For us this turned out to be the easiest and the most fun so far. And the fact that the last time I’ve heard of music notation was singing “Do-Re-Mi” in kindergarden, didn’t stop me. To aid our studies, I use the following site to get familiar with music reading myself: Introduction To Music Reading . Again, for the litte ones there are myriad of methods:

• Glen Doman method
• Power Point presentations
• Suzuki
• Teaching little babies music: wonderful recommendations from a professional. The most updated version of Tamsyn’s advice is available now at her own site: Professional Mothering.
  Part 1
  Part 2.
  Thanks to Tamsyn for sharing this!
• Other Materials (Toys, CDs, Books, etc.)

Other materials:

• Musical Toys Recommendations
• Classics for Kids: Lots of materials and audio programs about classical composers, their works, and kid oriented interviews with the experts. Can be loaded to iPod. The ones I’ve listened to were really nice.
• Fill the Measure manipulative cards
• Online Music Theory Helper
• Montessori Music Materials
• Montessori Bells online: free internet based program for discrimination of musical sounds by pairing and ordering, developing pitch identification.
• NY Philharmonic : fun site dedicated to music and musical instruments – for kids to explore by themselves
• Classical Mommy musical Power Point Presentations: terrific collection. There are presentations on musical instruments, opera pieces, classical works – all with sounds.
• Beethoven’s Wig Cd’s: these are absolutely my favorites. We are using them every day, in a car, with the kid and sometimes, secretly, even without. These CDs contain the original classical piece, beautifully conducted, and the “song” – funny rhymes written for that classical piece. Usually there is a name of a composer embedded into the song, on CD number three – every piece is for a different instrument. I love that pieces are SHORT: Blue Danube waltz by Strauss is magical, but the complete piece lasts 6-7 minutes. Both for learning and entertainment purposes, 2-3 minutes pieces that capture the main melody themes – are perfect.
• Alan Wasserman – Personality in Their Music: I love this CD. It is a good introduction to music: I’ve learned a few new facts about composers and like how the pieces are performed.
• Music Computer Games: Mozart’s Magic Flute Music Computer Game, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Music Computer Game, and Alice in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Music Computer Game – my kid is still too small for these, but my niece loves these the most. And since she is especially attached to the themes from Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky game won her heart completely.
• Classical Composers CD-Subscription: my friend initially signed us up to this as a gift and I love the set that I get every three weeks – 2 CDS with a little collection of different works of this composer, a little booklet with some information about him, and a nice picture on a front of the booklet. We usually select a composer for the week and listen to his CD, looking through the booklet, at least few times a day. So far Bach is my kid’s favorite and he would discern his style even when we listen to some musical works that we’ve never heard before.
• Fandex Composers Guide: I just got this one and found it pretty useful to keep around. As we listen to various music collection cds (e.g. Beethoven’s Wig cds that constantly on in my house), I would show the picture of the composer and try to fish out some quick fact about him from the cards. The format is very portable and quite convenient.
• Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neighbors Thought): my sister’s older kids are really into this book. My friend even reads it to her 3 year old, but I think it is a bit of a stretch.
• I couldn’t resist not put Musical Bingo that kid loves so much on this list as well. I find it incredibly educational. Read more in our Musical Toys Recommendations
• Mike Venezia books: I love every single one of them. I think for my sister’s older kids we actually purchased every single one of those. These books have fascinating stories, incredible pictures (both real and comics) and are both educational and fun. The language is very easy for kids ears.
• Flashcards: General Music by Jane Bastien: rather small flash cards, but I find using them easier, then making my own: they have a note on one side, and its name with position of piano on the other. The paper is very thin, but I had so much trouble figuring notes on our xylophone (that we use for Doman’s program of learning music), that these cards really helped. I just wish they were bigger and sturdier.