I would suggest getting the program Pandora on the , Mac, PC or Iphone, and typing in Ravi Shankar to start. It will play music "like" him, and you can give that music a thumbs up, you can bookmark the artists or songs, and then create new internet radio stations around those, and so you would use Ravi Shankar as a "seed" musician, and then follow your own tastes and path as you discover new musicians, bands and styles through the program.

He is the most famous in the Western world, and an acknowledged master, but there is an ocean of other talent there available to discover.

Good luck!

Thanks

Chris

Hsmummy,

These are local country taxes and regulations, and may be why the keyboards in your area are proving expensive. I do not know the regulations, but I know the purpose, to stimulate or protect local manufacturers. Unions are often the driving force behind these types of legislation and taxes, but almost all countries have some kind of "protection" or disincentive on some products being imported, depending on the industry and its clout or importance.

While I know of no British keyboard manufacturers, that was why I suggested Fatah, as they are European (or were) and so may be exempt or have lower import taxes and/or shipping. GEM is another one, but I believe they now manufacture in China as well.

Good luck!

Thanks

Chris

Martina,

Do me a favor and email Mary Menger, our office manager, and have her double check the shipping, that sounds wrong. Her email is [email protected].

Thanks

Chris

Yeah, not sure how these things work, they seem like separate threads, for example I get an email when someone responds to some thread I responded to, so I know something is new, but when someone starts a new conversation or responds to a thread I may have read but not responded to, I don't get any notice. It has also spawned about 40 different threads, so easy to get lost in it all. I decided to post it where I had ongoing conversations with people. Also, each group might have some overlap, but often there were completely different people in each thread, so I felt like I was leaving some people out. Don and Delayna are for me a major benefit to this forum, so I wanted to share that, and lots of people are overseas, so when I answered that concern I felt a lot of other people might want that option too.

Thinking better, perhaps I should have just posted a link or reference back to the new thread I created introducing them.

Thanks for the feedback!

Chris

PS to Hsmummy,

I love the picture of the feet on your profile!

Thanks

Chris

[In other words, if you order it now, and only open it at Christmas, you would have over 100 days to make it work for you, and at least 2 of the teleseminars to participate in, and you can keep the bonuses even if you return it.]

Hsmummy,

You see the problems is universal, either the distributor pays shipping, we pay shipping or you pay shipping, adding to the costs, and there are probably tariffs in the UK that we do not have here for keyboards. That being said, being resourceful on the keyboards may still get you big savings. (By the way, search also for "MIDI controller" because that is another term that may be used for these types of keyboards) Here in the states we see a $30-$40 swing in pricing on that product, not counting ebay and other second party resources. Also, as I indicated, this is merely the keyboard we recommend, not the only one that will work. Piano Wizard Academy is MIDI compatible, meaning it will work with ANY MIDI keyboard, we just like the M-Audio because of the simplicity, size and USB powered aspect of it. But I for example also use it with a full size weighted 88 key keyboard from Yamaha, or a 3 octave mini keyboard, so it is not a constraint, but a recommendation that works for most people. As I indicated, our costs went up on the keyboards (more than 35%) so we deal with the keyboard costs as well.

I understand these challenges, I really do, I lived abroad more than 7 years of my life, from Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, and often had to deal with very predatory shipping, tariff and tax costs to get products from the US (I once had to convince the Brazilian customs department to release Vitamin C without a prescription or absurd tariff or fine. Luckily he was a music lover with a famous musician cousin in the US I had heard of, and he "deu um jeito" worked it out for me.)

That challenge for all of us to make this package both cost effective and affordable led us to the solutions and discounts we supplied, and why I went after Don and Delayna and secured their contribution and commitment to 6 months of teleconferences for Brillkids members to really maximize the value from the package. In other words, there are limits what we can do on keyboards and shipping, but we tried to add extraordinary value on the training to help make it more than worthwhile. Remember, whatever approach you take to learning piano, there is a keyboard or piano cost involved, (or they can't practice) whether you rent or buy, and it is an investment that should render for years of joy to come. With that in mind, we feel we came up with the best, most convenient and low cost solution available.

