Today I’d like to introduce you to My Music Starts Here, and share a little about it.
My Music Starts Here
My Music Starts Here is an online learning platform for young children, ages 3-8, featuring over 100 fun and engaging music educational videos.
Kids will learn to sing different children’s songs, move to music, keep the steady beat, sing songs using solfege, be inspired to compose their own music, and even have the opportunity to learn beginning skills at the piano.
It was created by Mary and Mike Anderson, experts in early childhood music education and piano pedagogy as well as parents to two young children.
Boo has always enjoyed music, delighting in music classes as a toddler and always singing along and dancing whenever she could as she grew older.
Nowadays, aged 8, she still loves to sing and has recently started to have guitar lessons.
Little Man has never shown as much interest, though he has started to enjoy his music classes at school. They are so very different!
Early Music Education Fosters Critical Brain Development
From birth until the age of two, the human brain develops the most synaptic connections (pathways that transmit information), and from then until the age of seven, its neuroplasticity (the ability to change and grow) is greatest.
The activities and challenges we give our children in those years literally determine the physical composition of their brains and the kinds of adults they will become.
Music can support these formative years as quality early-childhood music education is a great boost for that development.
I am aware that music can be a great development aid, as well as an enjoyable hobby, so I am happy to encourage the children to take an interest, whether that be through learning to play instruments, singing or using My Music Starts Here.
My Music Starts Here Details
Learn to sing songs using solfege (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do) . This is great for offering a concept of pitch.
Learn to find the steady beat in music and keep the beat themselves.
Compose their own music – whether on a piano, a mixing bowl, or even wooden spoons.
There are also many opportunities to practice beginner piano skills, with proper hand and wrist position, though as my two are now looking to take up the piano (at the moment, you never know as they may want to give it a go at some point!) this area did not appeal to them.
It’s handy as it’s all online so can be accessed at home. It’s an accessible way to get music into your little ones lives early on.
As I could have anticipated, Little Man struggled to engage with this programme, whereas Boo enjoyed it immediately.
She enjoyed the ‘Explore and Compose’ sections the most. I had pots, pans and cutlery all over the place as she experimented with creating different sounds with household items. And it was in seeing Boo having fun like this that Little Man did become interested, so it may be that if you have a child who is not drawn straight into music, getting involved with them might help to grab their attention. Boo developed ‘spring’ sounds whilst Little Man loved making ‘monster’ sounds!
It was fun listening to their compositions, and they both really enjoyed sharing them with me.
Do your children enjoy music?
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post