When in doubt, bring in the robots.

My boss has two kids, both around B’s age, and so we share a lot of similar experiences on a daily basis. Her son actually learned of Animusic in his school’s music class. Sometimes, it’s a bit difficult to keep kids’ focus on the task at hand, let alone try and teach the basics of music theory: enter Animusic. It’s computer animated music that keeps the kids’ attention and helps them visually understand the components of music. B has a robot obsession, so he was all about watching the Starship Groove video to begin with, and then got suckered into loving the music as well. The best part, in my opinion, is that once Animusic learned how useful this was for teachers, they embraced it. They even have a section just for educators.

As Gregory Brown, a music teacher, put it:

“When beginners can see and hear those cool instruments play it makes a huge difference in helping them understand rhythm, pitch, melody and harmony.”

They have DVDs available for purchase (maybe check the library system, too?), and you can find various clips of their work on YouTube. Want to learn more? They’re on Facebook or just visit their web site.