If you find other keyboard solutions locally that may work for other members, please let us know so we can share it, but I feel confident that there are other options around you that could fit your budget. For example, Fatah, an Italian based company also manufactures MIDI controllers, and they may be more affordable because of EU tariff agreements, I do not know, but it is another idea.

As for a distributor of the Piano Wizard Academy, this product is really not suited for retail distribution yet, (prices would actually go up) and it stops us from being able to offer all the bonuses we added to the package (which have a cost of course, and we already have embedded costs for royalties on the songs, training and sheet music to recover).

In the US, we have a payment plan option, which will soon be automated, but we cannot offer that to overseas customers at this time, as our financial underwriter does not have international options yet.

I know that I have not offered you anything concrete other than other local keyboard options to explore, again, the cost of shipping and keyboards is a problem we can hide but not run from, it gets added in or companies go out of business. What I can, and do guarantee is that whatever sacrifice or resourcefulness it takes to get this into your home will be worth it many times over. Our guarantee for BrillKids members is not our usual 30 day unconditional guarantee, it is extended to 60 days, starting from when the package is opened and registered!. In other words, if you order it now, and only open it at Christmas, you would have over 100 days to make it work for you, and at least 2 of the teleseminars to participate in, and you can keep the bonuses even if you return it. We did this because we know how tough things are, and we want this to be one of the best purchase decisions you make for your family this year, if not longer, so we did our best to make sure your children could not fail to thrive and enjoy the journey.

Most parents do not regret the purchase, they regret it was not around to use when they were a kid! But one of my favorite quotes is, "its never too late to have a happy childhood!". We hope you enjoy this as much as they do.

Thanks

Chris

[I also just got confirmation that Don and Delayna Beattie will conduct the monthly teleconferences starting in January to guide people through the coursework and help make sure people have the best possible results with the Piano Wizard Academy.]

-Cost saving option for overseas members-

Hi  Chris

I was so excited when I saw that the offer had come out to brillkids members - have been waiting and watching for it. I have over the last few weeks managed to convince my husband that it would be worth the expense  - helped by your posts etc. So I went to order it this morning to find that the post and packing was another £90.82 (GBP)  which has meant that the cost has now become prohibitive for us.

Is there anyway of obtaining this in the UK to reduce the costs - for example have you got enough brillkids members from the UK who want this that you could send out a mass order to 1 of us so we could then help each other distribute between ourselves? Dont know just an idea but Im so disappointed  - and I know all the arguments around the cost - its just the hidden cost of post and taxes has rather blown us away.

Look forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Brillkids Mom

Brillkids Mom,

Where most of the challenge is is with the keyboard. I don't know if you noticed but we offered a version without a keyboard included, that saves about $100 US, but also drops the shipping cost pretty dramatically. (http://www.AutomatedSalesMachine.com/app/?Clk=3973986, then just log in and then scroll down on the exclusive offer page to the actual offer and choose the unit WITHOUT keyboard on the right)

By purchasing a keyboard locally you often save quite a bit on postage, as the weight of the package drops dramatically. ANY MIDI compatible keyboard will work with the game, but we do like the M-Audio line of KeyRig 49, which has a street price of around $100, mainly because it is simple, lightweight, and powered by the USB. (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/KeyRig49.html) If you follow this link you can track down and contact their international distributors and find resellers in your area. Here in the US Apple stores carry them, and they are popular in music stores as well.

Taxes of course are beyond our control, but we have found that for international customers the option of getting the bundle without keyboard included and finding that locally saves them quite a bit.

I also just got confirmation that Don and Delayna Beattie will conduct the monthly teleconferences starting in January to guide people through the coursework and help make sure people have the best possible results with the  Piano Wizard Academy.

