Note: Many of the city’s most revered music schools (including several listed below) are members of the New York City Coalition of Community Schools of the Arts. Consult the coalition’s Website, nationalguild.org, and click on “member schools” and “New York” for individual schools’ contact information.

Bloomingdale School of Music
323 W. 108th St., near Broadway
212-663-6021
bsmny.org
In Baby’s First Music Class, parents sing, dance, and explore instruments with their children. For the slightly older set, there’s Dalcroze Eurythmics and the Suzuki method for violin, cello, and flute. They also offer private instruction in piano, guitar, and most band and orchestra instruments. Weekly group lessons: $425 per seventeen-week semester; private: $646 to $952.

Broadway Babies and Applause Theatrical Workshops
Call 212-472-0703 for locations
applauseny.com
Children come here to learn all aspects of acting and musical theater, from improv to ensemble dance. For kids ages 6 months to 3 years, there’s the Broadway Babies program ($450), while the Applause Theatrical Workshops ($750) are aimed at tweens and teens—don’t be surprised to see the children of some stars of Broadway and film in these classes.

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
58 Seventh Ave., at Lincoln Pl., Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-622-3300
42-76 Main St., at Blossom Ave., Flushing
718-461-8910
brooklynconservatory.com
With branches in Brooklyn (a 100-year-old mansion) and Queens, this community music school takes on students 18 months and older, offering group classes and private instruction in jazz and classical music. Music Adventures offers toddlers an introduction to music through dance, painting, storytelling, and play acting. Weekly group lessons: $55–$395 per sixteen-week semester; private: $536–$832.

	Home-Economics Lessons
• The Lion & the Lamb 1460 Lexington Ave., near 94th St. 212-876-4303 lionandlambshop.com “To-go” knitting, crochet, and needlepoint tutorials are perfect for days of inclement weather (or parental laziness). Sign up for, say, “Knitting à la Carte,” and an expert will arrive at your home armed with materials—appliqués, yarn, kid-size needles—and patience. From $125 per hour.

Brooklyn Music School
126 Saint Felix St., near Hanson Pl., Fort Greene, Brooklyn
718-638-5660
brooklynmusicschool.org
The Brooklyn Music School focuses on building confidence and encouraging kids to think creatively. Offerings in the preschool division range from creating music to dance games in Creative Movers (ages 3–5). Older students can partake in the Preparatory Division’s private lessons, ensembles, and theory classes. Preschool, $15.50 per class; private lessons, $32 to $42.

City Music Schools
357 W. 36th St., near Eighth Ave., 3rd fl
212-563-6781
citymusicschools.com
CMS offers some of the most affordable private lessons in the city. Kids ages 3 to 5 (and, in a separate group, 6 and older) can study everything from piano and violin to folk harp and zither. All registered students have access to free practice space, and rentals are available. Private lessons: four half-hour lessons, $74; seven half-hour lessons, $122.50; four one-hour lessons, $140.

Do Re Mi
212-505-3456
Leanne DeCamp, a professional singer with fourteen years of teaching experience, works with children up to 4 years old to lay a foundation for further musical development. Her classes (up to twelve students) use puppets, dancing, demonstrations from professional musicians, and, most important, lots of listening to music without visual stimulation in order to build attention span. From eight to fifteen weeks at $25 a class.

Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute of the J.C.C. of Staten Island
475 Victory Blvd., at Forest Ave., Staten Island
1297 Arthur Kill Rd., near Woodrow Rd., Staten Island
718-981-1500
sijcc.org
A good bet for students of all abilities, DDKMI offers a traditional Orff class for kids 3–6, the Musical Moments class for toddlers and accompanying adults has kids learning to sing, rhyme, and move to the tune of folk songs. There’s also an Elementary Vocal Class for kids 6–9. Preschool classes, $150 per twelve-week semester; private lessons, $21–$40 per class.

Greenwich House Music School
46 Barrow St., near Seventh Ave.
212-242-4770
gharts.org
Greenwich offers private lessons in instruments such as violin, piano, and cello to kids starting at age 4; at 7, they can learn composition, woodwinds, and guitar. Group lessons, $186–$258 per twelve-week semester; private, $432–$576.

Harlem School of the Arts
645 St. Nicholas Ave., at 141st St.
212-926-4100
harlemschoolofthearts.org
Children 4–8 can take a prep course in pitch, rhythm, and notation before signing up for more advanced group or private lessons. HSA offers instruction in orchestral instruments—piano, guitar, and voice—as well as music theory and ear training, in Western, African-American, world music, and folk traditions. Group lessons from $80 for fourteen 30-minute lessons; private classes from $260 for fourteen 30-minute lessons.

Henry Street Settlement Music School
466 Grand St., at Pitt St.
212-598-0400, ext. 212
henrystreet.org
Beyond extensive early- childhood music programs (newborns to age 3) and private and group lessons in most classical instruments (ages 7 and older), offerings at this Lower East Side institution include the Suzuki program in violin; jazz lessons in piano, horns, percussion, guitar, and voice; and Voices of Henry Street, a choir for kids 8–12 that performs around the city. Group and private lessons run from $230 to $365.