Learning Music with an IPad

Teaching music can be a real challenge whether or not a parent has musical experience.  I began studying music when I was four years old (let’s not get into how many years ago that was), and I love it.  I have always prayed that my children would have a love for music, too.  God has definitely answered those prayers!  We are a music loving family.  Our youngest attempted piano lessons several years ago, but had a negative experience with it.  She was a little older than the other beginning students her teacher had, and the teacher assumed she knew more about music than she actually knew. After that experience, Caitlyn still loved to sing, but she showed very little interest in actually learning the mechanics behind the music and even less interest in learning to play the piano.  I am a firm believer that the piano is the foundational instrument for all other instruments.  I have always required my kids take piano for at least 2 years before they were allowed to explore any other instrument.  In that way, I know they have learned the basics of music theory.  So, when we were given the Classroom KinderBach: School Version App for IPad to try out and review, I was really excited about the possibilities.  There is a free, trial type version of the app available.  It requires in App purchases to unlock features.  The Classroom KinderBach: School Version App for IPad is $26.99 and is complete, no in App purchases.  It is available through the App Store.

     The KinderBach App features levels 1-3 of the KinderBach program.  It is geared towards children ages 3-7.  While the graphics and teaching style are definitely appropriate with these ages, I have been using it with a 12 year old and she has learned a great deal of music basics.  Within the app, you find @150 videos full of music learning.  Each of the three levels contains 10 lessons with multiple videos.  The app is so convenient to use!  The onscreen keyboard is included as part of the app.  It is a keyboard with a normal appearance, not labeled or color coded, that contains a little over an octave.  Just as most apps, the keyboard is touch screen controlled.  There are both lesson activities and games to choose from.  In the lesson videos, which are short enough to keep the attention of most any child, Karri takes children through basic music concepts. There are even activity sheets available to print for your child.  I don’t have air print on my IPad, so, I just open up pages and e-mail them to myself – the print.  Because Caitlyn is an older student, I printed out all of the pages and bound them for her own theory workbook.  That way, she could work through lessons at her own pace and do as many activity pages as she was comfortable with.  For a 3-7 year old student, the KinderBach App will provide a year of introductory music instruction.  It is a perfect segue into actually playing the piano.  I did a lot of digging through the KinderBach website because I wanted to explore and learn about all of the skills taught and reinforced through KinderBach.  In doing so, I found the following list of skills covered with each level in the app:

Curriculum
Syllabus by Level

Level 1
- Familiarity with the black and white keyboard landscape.
- Aural discrimination of high and low sounds as well as loud and quiet.
- Music term “Piano” means quiet or soft.
- Quarter note, half note and the beat value of these symbols in common time.
- Keeping the beat with rhythm instruments and on the piano.
- Distinguishing left and right hands.
- Finger numbers for playing keyboard.
- Introduction to songs that will be used for Kodaly Solfege.
- Introduction to pre-Staff note reading by patterns.

Level 2
- Review all concepts from Level 1
- Characters for C, D, & E and their location on the keyboard.
- Emphasize relationship of the character to their letter name.
- Play simple songs with these notes.
- Aural discrimination of high, middle, and low sounds.
- Music terms “Piano” and “Forte”.
- Identify simple rhythms.
- Introduction of two Solfege terms.
- Play pre-Staff note patterns on the keyboard.

Level 3
- Review all previous concepts.
- Add characters for F & G and their location on the keyboard.
- Emphasize relationship of the character to their letter name.
- Play simple songs with these notes.
- Aural discrimination for music direction.
- Eighth notes and their beat value in common time.
- Addition to Solfege terms.
- Proper hand and finger position at the piano.
- Addition to pre-Staff note patterns and playing them on the keyboard.
- Identify pre-Staff note patterns by ear.
- Clap back simple rhythms.

My oldest daughter is a music major in college, currently, and she would have loved to have studied this much music theory before she started her college classes!  She didn’t even know what Solfege was when school started.  Frankly, I studied piano formally for 13 years and didn’t know what it was until recently.  Actually, I had used it many times, I just didn’t know what it was technically called.  I love the way that the KinderBach lessons are broken down. Concepts are taught through the use of several animated characters.  The beauty of these characters is that they all have special places that they live on the keyboard.  Stories are built around the characters and their locations.  These stories bring the keyboard to life for children. Visual learners especially will appreciate being able to picture these special characters and their stories.  Through the KinderBach website, children can even access web pages for each character.  Dodi the donkey is our hands down favorite character.  She has a house on the 2 black keys on the keyboard.  Other characters include Frisco, Carla the Caterpillar, Alan the Alligator, and Felicity the Frog, just to name a few.  The characters have their own personalities and fun for the kids to learn about.

     Overall, Caitlyn has had a great experience with KinderBach.  She began voice and guitar lessons 2 weeks ago and has been flying through her theory workbook!  Since she completed almost all of the KinderBach lessons, the theory she is working through is building on the concepts she already knows.  I really think that letting her use the app helped her get over the negative image she had about learning music.  She learned that music can be fun and interesting.  I allowed her to work through as many lessons as she wanted over the course of each day.  I found that my IPad was frequently AWOL and would find it with her.  Since she was quite a bit older than the suggested age range, I knew she could handle more chunks of information at one time.  If I had a younger child, I would use KinderBach as their first musical experience.  It is a solid instructional program that engages children and gives them the foundational material they need for further music studies. 

     My friends on the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using both the online version of KinderBach and the App.  To read their reviews, visit the main crew blog page.  I used the online version of KinderBach previously.  You can read that review on my blog.

**Disclaimer:  As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received the Classroom KinderBach App free of charge.  The honest opinions expressed in this review are those of myself or my family.  No compensation was received.**