I hope this helps, we actually recently had to raise our regular price $50 to $599 without any bonuses, because of increasing wholesale expenses on keyboards, but worked out this special bundle for Brillkids members, and offer the option of purchasing the keyboard locally to save more money as well. We actually are worried about internal availability of the keyboards for our domestic customers this Christmas, so we encourage Brillkids members to order early or even domestic customers may have to source the keyboards themselves.

Finally, let me share this letter we just got, it was addressed to Don and Delayna, but I think you can see, that if you can swing it, it will be more than worth it.

"Hi Don,
 
Thanks for taking your time to reply my email.
We really appreciate the Premier mode in Piano Wizard.
My 8 years old son enjoys so much playing the accompany for many songs from Academy 1 to 5.
It's a joy to see my 5 years old daughter played the main melody of  Jolly Old Saint Nicolas and my son played the Harp accompany with her. (My 5 years old daughter has finished Academy 1 and is having a lot of fun with Academy 2.)
My son also loved playing the string assemble for Morning in Colorado. (He wanted to make sure that I mentioned this to you.)
It made the piano learning so much fun to him.
He used to have a lot of power struggle with me for practicing piano and taking the private piano lessons before we got Piano Wizard.
Now, he just practices all by himself and have a lot of fun to try all different accompany.
He even tried step 3 & step 4 for those accompany.
I was very pleased with your program.
Thank you for developing such a fun and educational program.
One thing makes piano wizard so attractive to him is he can challenge me on playing the accompaniment.
He always gets higher scores than I do and gets to 100% faster than I do.
He is very proud of himself. He can finally beat Mom in piano. 
That is an important motivation for him to keep going on.
 
I will for sure find a private teacher after he finishes number 80. But for now, he doesn't need a private teacher. You guys and the program have been his teachers.

Piano Wizard has enriched our family's piano experience so much.  My son's private lessons have never been so much fun and rich. It's not how much money we have saved through this program. It's HOW MUCH we have learned from this program that attracts us. (Of course, we did save a lot of money through this program.)

--We also appreciated you mentioned a lot of music masters in your DVDs (not just techniques). It's such a great introduction for the kids to the wonders of music.

Again, thank you so much!! May God bless you richly.
 

Thanks,

Michelle
God bless you!"

Brillkids Mom, a lot of other people overseas have the same concerns as you, so I will be reposting this without your name so they can also look at this option.

Thanks

Chris

[I also just got confirmation that Don and Delayna Beattie will conduct the monthly teleconferences starting in January to guide people through the coursework and help make sure people have the best possible results with the Piano Wizard Academy.]

-Cost saving option for overseas members-

Hi  Chris

I was so excited when I saw that the offer had come out to brillkids members - have been waiting and watching for it. I have over the last few weeks managed to convince my husband that it would be worth the expense  - helped by your posts etc. So I went to order it this morning to find that the post and packing was another £90.82 (GBP)  which has meant that the cost has now become prohibitive for us.

Is there anyway of obtaining this in the UK to reduce the costs - for example have you got enough brillkids members from the UK who want this that you could send out a mass order to 1 of us so we could then help each other distribute between ourselves? Dont know just an idea but Im so disappointed  - and I know all the arguments around the cost - its just the hidden cost of post and taxes has rather blown us away.

Look forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Brillkids Mom

Brillkids Mom,

Where most of the challenge is is with the keyboard. I don't know if you noticed but we offered a version without a keyboard included, that saves about $100 US, but also drops the shipping cost pretty dramatically. (http://www.AutomatedSalesMachine.com/app/?Clk=3973986, then just log in and then scroll down on the exclusive offer page to the actual offer and choose the unit WITHOUT keyboard on the right)

By purchasing a keyboard locally you often save quite a bit on postage, as the weight of the package drops dramatically. ANY MIDI compatible keyboard will work with the game, but we do like the M-Audio line of KeyRig 49, which has a street price of around $100, mainly because it is simple, lightweight, and powered by the USB. (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/KeyRig49.html) If you follow this link you can track down and contact their international distributors and find resellers in your area. Here in the US Apple stores carry them, and they are popular in music stores as well.

