How to teach your baby music


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:

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
  • 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.

Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 3.


Thanks to Tamsyn for sharing this!

Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 1.
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 2.

Part 3

My best advice is to follow your child’s lead, and if he doesn’t seem ready don’t push it. I do know that in Suzuki they start kids as young as two, and one of the biggest ways they motivate their children is to play the piano yourself. If you play already, great, do it! If you don’t,

Read more…


Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 2.


Thanks to Tamsyn for sharing this!
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 1.
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 3.

With my son we mostly listen to a lot of music. I emphasize ideas like high and low, loud and soft, and fast and slow. I have some scarves that we dance with and he likes to mimic me, so when the music is slow we do large slower movements, and when it’s fast, we move quickly. He loves this. I have a few child-friendly percussion instruments I got at the local music/toy store, and we play with them too. At this age, it’s hard to get small children to tap the beat, but one thing we can do is teach them to respond to musical cues.

Read more…


Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 1.


     Thanks to Tamsyn for sharing this!
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 2.
Babies and Music? Some wonderful suggestions. Part 3.

Speaking of music, I have to really recommend the Kodaly method. I actually got my degree in music and have had a lot of experience with children, and have been really impressed with it. It starts out for toddlers using authentic singing games and nursery songs. It teaches music reading through solfeggio (Do Re Mi, etc) before pitch names so the children can sight-sing music. It teaches in the sequence that is easiest for children to sing, beginning with Sol and Mi, gradually adding notes until they know the whole scale. They also teach rhythm using french rhythm solfege, which I have found to be particularly effective with my piano students. If anyone is intrested, I highly recommend the book “The Kodaly Method” by Lois Choksy. It is full of great ideas for teaching music to children, including several songs great for teaching in the back. I use a lot of Kodaly in my studio.


Einstein never used flashcards - is early development really necessary?


“Einstein has never used flashcards.” Haven’t you heard that one before? If you like to introduce your children into the wonderful world of knowledge and skills early, then I am sure you you’ve heard it.

While Einstein never used flashcards, it looks like most of our geniuses had some kind “early learning” experience. Take Mozart: he started composing/playing the piano when he was just two. Well, it sounds like his parents ALLOWED him to play with the piano (and actually encouraged!) at that young age - at the age, when most of the parents actually encourage their kids to stay away from the valuable objects in their home. Mozart’s father was a musician and devoted his life to developing his talent.


Encyclopedic Knowledge - Music


 
Back To Encyclopedic Knowledge Topics Listing

How do I use these books?

English PowerPoint Presentations
Russian PowerPoint Presentations
Other methods/materials for teaching music

Note: files marked with M include Magnitudes of data - fact listing about each Intelligence Bit. Files marked with V include links to videos. Files marked with With Sound include sound effects.

 

Music Presentations in English

Classical Pieces 1
Classical Pieces 1
(enhanced Classical Pieces 1 by A.P.P. Thanks for sharing!)V
Classical Pieces 2
Classical Pieces 2
(enhanced Classical Pieces 2 by A.P.P. Thanks for sharing!)V
Classical Pieces 3
Classical Pieces 3
(enhanced Classical Pieces 3 by A.P.P. Thanks for sharing!)V
Classical Pieces 4
Classical Pieces 4
(Thanks to A.P.P. for a fantastic work!)V

Can TV or computer be harmful or helpful for kids development?


As far as I remember, American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the parents to avoid showing TV to their kids until two years old. As for educational videos, there are a lot more videos that just claim to be educational, like Baby Einsteins: Baby Einstein videos harmful for kids?

There is even an article in Time magazine that links early TV watching to autism: Does Watching TV Cause Autism?

I don’t know how much this particular research can be trusted, since my friend with a PHD in psychology just has been attending a seminar on autism, which stated that the scientific community believes that autism is a purely genetic disease, and all other “findings” are just scandalous ways to get public attention.


Teach your Child Music: Suzuki method


I am personally not familiar with Suzuki method, but there are quite a lot of people who praise it quite extensively. However I know a few professional music teacher who are really disappointed with the results and often comment that they end up “reteaching” the kids afterwards.

This is an expert from the North American Chapter of the Suzuki Association:

"More than forty years ago, Suzuki realized the implications of the fact that children the world over learn to speak their native language with ease. He began to apply the basic principles of language acquisition to the learning of music, and called his method the mother-tongue approach. The ideas of parent responsibility, loving encouragement, constant repetition, etc., are some of the special features of the Suzuki approach."


Teach Your Child Music: Doman method


Doesn't it seem that Doman has a method for everything? Either way sound good to me.
Out of all the programs we do, this turned out to be the easiest and the most fun.
Actually, Doman believes there are quite a few things you can get started with babies:

  1. Music appreciation and listening skills
  2. Developing the perfect pitch
  3. Note reading
  4. Rythm
  5. Musical Terms

Power Point presentations for teaching music

Music appreciation and listening skills

Well, that's the easiest one: just turn on music and enjoy it! And Doman actually believes it is the most important part of musical program. So, a little more to it:

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