Would you buy this music program?

[ecoteat]

DD's 4th birthday is coming up and one thing we are talking about getting her is this: http://www.pianowizard.com/piano_wizard.php. But we need a little input on this. I'm not going to say who's who, but dh and I are in a little bit of a disagreement about it.

One of us thinks it would be a fun way to help dd develop pitch and basic musical foundations at an age where kids are really open to learning such skills.

The other agrees, but feels it is too formal or artificial or something and that there are more genuine, organic ways to accomplish those goals.

We both think musical skills are important and feel dd is on the road to developing them. She seems to have a good ear for pitch and rhythm, and dh and I both play a variety of instruments.

Would you buy it for your 4 year old? Why or why not?

[angelandmisha]

Amy, I'm certainly no expert and I just looked at it briefly but I'm not sure I would buy that if I was thinking that was the only music instruction she'd be getting. Have you ever heard of Music Together? It's a fabulous music program that is designed to help students reach basic musical competence by its completion. It is a parent/child class that provides a rich, varied and really fun exposure to music. It was designed by a researcher and a composer and I think it is a wonderful program. Check out their website www.musictogether.com and see what you think. Hopefully there's one in your area and you could go and take a free demo class. It just seems to me that if this is a first experience it might be preferrable to have a live interaction instead of a computerized one. However, you know your daughter's temperament, interests and family situation and if you think it would work for you it probably would! I don't have any experience with this but have heard many people praise the Suzuki classes for learning piano which I think may begin at four.

Good luck, it seems that children adore making music and I totally agree with you getting an early start!!

[Marimami]

No, I wouldn't. We did Music Together from infancy to 4 years and then DD wanted to take piano lessons. Her Music Together teacher agree to start her because DD wanted it so much. It went really well. But, that teacher moved out of state and we had a hard time finding a teacher who believed that DD wanted to do this. We finally did, but DD was doing really well and progressing quickly. As soon as it got to the point where she really had to start practicing, etc. she wanted to take a break.

In hindsight, we now realize that she needed glasses and that she might have been experiencing eye strain; we learned this right after she took a break.

Her instructor was great though and offered to let her take some more informal classes over the summer and DD was thrilled with that.

But, I really really wouldn't put a kid this young in a formal program unless they were asking to do it or if you wanted to make the commitment to Suzuki. I was not comfortable enforcing rigorous practice/etc. so I was happy to support DD in however she wanted to approach it.

She's very interested in violin now but I suspect we'll wait a bit more.

Holli

[ecoteat]

I've heard of Music Together and it sounds nice. We are in a rural area without a lot of options. Last year dd did a mother/toddler music class and we had a nice time, but it's too young for her now. There are Suzuki violin teachers around, and I play (and have taught) violin, but I'm not sure we're all ready for something that structured.

[Just1More]

My kids absolutely adore Music for Little Mozarts. It is very simplistic, but they do learn a bit, and play a bit on our piano with it. It's a lot of dancing and singing, combined with a cute little story that helps them remember the basics.

Topics for Volume 1 include: how to sit at the piano, familiarization (sp?) with the keyboard, high/low sounds, forte/piano, quarter notes/rests, bar lines, measures, double bar, repeat sign, finding d/c/e/b/a, half notes/rests, whole notes/rests

Actually, as I am flipping through my teacher's manual to pull out the highlights, I'm more impressed than I thought I was, lol.

Book 2 covers reading music, bass and treble clef, time signatures, finding f and g and middle c, and has them composing and drawing notes and rhythms, among other things.

If I did it daily, I could probably get through a book a month with dd, though I prefer to go slower. I actually just let them run around the the house singing and listening to the cds. Every now and then I take a few minutes at the piano to show her what they are talking about, and that's really all it takes.

I don't know about books 3 and 4, but they obviously build on the first two books, and are progressive.

So...all I can say is that a piano teacher recommended the series to me for 4 to 6yos, and my kids love it.

[daytripper75]

I wouldn't. Just because I would be leery of my dc learning bad habits and having a hard time breaking them if they decided to move on with musical learning.
I would do a Music Together or Kindermusik class as the gift instead.