Taxes of course are beyond our control, but we have found that for international customers the option of getting the bundle without keyboard included and finding that locally saves them quite a bit.

I also just got confirmation that Don and Delayna Beattie will conduct the monthly teleconferences starting in January to guide people through the coursework and help make sure people have the best possible results with the  Piano Wizard Academy.

I hope this helps, we actually recently had to raise our regular price $50 to $599 without any bonuses, because of increasing wholesale expenses on keyboards, but worked out this special bundle for Brillkids members, and offer the option of purchasing the keyboard locally to save more money as well. We actually are worried about internal availability of the keyboards for our domestic customers this Christmas, so we encourage Brillkids members to order early or even domestic customers may have to source the keyboards themselves.

Finally, let me share this letter we just got, it was addressed to Don and Delayna, but I think you can see, that if you can swing it, it will be more than worth it.

"Hi Don,
 
Thanks for taking your time to reply my email.
We really appreciate the Premier mode in Piano Wizard.
My 8 years old son enjoys so much playing the accompany for many songs from Academy 1 to 5.
It's a joy to see my 5 years old daughter played the main melody of  Jolly Old Saint Nicolas and my son played the Harp accompany with her. (My 5 years old daughter has finished Academy 1 and is having a lot of fun with Academy 2.)
My son also loved playing the string assemble for Morning in Colorado. (He wanted to make sure that I mentioned this to you.)
It made the piano learning so much fun to him.
He used to have a lot of power struggle with me for practicing piano and taking the private piano lessons before we got Piano Wizard.
Now, he just practices all by himself and have a lot of fun to try all different accompany.
He even tried step 3 & step 4 for those accompany.
I was very pleased with your program.
Thank you for developing such a fun and educational program.
One thing makes piano wizard so attractive to him is he can challenge me on playing the accompaniment.
He always gets higher scores than I do and gets to 100% faster than I do.
He is very proud of himself. He can finally beat Mom in piano. 
That is an important motivation for him to keep going on.
 
I will for sure find a private teacher after he finishes number 80. But for now, he doesn't need a private teacher. You guys and the program have been his teachers.

Piano Wizard has enriched our family's piano experience so much.  My son's private lessons have never been so much fun and rich. It's not how much money we have saved through this program. It's HOW MUCH we have learned from this program that attracts us. (Of course, we did save a lot of money through this program.)

--We also appreciated you mentioned a lot of music masters in your DVDs (not just techniques). It's such a great introduction for the kids to the wonders of music.

Again, thank you so much!! May God bless you richly.
 

Thanks,

Michelle
God bless you!"

Brillkids Mom, a lot of other people overseas have the same concerns as you, so I will be reposting this without your name so they can also look at this option.

Thanks

Chris

[I also just got confirmation that Don and Delayna Beattie will conduct the monthly teleconferences starting in January to guide people through the coursework and help make sure people have the best possible results with the Piano Wizard Academy.]

-Cost saving option for overseas members-

Hi  Chris

I was so excited when I saw that the offer had come out to brillkids members - have been waiting and watching for it. I have over the last few weeks managed to convince my husband that it would be worth the expense  - helped by your posts etc. So I went to order it this morning to find that the post and packing was another £90.82 (GBP)  which has meant that the cost has now become prohibitive for us.

Is there anyway of obtaining this in the UK to reduce the costs - for example have you got enough brillkids members from the UK who want this that you could send out a mass order to 1 of us so we could then help each other distribute between ourselves? Dont know just an idea but Im so disappointed  - and I know all the arguments around the cost - its just the hidden cost of post and taxes has rather blown us away.

