Our experience so far with "Music for Little Mozarts"

[DadDude]

A few months ago I splurged on the whole "Music for Little Mozarts" package.  This comes with a music book, a workbook (coloring, drawing, etc.), a CD, flashcards, another "music discovery" book with another CD (these are pretty worthless as far as I can tell), two stuffed animals ("Mozart Mouse" and "Beethoven Bear," who feature in all the materials), and a magnetic/dry-erase musical notation board with magnetic notes.  I also got the teacher's guide, but I don't think this helps much.

By the way, we tried another music package--it sucked badly.  This, by contrast, is professional and well-thought-out in practically every way.

This is a very basic, from-absolute-ground-zero package.  I appreciate the very gradual pace, which begins with low and high sounds, then talks about loud and soft, then the groups of two and three black keys.  Then you start playing two black keys together, then three, then you start going up and down the black keys...  Anyway, it's very gradual.

The CD helps a lot.  It basically contains the entire text and tunes from the music book, and is written in a sort of "story" form--Henry bought it anyway.  We've listened to the CD many times (all at Henry's request), so now the tunes (if you want to call them that--they are as basic as you can imagine) are totally ingrained.  So he really got into it.  He sleeps with Mozart Mouse and Beethoven Bear (you might not think the stuffed animals are necessary, but they really help).

As to lessons, well, I took the same approach here that I did to teaching him to read: if he says "no," then we absolutely don't do it, and probably not the next day either.  If we take breaks of a week or even a couple weeks, that's absolutely OK.  On the other hand, if he seems enthusiastic, we kick things up a notch, and we have lessons daily or even, rarely, a few times in a day.  We received the package around March 15 and were at it nearly daily for a couple weeks.  Then there were a couple weeks in which we did only 3-4 lessons total.  Since then we've been practicing fairly regularly, not a lesson every day but 2-5 per week.

Results: we've gone through half of the first book and have ordered the second.  He can actually play the little tunes in the book, and when he successfully pulls one off, and I say, "Yay!" then he claps and says "Yay!" very excitedly himself.  He's very proud of himself.  He's getting better at putting the fingers where they belong, and also he can play different notes with different fingers.

I've also been teaching him "Chopsticks" which is his favorite thing to play.  Today he almost got it right.  I just had to prompt him once.

He loves the flashcards.  We've gone through them many times by now and he likes to do all 32, or whatever it is, in one shot.  This takes time because many of the cards involve clapping rhythms written on the cards.  He can't do this yet just by looking at the notes--he has to look at the back of the card to read the numbers written under the notes--but he's very good at the actual clapping part, which I guess is the important part for now.  He does know a lot of the signs inside and out anyway, in no small part because of the powerpoint & LR flashcards we'd done before.

Anyway, so far we can recommend "Little Mozarts."

BTW, I had 8 years of piano lessons as a kid myself, and once upon a time, for a short time, earned a living teaching violin.  So I have experience with this sort of thing--your experience may be different, and if you haven't got a clue about where to start or what to do, you might want to hire a teacher (or not!).  We are currently playing on an electronic keyboard (which he loves to explore and make noise with).  If he gets into it a lot more, we might actually get a piano.

[DrPrimo]

I'm curious as to the flashcards. What are they of?  Notes?  Key sig?  Clefs?  I have been doing my own thing (I agree with you dude) b/c the music stuff out there is horrible and to basic to do any good in the future.
I know for me I play a note for my girl, lime middle c then flash cards of that exact note in treble bass alto and tenor clef. I got them online. I tried to use tuning forks but she hates the vibration. Anyway the secret is to play music in the same key as the notes, like a symphony in c. Then instead if c# next I go in the circle of 5ths, so the net note would be g, and so on.
I'm trying to make the music thing as practical as possible so when she starts lessons she will be ahead of the game.  I believe solfege is the key... Kind of like musical phonics. Master that and you are on your way.
Please keep us informed of your progress. And since your son seems to like the piano so much I might concentrate on piano repertoire.  I might even have him try to pick out the tunes he's listening to on the cd to make the most of your investment.
Can't wait to hear of your progress. We all love your posts!
Take care
The doc

[ShenLi]

Thanks for sharing, DadDude!  I always wanted to get my older boy into music.  I started him on keyboard lessons.  It's a Yamaha program and it's starting off pretty similar to what you described.  They bang on the keys, learn about high and low, listen to music on the CD, and stories related to the music, etc.

