Is it reproducible or random? Is it crashing at the second Chord Recognition lesson?

In any case, can you please send a diag report here or to support(at)brillkids(dot)com?

Thanks!

Hi
I have started to test it w/my son but had to interrupt.Now , downloaded the new test version but cant start it at all, neither the wiping out file cannot be opened.Maybe I did something wrong..
Thnx
Eva

Can you just uninstall everything (delete db and media library when asked), and try it again?  If there are still problems, please let us know which stage you got up to, what did you see, and send in a diagnostic report (if you can't start LMs, then do this from Start - All Programs - BrillKids - Little Musician - Diagnostic.)

i do have a suggestion for the music apreciation section , although my kids have no problem with it , they twirl and dance or try to be the conductor , why leaving the screen blank and not display a photo of the composer instead

But I agree with Bella, it is pitty to leave the screen blank - how about a video shot of the playing orchestra with a real conductor conducting the piece we are listening to ?  We could see the instruments "in action" and imitate the conductor :-)

Already discussed before. See what you think after the new Resources section comes out.

i downloaded the new final version of LM bu when i try o open the lesson content in LM i get a message error occurred . can you help please

Can you be more specific. Need to know exactly what you are seeing. And please create diagnostic report (see above).

I think maybe if we do it around the collar-bone area instead of wide out to the shoulders that would be a good compromise?

You can't 'import' word documents, I'm afraid. You have to create each word one by one.  (Please see the tutorials on how to do that.)

Did you use the files in the new build:

http://forum.brillkids.com/little-musician-general-discussion/little-musician-beta-near-final-version-download-here/

If you're having problems, UNINSTALL everything (make sure you choose to delete database and media library), and try again from the new link.
If you're still having problems, please create a diagnostic report and send it into our Support.
ANy other questions please post in that new thread, thanks!

KL, would you consider adding some graphic thingie like in Window Media Player into the Music Appreciation lessons?
 

Yes, it's something we are looking into, but even if it's feasible, it won't be in v1 of the software.

1. Is it possible for me to set the “Auto-Forward slides” selection to “on” for "Solfege Intro" and "Chord Recognition" and “Auto-Forward slides” to “off” for "Hear and Sing (Chords)"?

Yes, but unfortunately it would be a lot of manual work. Right-click on any folder, choose Expand All to expand all folders, then select all the items you want to change the settings of by using your mouse click while holding down Ctrl, then click on Edit Lessons on the right hand of the screen. Then find autoforward somewhere, click on the red button to turn it green, change the setting to AF on, then hit APPLY.

2. Would it be possible to select how many times the “Clap-Along” song is repeated in a lesson?

Not right now, I"m afraid. Probably in the next major update (v2) we'll have auto-generated courses like what you'll see in LR v3 tha'ts coming.  In the meantime, I suggest you switch the clap setting manually every time you're playing the lesson to make it more challenging and varied.

3. Is there a reason our “Clap-Along” song’s display seems to be disjointed today?

A lot of LMs is dependent on your computer processing power and RAM. If it played fine before and not today, it could be that there's less RAM at that time. Try rebooting the computer.  If the problem persists, create a Diagnostic report and send it in to our Support.

4. Will the course eventually incorporate someone singing a song in solfege while the notes appear on screen? My daughter loves to sing the solfege when she knows it for the “Clap-Along” songs.

Have you tried the Children's Songs lessons under Play & Edit? The songs are sung out in solfege.  We have not incorporated them into the Course in Sem1+2.  Partly cos it's very processor intensive and may not work well for everyone.

Will the rainbow colorcoding be program-wide? With the last version the change has been made in curriculum, but when I go through Play and Edit and Music notes-  they still do show up in „old“ colours. It would also be handy if there was an option to choose either rainbow colourcoding or all-black (for advanced user).

Actually, I noticed the same thing just yesterday and realized I had forgotten to change it there. You'll get both versions (rainbow and non-rainbow) in the release.

In curriculum, when it comes to Music Appreciaton, my son asks me to stop it (shots seem to be too long for him, probably) .

This is our recommendation we write in the Teaching With Little Musician booklet that will come with the program:

During Music Appreciation lessons, try to identify instruments that can be heard in the pieces being played (eg., "That sounds like a clarinet!", or "What do you think that instrument is?").  You could also dance or move to the music, clap along to the beat, or pretend with your child to be the conductor of the music!

See if that helps.

