational institutions.
The experiment showed that extensive knowledge of music theory was not necessary to fulfill the mission of this free music education. The children had a choice: they could use specific elements of music theory in their compositions, but they did not have to. It was entirely up to them. However, children are very curious, and when given the opportunity to choose freely, they naturally tend to seek new knowledge. Over time, their compositions became enriched with the most important elements of music theory, which was remarkable and innovative even for them. They discovered that if they enriched their compositions with something new, they suddenly became different and more interesting.
The project also examined whether children's imagination and fantasy could be influenced by two audio music carriers with stories, Cesta k babičce (The Way to Grandma's) and Cesta do pohádky (The Way to a Fairy Tale), which, like all other publications, were specially designed for this method. It was found that children were much better at composing their songs when listening if they were allowed to enter the world of the pre-prepared musical backdrop of Cesta k babičce or Cesta do pohádky in the form of relaxation for a short time (approximately 10 minutes) through these audio recordings.
It was proven that children responded very well to the content in the form of a narrated story, which was further enhanced by the music of the clarinet, piano, and recorder. Thanks to this, they were able to quickly imagine a supernatural world and other elements that they could fully experience through positive emotions, feelings, and moods. They then composed their pieces with a broader emotional palette, and their musical themes and ideas were much richer.
Another look at the 111 MUSIC® method
The method is based on the creativity and freedom of each child. Children are not evaluated through grades, which means there is no rivalry or competition over who is better or worse. Homework for the next lesson consists of compositions that they create themselves in class with the help of a teacher and then have the opportunity to practice at home. This eliminates the fear and stress of failure or of performing in public in front of strangers, which children are often involuntarily forced to do. Through this method, it is possible to replace the aforementioned problems with a love of music. The method offers your children a connection with nature through interactive creative videos using QR codes, which they will find in the primer, and the final part of this primer is also specially dedicated to relaxation, which is very welcome to everyone in these hectic times.
After completing the Music Primer, it is possible to continue with a freely connected publication called Music Mind Maps. This publication was named after the technique of the same name, which was created in connection with the development of the 111 Music method. In musical mind maps, children can apply all the theoretical procedures and knowledge they have learned in the Music Primer, giving them boundless and unlimited possibilities. In their musical creations, they are inspired by pre-prepared themes, which include, for example, the four seasons, summer holiday experiences, the weather, etc. The method also offers children our two other publications, namely Toulky Českou krajinou (Wandering through the Czech Countryside), Part 1 and Part 2. The icing on the cake is our two audio music stories entitled Cesta k babičce (The Journey to Grandma's) and Cesta do pohádky (The Journey to a Fairy Tale), which conclude the children's musical creation, which is based exclusively on their imagination, fantasy, or real experiences, such as those they had at their grandmother's house.
Gentle and non-coercive guidance from the teacher is the essence of a properly conducted lesson using the 111 Music method. We never know in advance the exact course and outcome of the lesson; the main thing is that the child leaves with some new knowledge that they are able to accept and master, and that they leave in a relaxed mood and with enthusiasm for the next lesson. Teaching is always individual, without limited and fixed boundaries in terms of requirements. Through this free approach and the subsequent musical realization of their own imagination, children have the opportunity to combine music, ideas, and their own feelings, emotions, and moods with their abilities and skills. They compose their own musical motifs with the corrections and help of their guide (teacher), which they can then develop in ways other than musically, such as creating simple lyrics for their compositions, their own pictures, using creative techniques such as musical mind maps, etc. The main idea behind this method comes from the ancient belief that music heals the soul. Music should not be stressful. Nowadays, this essential, almost healing power of music is somewhat forgotten.
The aim of this method is to restore the right emotional relationship to music in every child, which can then be used to influence their moods, mental state, and even their relationships with those around them, thereby improving their overall mood, balance, and approach to life. The child's imagination is further supported in this method by the fact that at the beginning of each lesson, they can listen to a selection of many relaxing sounds of nature, such as the rustling of the forest, meadows, birds singing, mountain streams flowing, etc. When creating compositions, the guide can also help the child by, for example, playing their own shorter musical motif on an instrument. The music primer itself is designed so that the child can write down their creations in it, add their own lyrics, pictures, etc. Behind each of their compositions there may be a hidden personal experience, such as a trip with a friend, a trip to the seaside with their parents, or just a memory of a beautiful summer afternoon. Under normal circumstances, they might completely forget about this situation because they have to deal with school, everyday responsibilities, etc. every day. They might take a few photos and videos to post on social media, but this thing they create will stay with them forever. Just as some of us keep diaries and notebooks, this is essentially a similar thing, but with a much greater and deeper effect, which is based on music. There are no limits to imagination and fantasy, so a child can set anything they want to music. And when they grow up and become adults, they will have a completely unique memento of their childhood memories and experiences, which they will be able to show and play to their own children and reminisce about how it was back then.