It's more of an introduction to music rather than a specific instrument lesson.  I am required to sit in on the lesson so I was quite surprised by the content which is a far cry from the stuff I was subjected to as a kid.  The first song I ever learned was Mary Had a Little Lamb and I had to learn how to read the notes and everything.  Not surprisingly, I rebelled and refused to practice!

[vanichezhiyan]

DaDdude,u do a great job!! Thanks for sharing. I would like to know what sort of music or music lessons u introduced to your son when he was 15 months. Little mozart is for kids from 4 to 5yrs right?
I teach my son carnatic and play keyboard,apart from that he sleeps hearing to classical music(violin,veena,tabla,guitar,saxophone and a few others.) They are quite soothing. But i dont know how to make him learn music. I just paly in front of him saying what exactly i do. He puts all his fingers and bangs on the keyboard.

[DrPrimo]

hi there!
not sure if you want my 2¢ but i thought i would chime in! ;-)
i believe it is imperative to learn solfege ASAP as well as recognizing clefs.  i believe this is possible 2 ways:
1.  though flash cards-  play a note on the piano, say "this note is DO" (FIXED DO ONLY) and then
2.  flash that written note in several clefs.  adding the flashcards with the note i believe will really help the kids once they get old enough to actually start learning. 

the clef flashcards you can get on the 'net.  i also flash them like i flash words.  once you've done this for a while i would add 2 notes at once (to recognize intervals) and then chords (to recognize major, minor, etc)

i am not only playing mozart, but beethoven schubert, mahler and even 20th cent. composers.  developing an ear is really important now and having a variety of music to listen to other than music from the 18th cent. is key.

just to let everyone know, i am a professional composer/conductor.  i have traveled the world with my music and have seen what good musical training can do.  here in the states we put no emphasis on solfege until music school in college (and if you're lucky earlier... but that is RARE) and by then it is just too late.  the solfege helps not only to be able to recognize  and HEAR music on the page, but sight reading and singing come from solfege practice.  there are several books on doing this like dandelot and solfege des solfege.  both french.  the dandelot is for when they can actually read music and the solfege des solfege come in about 50 volumes and 7 different clefs.  most kids in france get these in the beginning of their studies and use them until the graduate.  fabulous stuff!

as far as starting piano, try the bartok mikorkosmos set.  this starts out VERY simply and gradually get more difficult. first whole notes one hand, then the other than together, etc.  and it is REAL LITERATURE.. nothing dumbed down.  any partent can do it in the beginning and once it gets too hard its probably time to go to a piano teacher.

hope i didn't bore you!  i'm in the process of putting my $$ where my mouth is and i'm doing all of this with my daughter.  she is now 14 mo. old.  we're doing TW which has perfect pitch training, and i'm doing this as a complement.  if you're interested i'll keep you posted,
sorry if i intruded,
take care,
the doc

[Sarah108]

YAY doc, keep us posted!!!!!

I would LOVE to learn more - I am muscially illiterate, and the more you share, the better. PLEASE don't assume we know anything - even the concept of Clefs is foreign to some I am sure! (i played the piano until teacher's grade, but do not remember much!)

- could you kindly tell us where you get the clefs off the internet?

My daughter is 13 months old (nearly 14 months) and I would LOVE to follow the same program that you will be following if you are so kind to share. WHAT A JOURNEY - a teacher with all the experience in the world, to share with my little girl.

[michjas]

Here are some of the things I do with my daughter:

I stick coloured stickers on notes middle C, D, E, F, G, A, B (each colour representing a note) and printed out the music note cards from the Tweedlewink website in the matching colours. I show the coloured note card, name the card and ask my daughter to play the note eg. red C.

