I bought a professional xylophone encased in plastic. I have NO knowledge of music. I start by hitting each note and naming it. Then I just play around but not in a random fashion, rather I skip one, hit each twice, hit the two outer ones and work my way in, alternating, whatever is systematic. My 5 yo DD does the random :-) . My baby is 4 months old, and I started about 5 weeks ago.