Coleman, Satis N. (Satis Narrona), 1878-1961

Satis Narona Coleman (1878-1961) was a music educator who specialized in the teaching of music to children. In 1895, she graduated from Sam Houston Normal Institute and went on to earn her B.S. (1927), M.A. (1928) and Ph.D. in educational psychology (1937) from Columbia University. Coleman also taught widely as a private music instructor before and after completing her studies.

It was Colemans belief that children should be introduced to and engaged in music at a very young age in order to develop their unique skills and further discover their own talents. Through her own academic studies, Coleman developed a cipher notation system that introduced children to sounds before they were introduced to the symbols used to notate music. Improvisation was key to her teaching philosophy that was built on the works of Rousseau, Pestalozzi, and Froebel.

Through her research, Coleman developed simplistic instruments that could be played by children and used in full-scale symphonies that she composed. She was a music educator whose philosophy pioneered notions still held by modern music education today.

From the guide to the Satis Coleman Collection, 1919-1957, 1957, (Special Collections in Performing Arts)