Look forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Brillkids Mom

Brillkids Mom,

Where most of the challenge is is with the keyboard. I don't know if you noticed but we offered a version without a keyboard included, that saves about $100 US, but also drops the shipping cost pretty dramatically. (http://www.AutomatedSalesMachine.com/app/?Clk=3973986, then just log in and then scroll down on the exclusive offer page to the actual offer and choose the unit WITHOUT keyboard on the right)

By purchasing a keyboard locally you often save quite a bit on postage, as the weight of the package drops dramatically. ANY MIDI compatible keyboard will work with the game, but we do like the M-Audio line of KeyRig 49, which has a street price of around $100, mainly because it is simple, lightweight, and powered by the USB. (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/KeyRig49.html) If you follow this link you can track down and contact their international distributors and find resellers in your area. Here in the US Apple stores carry them, and they are popular in music stores as well.

Taxes of course are beyond our control, but we have found that for international customers the option of getting the bundle without keyboard included and finding that locally saves them quite a bit.

I also just got confirmation that Don and Delayna Beattie will conduct the monthly teleconferences starting in January to guide people through the coursework and help make sure people have the best possible results with the  Piano Wizard Academy.

I hope this helps, we actually recently had to raise our regular price $50 to $599 without any bonuses, because of increasing wholesale expenses on keyboards, but worked out this special bundle for Brillkids members, and offer the option of purchasing the keyboard locally to save more money as well. We actually are worried about internal availability of the keyboards for our domestic customers this Christmas, so we encourage Brillkids members to order early or even domestic customers may have to source the keyboards themselves.

Finally, let me share this letter we just got, it was addressed to Don and Delayna, but I think you can see, that if you can swing it, it will be more than worth it.

"Hi Don,
 
Thanks for taking your time to reply my email.
We really appreciate the Premier mode in Piano Wizard.
My 8 years old son enjoys so much playing the accompany for many songs from Academy 1 to 5.
It's a joy to see my 5 years old daughter played the main melody of  Jolly Old Saint Nicolas and my son played the Harp accompany with her. (My 5 years old daughter has finished Academy 1 and is having a lot of fun with Academy 2.)
My son also loved playing the string assemble for Morning in Colorado. (He wanted to make sure that I mentioned this to you.)
It made the piano learning so much fun to him.
He used to have a lot of power struggle with me for practicing piano and taking the private piano lessons before we got Piano Wizard.
Now, he just practices all by himself and have a lot of fun to try all different accompany.
He even tried step 3 & step 4 for those accompany.
I was very pleased with your program.
Thank you for developing such a fun and educational program.
One thing makes piano wizard so attractive to him is he can challenge me on playing the accompaniment.
He always gets higher scores than I do and gets to 100% faster than I do.
He is very proud of himself. He can finally beat Mom in piano. 
That is an important motivation for him to keep going on.
 
I will for sure find a private teacher after he finishes number 80. But for now, he doesn't need a private teacher. You guys and the program have been his teachers.

Piano Wizard has enriched our family's piano experience so much.  My son's private lessons have never been so much fun and rich. It's not how much money we have saved through this program. It's HOW MUCH we have learned from this program that attracts us. (Of course, we did save a lot of money through this program.)

--We also appreciated you mentioned a lot of music masters in your DVDs (not just techniques). It's such a great introduction for the kids to the wonders of music.

Again, thank you so much!! May God bless you richly.
 

Thanks,

Michelle
God bless you!"

Brillkids Mom, a lot of other people overseas have the same concerns as you, so I will be reposting this without your name so they can also look at this option.