I am musiacally naive, but my understandig is that, clapping accoding to melody means we are clapping-out notes, is that correct??? If yes, I would have suggestion you make the falling icons rainbow colourcoded and labeled .

No, clapping to the beat has nothing to do with notes.  You can be tone-deaf but still have a good sense of rhythm - very separate things, though both very important in musicianship.

It would also be handy to have an option to choose colour coded keyboard in Free Play section.

There is. Just click on the cog-wheel (settings) icon on the top right of that window pane and change the settings there.

Thanks, Wolfwind!  I agree with what was written.

Just a comment about talent. It's basically the 'nature vs nurture' argument, which to me is such a pointless debate.

On the assumption that 'nature' or 'innate talent' cannot be changed intrinsically, what's the point of even thinking about it?  Why not spend our time and energy on what we CAN do something about - ie., NURTURE.  There is so much we can do that would make such a huge difference in children achieving their potential, that it almost renders 'nature/talent' to be irrelevant.

So on the one hand, saying talent/nature cannot be changed is a 'fixed mindset' (a la Carol Dweck's Mindset book), understanding that it's a pretty small factor in the grand scheme of things and our efforts/nurture can make a big difference would be a 'growth mindset'.

[NOT ONLY WHAT WE SAY]

Haven't read the book, but read about it in another book which I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend everyone reads:

THE HAPPINESS ADVANTAGE:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Happiness-Advantage-Principles-Performance/dp/0307591549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335492986&sr=8-1

You can get a taste of what it's about and the author's humor here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work.html

The book mentions many important experiments and research that has been done, including by the Mindset author Carol Dweck.

One thing that's particular important to us as PARENTS is how NOT ONLY WHAT WE SAY to our children can affect them, but even WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THEM, even if we don't tell them our beliefs!  It's called the Rosenthal or the Pygmalion Effect.

Basically, they did an experiment in an elementary school where they gave the kids an IQ test.  Then they told the teachers of the class who the top 3 scorers were, and how these 3 kids have the greatest potential in exceeding.  The teachers were told not to tell the kids and not to treat them any differently, like spending more time on them.
Later on, it turned out that those 3 kids DID excel.

But here's the thing - those 3 kids were NOT the top 3 scorers - they were chosen RANDOMLY!!

        

In short - be careful what you believe about your child - you are likely to be right, whatever you believe!

(Same goes towards your beliefs about other people, like your spouse, parents, etc.  I've seen people 'change' in miraculous ways myself when I've changed my beliefs about them, by just making sure I focus on the stuff that helps.)

You guys are talking about using the iPad's Safari browser to access the Forum, and logging in from the Forum page, correct?

I tried both login entry points and both work for me.

Is there any more details you could give us to troubleshoot?

Thanks for your input, all!

lzp11 - actually, I had been debating for some time whether to make use of the shoulders, and in particular, for SO.  It just didn't seem to be as comfortable or convenient when moving up from tummy to chest and up, but that might be just me!

CAN EVERYONE GIVE THEIR INPUT PLEASE??

SO = SHOULDER OR CHIN???

Please let me know your opinion, cos we can still change it easily before stuff goes to print!

Re Doe a Deer, I didn't realize it wasn't in the key of C either! hmm... I guess they must be using it as Moveable Do instead of Fixed Do.
BTW, all our songs (The Little Solfege Song, Little Waltz, Kid Who Likes To Sing, and The Little Learner) are all in C, though the first one has F and G variations. )

Thank

Hi,
My son pay attention to the solfege and enjoys the clapping, but only when the girl claps and its a song he know ;-)
When the music appreciation come he shakes he head and says STOP!  ???

As mentioned in other places, if this happens, just let your child wander off. That's why the piece is at the end.

From my experience as Musikgarten teacher I would suggest starting with Mozart and repeating the same music for maybe a week so they get familiar with the music. I start for example with Mozart 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik' or Mozart Symphony 40. It sould be simple music with a clear beat. I would leave the romantics until later. They always talk about the 'Mozart Effect' in early children learning.

Actually, the "Mozart Effect" has been disproven. Flawed experiments or something.  Doesn't mean that playing classical music is not good or has no effect though, just means that the experiments are not 'proof' of it.

I would also make the suggestion that instead of just sitting listening to the music you could dance with the child, either holding them in your arms an moving to the music or allowing the child to move by itself. I think there should definately be a dance section to the music lesson so that the child can feel the music with his/her whole body.

Great suggestions. We also recommend this in our accompanying "Teaching with Little Musician" booklet.

