Back in October 2008, I was given access to the online lessons of KinderBach – a site who teaches piano to young kids.
Karri Gregor decided to teach piano when her own children were 4 and 7 and she couldn’t find a piano teacher because they were too young… Karri had a background in music education and she decided to teach music to kids. Back then she had started a music studio but because the family was moving she lost her students (except her own kids…) and didn’t feel like starting over again. Previously, she had made some tapes to teach the children about music and piano. While unpacking she stumble on these tapes and Karri started to think about another way of teaching piano to children. KinderBach was born!
What is KinderBach? It is a preschool piano lessons for kids ages 2-7. It introduces the children to music and rhythm as well as using a piano. Children will go through learning the notes on the piano with characters. They will also be introduced to music theory, note reading, ear training, hand position and other important piano techniques.
At first I was really excited to get access to their new online lessons. I had gotten a demo DVD before we decided to homeschool but never pursued it. I was really curious about this curriculum of piano lessons. My kids loved Frisco and Dodi and the other characters who are teaching them the lessons. They have fun experimenting with the characters and with the piano! Even my now 3 year old can find the Dodi’s houses and the Train Stations on the keyboard. I am so relieved that they are enjoying it.
KinderBach offers their lessons on DVDs or via the Internet. Make note that a high speed connection is necessary for the Internet lessons! Also, the internet lessons only cover the 1st year of the curriculum while with the DVDs you can get the whole two years of lessons.
I was fortunate to be set-up with a computer hooked on our TV so we could watch them comfortably sit on the sofa. However, I think it would be more complicated for other families with many little ones to be all around a computer screen to watch the lessons. I am more inclined to use DVDs also. But the lessons are the same whether you choose to get the DVDs or the online lessons.
The online lessons are easy to use. There is always an introduction of the week and then four lessons for the week. Depending of the level of attention of your children and their ages, you might choose to do more than one lesson in one sitting. I personally printed the activities related to the lessons beforehand so I was ready to do more if the kids were attentive enough. But very fast, I realized that they were having so much fun that it would be difficult for them to stop… My three oldest kids learned an introduction to piano with Frisco and Dodi. They love it and unfortunately our access to the site is expiring. So now I am looking into getting the DVDs so that we can continue the lessons…
KinderBach is fantastic and I strongly recommend that you check them out! You will be amaze on how fast children learn about music and piano.
Online access to the lessons is available for 85.95$ US for a whole year. You can try a first lesson free at this page: http://www.kinderbach.com/Learn/index.html . Enjoy!
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