Thanks

Chris

[Hi Don, Thanks for taking your time to reply my email.We really appreciate the Premier mode in Piano Wizard.My 8 years old son enjoys so much playing the accompany for many songs from Academy 1 to 5.It's a joy to see my 5 years old daughter played the main melody of Jolly Old Saint Nicolas and my son played the Harp accompany with her. (My 5 years old daughter has finished Academy 1 and is having a lot of fun with Academy 2.)My son also loved playing the string assemble for Morning in Colorado. (He wanted to make sure that I mentioned this to you.)It made the piano learning so much fun to him.He used to have a lot of power struggle with me for practicing piano and taking the private piano lessons before we got Piano Wizard.Now, he just practices all by himself and have a lot of fun to try all different accompany.He even tried step 3 & step 4 for those accompany.I was very pleased with your program.Thank you for developing such a fun and educational program.One thing makes piano wizard so attractive to him is he can challenge me on playing the accompaniment.He always gets higher scores than I do and gets to 100% faster than I do.He is very proud of himself. He can finally beat Mom in piano. That is an important motivation for him to keep going on. I will for sure find a private teacher after he finishes number 80. But for now, he doesn't need a private teacher. You guys and the program have been his teachers.Piano Wizard has enriched our family's piano experience so much. My son's private lessons have never been so much fun and rich. It's not how much money we have saved through this program. It's HOW MUCH we have learned from this program that attracts us. (Of course, we did save a lot of money through this program.)--We also appreciated you mentioned a lot of music masters in your DVDs (not just techniques). It's such a great introduction for the kids to the wonders of music. Again, thank you so much!! May God bless you richly. Thanks,MichelleGod bless you!"]

-Cost saving option for overseas members-

Hi  Chris

I was so excited when I saw that the offer had come out to brillkids members - have been waiting and watching for it. I have over the last few weeks managed to convince my husband that it would be worth the expense  - helped by your posts etc. So I went to order it this morning to find that the post and packing was another £90.82 (GBP)  which has meant that the cost has now become prohibitive for us.

Is there anyway of obtaining this in the UK to reduce the costs - for example have you got enough brillkids members from the UK who want this that you could send out a mass order to 1 of us so we could then help each other distribute between ourselves? Dont know just an idea but Im so disappointed  - and I know all the arguments around the cost - its just the hidden cost of post and taxes has rather blown us away.

Look forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Brillkids Mom

Brillkids Mom,

Where most of the challenge is is with the keyboard. I don't know if you noticed but we offered a version without a keyboard included, that saves about $100 US, but also drops the shipping cost pretty dramatically. (http://www.AutomatedSalesMachine.com/app/?Clk=3973986, then just log in and then scroll down on the exclusive offer page to the actual offer and choose the unit WITHOUT keyboard on the right)

By purchasing a keyboard locally you often save quite a bit on postage, as the weight of the package drops dramatically. ANY MIDI compatible keyboard will work with the game, but we do like the M-Audio line of KeyRig 49, which has a street price of around $100, mainly because it is simple, lightweight, and powered by the USB. (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/KeyRig49.html) If you follow this link you can track down and contact their international distributors and find resellers in your area. Here in the US Apple stores carry them, and they are popular in music stores as well.

Taxes of course are beyond our control, but we have found that for international customers the option of getting the bundle without keyboard included and finding that locally saves them quite a bit.

I also just got confirmation that Don and Delayna Beattie will conduct the teleconferences starting in January to guide people through the coursework and help make sure people have the best possible results with the  Piano Wizard Academy.

I hope this helps, we actually recently had to raise our regular price $50 to $599 without any bonuses, because of increasing wholesale expenses on keyboards, but worked out this special bundle for Brillkids members, and offer the option of purchasing the keyboard locally to save more money as well. We actually are worried about internal availability of the keyboards for our domestic customers this Christmas, so we encourage Brillkids members to order early or even domestic customers may have to source the keyboards themselves.

Finally, let me share this letter we just got, it was addressed to Don and Delayna, but I think you can see, that if you can swing it, it will be more than worth it.

"Hi Don,
 
Thanks for taking your time to reply my email.
We really appreciate the Premier mode in Piano Wizard.
My 8 years old son enjoys so much playing the accompany for many songs from Academy 1 to 5.
It's a joy to see my 5 years old daughter played the main melody of  Jolly Old Saint Nicolas and my son played the Harp accompany with her. (My 5 years old daughter has finished Academy 1 and is having a lot of fun with Academy 2.)
My son also loved playing the string assemble for Morning in Colorado. (He wanted to make sure that I mentioned this to you.)
It made the piano learning so much fun to him.
He used to have a lot of power struggle with me for practicing piano and taking the private piano lessons before we got Piano Wizard.
Now, he just practices all by himself and have a lot of fun to try all different accompany.
He even tried step 3 & step 4 for those accompany.
I was very pleased with your program.
Thank you for developing such a fun and educational program.
One thing makes piano wizard so attractive to him is he can challenge me on playing the accompaniment.
He always gets higher scores than I do and gets to 100% faster than I do.
He is very proud of himself. He can finally beat Mom in piano. 
That is an important motivation for him to keep going on.
 
