Several months ago, a Music Matters Blog reader sent me an e-mail with a reference to a series of piano books for very young children called, The Shape of Music, by Jenni Fansler.
I contacted the author about the books and she kindly sent me a couple of review copies to look over. I am really impressed! The books are so colorful and fun! Influenced by American shape-note music, Charlotte Mason, and Shinichi Suzuki this series is an approach designed to enable children as young as two to enjoy musical experiences at the piano.
The books (so far Volume 1 and Volume 2 are available) are well organized and the layout is clean and beautiful. The three units in the first book cover: Notes, Tempo, and Melody. The second volume covers: Repeated Notes, Rhythm, and Octave. Students learn to play real songs like, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Jesus Loves Me,” “Jingle Bells,” Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and much more! Now…what little toddler (and their parent!) isn’t going to love that?!
I love how Jenni guides the teacher or parent through each unit and song step-by-step to make it a successful experience. I am really fascinated by this whole approach and can’t wait to find someone with a 2-year old who will let me try it out on them! 🙂
Now…for the best part. Jenni has offered to giveaway one copy of each volume! Two Music Matters Blog readers will be the special winners this time! Just leave your comment below, and the winners will be drawn using a random number generator on Thursday, August 4, at noon (CST).
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