I also do a lot of rhythm clapping with her, also stomping at fast and slow tempos, playing low and high notes on the keyboard, singing solfege with hand signs and singing songs using solfege. I also do some perfect pitch training on both the glockenspiel and keyboard. Also show presentations of different instruments.

She's exposed to music from different eras everyday and also watches a show which we have on DVDs and videos (we have it here in Australia) called Hi-5, where they do a lot of singing and dancing. Also I do a lot singing around the house with actions.

A helpful website where I got the coloured sticker idea from is

www.musicforspecialkids.com

[DrPrimo]

thanks!  i don't know where you live but i would check this out:
http://harmonyroadmusic.com/
its one of the only places that that teaches solfege along with all things musical.


http://www.theorytime.com/ALTO-CLEF-amp-TENOR-CLEF-NOTE-READING-Flashcards_p_102.html

these are the flash cards i use.  also search treble clef and bass clef.  the names of the notes are on the back.  think of them as note bits cards and flash them the same way.  the theorytime is a good site but they are SLOW so don't be afraid to call them.  make sure to say the letter name AND the solfege name... this is very important, b/c when she starts to sight sing she will use solfege and not the note names.  
another note:  these cards overlap... meaning that you will be flashing the same note that is on the piano but it looks different because of where it is written.  i hope this makes sense.  so for alto clef, middle c is on the middle line, and for tenor clef middle c is on the 2nd line from the top, etc.   DON'T GET FREAKED OUT!  you will get the hang of it.  for now, don't worry about putting the sound with the notes, just flash the notes like you do words.  just make sure to add the following solfege syllables:
c=do
d=re
e=mi (pronounced mee)
f=fa
g=sol (yes, with an L)
a=la
b=si (not ti)

so say:  this is Do and the letter name is C... or something like that.  should take no more than a few seconds

i would do 1 note a week (with 4 clefs)maybe 2 weeks if you can take it.  do it just like doman or shichida... FAST!  once you're done with that email me and i'll walk you though the next step.

 the goal is to get them sight reading the notes like they would reading a book or saying their letters... the exact same concept.
should i be writting this down? ;-)
take care and good luck!!
the doc

[michjas]

Thanks for that!

Would you know if there is a website that lists pieces by their key? or grouped by instrument?

[DrPrimo]

That is very easy to search.  Go to iTunes and type in c major or minor and do the same with the other keys.. G major/minor, c# major/minor, you name it!  All kinds of pieces will pop up ... Symphonies, piano sonatas, violin music, etc. You will be very surprised how much you will find... As well as music you may not be familiar with but that you will love.  A great way to expose yourself and your child to a wide range of music.
Have fun exploring!
The doc

[Tamsyn]

I'm really glad you shared your review.  And as a music graduate, I can certainly attest to what the Dr. says about solfegge.  I really wish I had been introduced to it before college.  The Kodaly method from Hungary is another one to look into for teaching solfegge to younger children.  I do wish to clarify that Si is only used instead of Ti in fixed Do, which is when C is always Do, D is always Re, etc.  When you teach movable Do, which is where Do is the the key note, then Ti is used.  Anyway, that's probably being too particular, but I wanted to clarify.  I've written an essay about the Kodaly method that you can see here, if anyone is interested:

http://www.professional-mothering.com/kodaly-method.html

[DadDude]

Thanks for all the replies and further advice.  I'll look into the solfegge, definitely.  I wish I had more time to comment but I am slammed with work!

[TeachingMyToddlers]

I just wanted to thank all of you for your input. I read this thread once and anticipate reading it again several times to make as much sense of it as possible, I know nothing about music....but that's exactly why I want to teach my kids! So I will embark on this journey to teach them regardless, and this information is most helpful.

[DadDude]

I'm curious as to the flashcards. What are they of?  Notes?  Key sig?  Clefs?  I have been doing my own thing (I agree with you dude) b/c the music stuff out there is horrible and to basic to do any good in the future.

Sorry, I never answered this.  They are of notes (A-G), note lengths, clefs, and some (for us) neat counting/clapping exercises.

[DrPrimo]

Ah... Are they made up of just treble clef 7 notes?  What are the rhythm and clapping excersises like?
Thanks for the input
The doc  

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