I will for sure find a private teacher after he finishes number 80. But for now, he doesn't need a private teacher. You guys and the program have been his teachers.

Piano Wizard has enriched our family's piano experience so much.  My son's private lessons have never been so much fun and rich. It's not how much money we have saved through this program. It's HOW MUCH we have learned from this program that attracts us. (Of course, we did save a lot of money through this program.)

--We also appreciated you mentioned a lot of music masters in your DVDs (not just techniques). It's such a great introduction for the kids to the wonders of music.

Again, thank you so much!! May God bless you richly.
 

Thanks,

Michelle
God bless you!"

Brillkids Mom, a lot of other people overseas have the same concerns as you, so I will be reposting this without your name so they can also look at this option.

Thanks

Chris

Martina,

A couple of quick answers for you, first of all, yes it is compatible with WIndows 7, and yes you can download and import virtually any MIDI file into the game, including Czech nursery songs.

We sell licensed MIDI files at www.wizardtunes.com and are looking forward to a major upgrade in our selection this Christmas, but the design of Piano Wizard Academy is open, so that people are not forced to buy music from us but can source it whereever they can.

Some words of orientation on MIDI files. These have been created over the last 20 years by amateurs and pros alike, and really are a "box of chocolates", i.e., you never know what's inside. The nursery rhymes you mention are probably public domain, but many pop songs you find out there are in fact pirated. These will still work, but the artists will not be compensated, and so we have worked out a deal with Hal Leonard Corporation, the largest publishers of sheet music in the world to make available tens of thousands of LEGAL MIDI files. Our target is our integration with their royalty reporting software will be ready by Christmas, so people will have a great resource to choose from that are professionally arranged, and have matching sheet music.

Again, there is no operational issue with using any MIDI file, just know that they may not be well arranged, or legally compensating the composers or artists. Of course most classical pieces and folk songs you find are public domain, the copyright long expired, but some MIDI arrangers still claim a separate copyright on the arrangement. All that being said, if you do a search for "Czech nursery songs MIDI" you will probably find something that works for you and your family.

Enjoy!

Thanks

Chris

PS I am reposting a response I gave to someone in the UK who was concerned with costs of shipping, and you too might want to explore the option we suggested.

[I also just got confirmation that Don and Delayna Beattie will conduct the monthly teleconferences starting in January to guide people through the coursework and help make sure people have the best possible results with the Piano Wizard Academy.]

-Cost saving option for overseas members-

Hi  Chris

I was so excited when I saw that the offer had come out to brillkids members - have been waiting and watching for it. I have over the last few weeks managed to convince my husband that it would be worth the expense  - helped by your posts etc. So I went to order it this morning to find that the post and packing was another £90.82 (GBP)  which has meant that the cost has now become prohibitive for us.

Is there anyway of obtaining this in the UK to reduce the costs - for example have you got enough brillkids members from the UK who want this that you could send out a mass order to 1 of us so we could then help each other distribute between ourselves? Dont know just an idea but Im so disappointed  - and I know all the arguments around the cost - its just the hidden cost of post and taxes has rather blown us away.

Look forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Brillkids Mom

Brillkids Mom,

Where most of the challenge is is with the keyboard. I don't know if you noticed but we offered a version without a keyboard included, that saves about $100 US, but also drops the shipping cost pretty dramatically. (http://www.AutomatedSalesMachine.com/app/?Clk=3973986, then just log in and then scroll down on the exclusive offer page to the actual offer and choose the unit WITHOUT keyboard on the right)

By purchasing a keyboard locally you often save quite a bit on postage, as the weight of the package drops dramatically. ANY MIDI compatible keyboard will work with the game, but we do like the M-Audio line of KeyRig 49, which has a street price of around $100, mainly because it is simple, lightweight, and powered by the USB. (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/KeyRig49.html) If you follow this link you can track down and contact their international distributors and find resellers in your area. Here in the US Apple stores carry them, and they are popular in music stores as well.

