I agree with TmS, music is a life long ability and education.  It truly is a gift for your child's entire life.  Not many 80 year olds play football or soccer, but they can sing and play instruments.

Get all of the CDs and background music recommended by others.  Most importantly, SING.  Sing to your baby; sing with your baby.  Music is both a language itself and in language.  If you can talk, you can sing.  Sing folk songs, nursery rhymes, pop songs, hymns ... it doesn't matter.  Please don't fall into the 'performers only' cultural trap.  I am so frustrated with the trend that only perfect artists are allowed to be heard.  This idea has been absorbed by our society so that music is no longer a community activity but a spectator sport.

If you want your child to have music, model it to them.  Children don't want or expect us to be 'American Idol' or Yiruma.  If you don't do it, they won't try.

Now I will climb off my soap box podium.  Sorry, I get a little passionate about the subject.  It comes with the territory I guess.  I am the creator of KinderBach because I wanted all children to have music as part of their basic education.

Hi lzp11,

I had a few students join my classes at 2.5 years old because an older sybling was in the class.  These kids kept up just fine and in a couple of cases surpassed their older sybling .    This is the issue with 2 year olds in a class with older kids; the little ones had to 'keep up' with the older ones.  I believe that 2 year olds are a great age for starting KinderBach if they have an attentive adult guiding them, not pushing them beyond their own pace.

The activities in the KinderBach lessons are aimed at very young children.  The sessions move from gross motor movement (marching rhythm) to fine motor movements (coloring pages & keyboard) and everything in between.  These are not the 'sit-at-the-piano' type of lessons.  Kodaly Solfege is incorporated as a total body experience where the top of the head is high 'do' and the toes are low 'do'.  Children not only hear the interval but they feel the distance - great for kinesthetic learners!  For little ones just slow down and don't do too many sections at a time.  Do one activity and leave it for the day.  Plan on 5 to 10 minutes instead of 30.  KinderBach gives you the flexibility to do this.

Yes, the CD tracks are a useful addition.  We do not have downloads for them yet.  I will pass on your suggestion.  We are working on putting the Everyday, Christmas, Hymns and Patriotic songbooks into streaming video with performance and demonstration tracks.  This will be an upgrade to the online membership.

Since we have all the books in PDF format on CDs, the packages are not very heavy.  Our international shipping costs are $21 US, no matter what you order.

Blessings,
Karri

Hi Kimba,

Good questions!  There are several programs out there so it is important to understand the functioning differences.  You do need a keyboard or piano to do the lessons but it does not need to be plugged into the computer or TV.  Anything from an electric keyboard to an accoustic piano will work just fine.  There are some recommendations in our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the website. 
Link:  http://www.kinderbach.com/FAQ/HomeFAQ/H-FAQpianos.html

KinderBach is much like taking a preschool music class but the teacher is on video rather than in a classroom.  You don't have to know anything about music.  You become the teacher's aid or facilitator, giving your child the hands on attention they need.
Link:  http://www.kinderbach.com/FAQ/HomeFAQ/H-FAQprerequis.html

Keep making music together!
Karri

There is not much difference between doing the KinderBach lessons by DVDs or Online videos.  The Online videos have the activity pages downloaded from the web in pdf format.  The DVDs have an accompanying CD with the pdf activity pages to print from your computer.  The video is the same in both versions.  The KinderBach DVD packages have an extra CD with audio versions of the songs, that's a bonus.  For selections played on the keyboard, there are performance and demonstration tracks - sort of 'piano karaoke' for kids to play with.

Thanks for visiting our site!
Karri

Hi All!

I joined the site recently and I am thoroughly enjoying the passion all the BrillKids parents have for teaching their children.  Cheers to you!!

I am the creator of KinderBach, a product partner of BrillKids (you can find us in the Forum Shop).  I believe that one of the foundations of music development is composition.  Children need to make up songs as part of their musical growth and understanding.  Just as we encourage kids to color and draw for artistic expression, they should be encouraged to invent music.  The action turns music into a true creative art for them.

I want to invite you to participate in the Spring Composing Draw we are hosting at KinderBach.  No purchase is necessary and we give you tools to help the kids record their creations.  Entries are divided into 4 age categories (between 2 and 8 years old).  We call this a 'Draw' because the winners are drawn; there is no adjudication.  We just want to inspire kids to make music!

Here is the link to the webpage where the entries will be displayed:  http://www.kinderbach.com/info/CharacterPages/FelicityPage.html
It is empty because we just started the contest this week.  You will find a link on that page for details on entering and for downloading the help pages.

Once again, no purchase is necessary and your child does not have to be using KinderBach to enter.  Simply have fun!

Keep making music together!
Karri

KinderBach is different from other piano programs in it's approach.  KinderBach does not color, sticker or number keys or turn the keyboard sideways.  We just teach the children where the notes are using ANY piano without ANY additions.

KinderBach sets a goal of music literacy over practical playing and uses the piano as the base instrument to acheive music reading.  We believe that young children can understand much more than they are physically capable of doing.  Complicated music concepts are broken down to a preschooler's level and presented individually.  The Piano Pals and other KinderBach characters provide story and relationship so, when a principle is introduced, small children comprehend it because it appeals to their young logic. 

One small example:  Children can find D on any keyboard once they have heard the story of Dodi the Donkey.  D, logically, would not be anywhere else on the piano because Dodi lives between the two black keys and he plays on the note in front of his two black key house.  See - no stickers, colors or other tricks required.

The KinderBach curriculum is outlined on the website if you are interested. http://www.kinderbach.com/Classroom/curriculum.html

Any other questions?  I would be happy to answer them.