language for Little Music

[AaronJ]

I was just wondering if the language used for Little Music was the United States form of  English, does that mean that the time names of the notes are also the United States form of names like whole note instead of semibreve etc?

Can one actually choose which form of English one prefers for Little Music?

[Eliana]

Hi.  I am an elementary music teacher from the U.S.  I will attempt to answer your question.  From what I can see in my Little Musician program, the rhythm notes are named like this: semi-breve (whole) notes = Ta+ah+ah+ah, minim (1/2) notes = Ta+ah, crochet (1/4) notes = Ta, quaver (1/8) notes = Ti, etc. So--they use a fraction in parentheses to correlate with eighth notes, half notes, and so on.  I think these labels are mainly for parents, and are only flashed briefly for babies at the heading of each rhythm lesson. And for some reason, in this brief heading, the bar in the fractions is missing--so you get "12 notes" instead of "1/2 notes" on the section heading.  (I would love to see this fixed, btw.)  Babies are taught rhythm syllables to go along with the rhythm notation: Ta ti-ti ta ta for quarter eighth eighth quarter quarter.  I would like this system better if they would connect the ta's with the ah's on the half and whole notes so it is a more continuous sound, rather than very separate sounds on what should be a sustained note.  Anyway that is just my two cents.  Clear as mud?  Let me know if I can explain things better.  Good luck!

[KL]

References to "English (US)" have nothing really to do with the music side of the content.  It's just in case we ever release a British version of it where we make sure all words are written with UK spelling (color vs colour, for example).

Regarding the rhythm names differences (whole note vs semibreve), like Eliana said, we put both labels on the titles, and they're meant for parents, cos it's not really highlighted in the lessons. ie., we're teaching them "ta-ah-ah-ah" (the essence of the note) instead of whote note or semibreve (the names of the note).

Eliana, thanks for pointing out the "12 vs 1/2" problem. Will get it fixed. Actually, I'm thinking of removing it altogether. We removed it from the Course lessons already since we already have title slides, so these slides are now redundant.
It's almost impossible to join the sounds to make them sustained, given the nature of the program.  We basically have 1 sound to cater to all sorts of duration lengths (virtually infinite!).  It's the same thing with solfege notes. This would be the disadvantage of computer programs which can generate infinite lessons on the fly, vs DVD programs which are custom-tailored and perfect, but with limited and fixed lessons.

[Eliana]

KL thanks for the explanation on why connecting the longer duration syllables is difficult with this sort of program. I think if I read along with the rhythms and connect them with my voice, as well as repeat the rhythm on my soprano recorder with the notes sustained, my little one will get the concept correctly. I have four-beat rhythm flash cards that I use with my elementary students that I can use with her outside of the program as well. Anyway, I am a fan of Little Musician!

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Eliana, what age elementary kids do you teach, and have you considered using LMs with them? Just curious. 

[Eliana]

TeachingMyToddlers, I teach 5-11 year old students at a public school in Nevada.  I bought LM for my 2.5 year old daughter, but now I am considering using it with my Kindergarten students for a year to see how they take to it.  I just wish the animated characters wore clothing.  I don't think my students will appreciate being asked to copy the clapping patterns of toddlers in diapers.  I guess I can always skip this section, and use the rest. 

LM really would fit well into my curriculum, as I already teach solfege, rhythm syllables, and try to expose the students to classical masterworks and orchestral instruments.  I have a classroom set of xylophones and a set of soprano recorders that we play, although we use letter names rather than solfege on these instruments.  My training is in Kodaly and Orff methodologies.  Thanks for asking!  Do you know of any public school programs using LM?

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Eliana,

Many public & private schools use LR & LM with their students, with software typically donated by BrillKids via grants through www.eeecf.org. Some schools are just now starting to use LMs because it has *just* been released. I know of at least one private enrichment school that is using it so far but there may very well be more than I am unaware of. I don't want to derail this topic too badly, so feel free to visit the Foundation website or PM for more information if are considering applying for a grant so you would not have to use your personal license at school, or if you need multiple licenses for different classrooms/computer labs. Also, you are welcome to refer any other teachers at school to contact me for more information about LR grants for example, just PM me for my email address. And thanks for the feedback regarding the clothing issue.

Also, I believe you can change the settings to letter names versus Solfege for the entire program if that is more applicable to your setting. (although I am personally a big fan of DO RE MI!) Let us know if you need help exploring that option. You can also create your own songs in the program to go with any music the kids might be learning in class, either downloaded in MIDI if it's available online or created "from scratch." I have a couple on there now, but I intend to create more, like "You are my sunshine" and some patriotic songs I sing to my kids as well. The program is truly customizable is just about every way!

-TmT

[Kezia]

...
I just wish the animated characters wore clothing.  I don't think my students will appreciate being asked to copy the clapping patterns of toddlers in diapers.
...

Hi Eliana, about the clap-along characters, in case you haven't discovered it yet, you can actually turn the clapping characters off so your students will only see the falling icons (the falling icons panel will also occupy the whole screen instead of just half of it). You just might need to demonstrate how it works the first time you play the lesson for them, or simply clap along with them until they get the hang of it.

I've attached a screenshot of this particular button -- to turn the clapping characters off, just click once on the "Show" button on the right (with the smiley icon on it) so that the light turns red.

You'll see the Clap-Along-specific settings in the Play Panel whenever you select any Clap-Along lesson. During playback, the Play Panel is hidden by default -- just move your cursor towards the bottom of the screen to slide it out and change settings as necessary.

[Eliana]

Thanks Kezia, I wasn't aware of that feature. Turning the clapping characters off would work for my students. I tried turning them off while my toddler was watching and she got really upset!  She loves watching the animation--and always tells me whether the character is a boy or a girl.

TmT, I will experiment with changing the solfege to letters in the program, but I like solfege for singing and ear training. Is there a tutorial on how to create a song from scratch? That would be something I would like to try.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

There is not a tutorial for it just yet, soon enough I am sure. When I get a chance in the coming week or two, I will try and walk you through it.

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