Taxes of course are beyond our control, but we have found that for international customers the option of getting the bundle without keyboard included and finding that locally saves them quite a bit.

I also just got confirmation that Don and Delayna Beattie will conduct the monthly teleconferences starting in January to guide people through the coursework and help make sure people have the best possible results with the  Piano Wizard Academy.

I hope this helps, we actually recently had to raise our regular price $50 to $599 without any bonuses, because of increasing wholesale expenses on keyboards, but worked out this special bundle for Brillkids members, and offer the option of purchasing the keyboard locally to save more money as well. We actually are worried about internal availability of the keyboards for our domestic customers this Christmas, so we encourage Brillkids members to order early or even domestic customers may have to source the keyboards themselves.

Finally, let me share this letter we just got, it was addressed to Don and Delayna, but I think you can see, that if you can swing it, it will be more than worth it.

"Hi Don,
 
Thanks for taking your time to reply my email.
We really appreciate the Premier mode in Piano Wizard.
My 8 years old son enjoys so much playing the accompany for many songs from Academy 1 to 5.
It's a joy to see my 5 years old daughter played the main melody of  Jolly Old Saint Nicolas and my son played the Harp accompany with her. (My 5 years old daughter has finished Academy 1 and is having a lot of fun with Academy 2.)
My son also loved playing the string assemble for Morning in Colorado. (He wanted to make sure that I mentioned this to you.)
It made the piano learning so much fun to him.
He used to have a lot of power struggle with me for practicing piano and taking the private piano lessons before we got Piano Wizard.
Now, he just practices all by himself and have a lot of fun to try all different accompany.
He even tried step 3 & step 4 for those accompany.
I was very pleased with your program.
Thank you for developing such a fun and educational program.
One thing makes piano wizard so attractive to him is he can challenge me on playing the accompaniment.
He always gets higher scores than I do and gets to 100% faster than I do.
He is very proud of himself. He can finally beat Mom in piano. 
That is an important motivation for him to keep going on.
 
I will for sure find a private teacher after he finishes number 80. But for now, he doesn't need a private teacher. You guys and the program have been his teachers.

Piano Wizard has enriched our family's piano experience so much.  My son's private lessons have never been so much fun and rich. It's not how much money we have saved through this program. It's HOW MUCH we have learned from this program that attracts us. (Of course, we did save a lot of money through this program.)

--We also appreciated you mentioned a lot of music masters in your DVDs (not just techniques). It's such a great introduction for the kids to the wonders of music.

Again, thank you so much!! May God bless you richly.
 

Thanks,

Michelle
God bless you!"

Brillkids Mom, a lot of other people overseas have the same concerns as you, so I will be reposting this without your name so they can also look at this option.

Thanks

Chris

More free music games online

http://69.93.17.74/Music/Games-Demos/Welcome/Memory/index.cfm

This one is a great memory game for ear training.

Here are some more.

http://69.93.17.74/Music/Games-Demos/Welcome/index.cfm

Enjoy,

Thanks

Chris

More free music games online

http://69.93.17.74/Music/Games-Demos/Welcome/Memory/index.cfm

This one is a great memory game for ear training.

Here are some more.

http://69.93.17.74/Music/Games-Demos/Welcome/index.cfm

Enjoy,

Thanks

Chris

More free music games online

http://69.93.17.74/Music/Games-Demos/Welcome/Memory/index.cfm

This one is a great memory game for ear training.

Here are some more.

http://69.93.17.74/Music/Games-Demos/Welcome/index.cfm

Enjoy,

Thanks

Chris