===========

BTW, NEW BUILD IS OUT. PLEASE SEE THIS THREAD:

http://forum.brillkids.com/little-musician-general-discussion/little-musician-beta-near-final-version-download-here/

[RAINBOW COLORS]

Thank you all for your very helpful feedback, and your very encouraging words - we're really thrilled that so many of you seem to be liking it!

We're trying very hard to have this released early next month, and I think we should be roughly on schedule.

For those of you new to this beta testing, please see this introductory thread first:
http://forum.brillkids.com/little-musician-general-discussion/little-musician-now-in-open-beta-testing-(with-a-complete-curriculum)-!/

So here's a new version of the beta build.  Main changes:

RAINBOW COLORS
- It was clear from your feedback that rainbow colors was the way to go, so we've implemented it into the curriculum.  For Sem1 and 2, virtually all notes on the staff (except in Rhythm) will show either rainbow-colored notes, rainbow-colored icons, or icons.  We decided to remove uniform-colored notes as that would be confusing.  So in the first year, we're using color-association to make the notes and pitches more easily identifiable.  We'll start dropping it come Sem 3 and 4.  btw, we have more than 10 new sets of Rainbow-colored icons. You can see them in Media Library / Icon Sets.

RHYTHM
- We now start with quarter notes/crotchets, then eighth notes/quavers, before introducing half notes/minims and whole notes/semibreves.

CLAP-ALONG
- We now start with 'every beat' instead of 'first beat'.  We've also added a few more clap rhythms which are more challenging, like 2+3, 3+4, and even 'mixed' (which changes clap rhythms during the song).  You can adjust this setting during playback itself.  And glad to tell you that the timing problem has been fixed.

KEYBOARD
- We also now have rainbow-colored highlights as well as key-labels.


Still to come:

- RESOURCES Section - Instead of the DOWNLOAD button amongst the main buttons on top, you'll see RESOURCES, and in it will be a directory of embedded YouTube links that will show videos of instruments, composer pieces, and popular classics.  After a day's lesson ends, you will also be taken to a page here which shows videos of all the Knowledge lessons (instruments/composer and classics) shown that day.

- Crash during Chord Recognition lesson - we're still looking into this bug and should have it fixed soon.

- Solfege actions. Please see this thread:
http://forum.brillkids.com/little-musician-general-discussion/solfege-actions-used-in-lms/


Installing Little Musician Beta v1.0.564

[EDIT: REMOVED]

[Solfège Actions]

In the "Teaching With Little Musician" booklet, you will see that we encourage you to also do some hand actions with your child to help remember the solfege syllables and the corresponding notes.

From the draft booket:

==============
Solfège Actions

Perhaps an even more powerful association you could use for remember notes and chords in solfège is through hand actions and corresponding parts of the body.  Unlike the Curwen solfège hand signs system used by some today which requires finer gross motor movement with the hand and fingers, the system used here is designed to be suitable for even infants and toddlers, and require only gross motor movements with the arms and hands.

In this system, each solfège syllable corresponds to an area of the body (or areas around the body in some cases), and the child simply puts her hands on those areas as each solfège syllable is sung out.  Please see the chart below for the different body areas:

[CHART - SEE ATTACHED]

These solfège Actions cover two octaves from a G (‘So’) to another G (‘So’) two octaves higher.  Most lessons in the curriculum cover the C octave, so the solfège actions start from the lap (‘Do’) to the crown of the head (‘Do’).

To use this system, encourage your child to gently tap on the appropriate body area whenever you hear or see a note in solfège.  For example, when 'Do' is played, help her use her two hands to pat her lap as you sing out 'Do'.  Similarly, when the chord 'Domiso' is played, help her use her hands to pat her lap, belly, and chin in sequence as you sign out 'Domiso'.

=============

OPEN THE ATTACHED PICTURE TO SEE AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE SOLFEGE ACTIONS.

Let me know if you have any comments.


------------

EDIT - PLEASE SEE MY POST BELOW AND REPLY TO VOTE WHETHER 'SO' SHOULD BE ON SHOULDERS OR CHIN. IMAGINE TEACHING IT TO YOUR CHILD AND LET ME KNOW WHICH WOULD WORK BETTER, THANKS!

You can set whatever icons you wish.

Go to Media Library, Icons Sets, and choose "By Note" and then set each note with your own icon picture.

However, best to wait for the release version cos we've made some enhancements to that section.

But to answer your question - YES, IT'S POSSIBLE.