Review: Minimusic
Back in 2003 when I went to my very first MTNA conference (SLC, UT) I discovered MiniMusic. At the time, Paula Manwaring, creator of Minimusic was selling the program on her own. I was really impressed with what I saw and decided to invest in the program. What I liked best about Minimusic (besides the program itself) was that it was something I could purchase and use it how I saw fit. I didn’t need to certify to use it, I didn’t have to give a percentage of my income to anyone and I can add other activities to it if I wanted to.
Minimusic is now available through Kjos. Since Kjos has picked up MiniMusic it has been given an updated look! I reviewed Minimusic briefly back in 2011 but wanted to review it again in more detail.
First, Minimusic is a children’s music theory course which teaches pre-reading music theory for young children. The Minimusic website suggests children 5-7, but I have used it with children 4 years old with no problems. Minimusic is designed to teach in small groups. I have used it with as little as 2 students. It can also be adapted for a larger class setting.
There are 32 lesson plans all laid out for you. Lessons include hands on activities, (some crafts), worksheets, fun interactive stories, and games. A lesson typically lasts an hour but I like to have “extra” activities in place just in case we go through a lesson too quickly. You can also get away with doing a 45 min. lesson if you have a small class (2-3) unless you have students in your class that REALLY enjoy coloring. One of my students this year loves to color so anytime we go to the workbook it’s hard to get her to move on from it.
Concepts taught in Minimusic are:
- Note and Rest Values
- Counting and Rhythm
- Basic Music Symbols
- Music Alphabet
- Direction of Reading
- Basic Pitch Recognition
- Black Piano Key Groups
- White Piano Key Names
- Intervals up to a 5th
- Recognition of 23 Instruments and Their Family
When students finish the Minimusic program, they are ready to start any instrument of their choosing! They are off to a great start because their basic theory knowledge is already there.
The Teacher Kit is pretty amazing. When Kjos started selling it they improved the quality of all the products. The program is totally the same, everything – the workbooks, cards, etc… are just nicer quality. A couple conferences ago, I was able to see firsthand in the Kjos booth the updated Minimusic kit with the new look. I loved the updated look so much so that I decided to purchase another set. I knew that I would get good use out of it regardless if I had Minimusic classes or not. That is one of the great things about the teacher kit is it comes with everything you can use with your regular students too! I can’t tell you how many times I have used the items in this kit during private lessons, group lessons and camps. It has come in very handy! Matter of fact, I have even held pre-piano camps using the Minimusic program. It works out VERY well!
The teacher kit includes: A Student Workbook, Cloth Keyboard and Transparencies; Flash Cards (instrument, note value, rhythm, musical alphabet, intervals, keys); Music Symbol and Instrument Bingo Games; Bingo Chips; Pitch Puppets; CD with songs and instrument sounds.
You can see more samples of the kit here.
Minimusic has a couple Facebook pages that you may be interested in joining. First the Minimusic facebook page and then the Minimusic Teacher Support page.
If you are looking for a solid program you can use with beginners before they begin lessons, I highly encourage you to take a look at Minimusic! You can purchase the teachers kit here.
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46 Responses
With my 3 to 5 year olds we sing and then we play some type of a game identifying treble clef notes and usually end up coloring some music worksheet.
I have my young ones find all of the 2 black key dog houses and then the put a small plastic dog on the d key. If the get it right I bark!
I would love this set! I currently use Piano Adventures and use lots of other bits and pieces that I have made or bought over the years. My alphabet cards get a good workout as do the alphabet erasers I found that are perfect for placing on the keys.
I generally don’t work with students that young but have looked at teaching a course like this…I am like you, I have been stopped in the past because I don’t want to certify, etc.
I currently use My First Piano Adventure with K5-1st graders; mostly private lessons, but we have a also group class about 3 times each semester. The students always love keyboard race and Music Candyland.
I’ve been looking for a way to add a class or lessons for 4-year-olds. Maybe MiniMusic would be a good fit. Thanks for the review.
Been thinking about adding preschoolers but just have not been motivated to seriously look for curriculum
I also use the Faber Piano Adventures. This minimusic curriculum sounds fantastic!
I would love to teach younger students. Never taught that young, other than my own children, but it is something I have seriously considered. This kit would be a great resource!
I currently teach a class of preschoolers, and I know this would be a great help to me. It looks awesome!
I have limited my preschool lessons for lack of a curriculum. Looks I might have found something to work with.
I LOVE to teach little ones- have had quite a few 3-year olds, and not a one has quit piano yet! One has been taking for six years now. I use a combination of books with them and tons of games and manipulatives that I have either gotten from other teachers’ sites or made myself, some from scratch, some by turning purchased games (thrift stores have great cheap board games:) into music games. One of my latest purchases that has been a total hit is a big bag of animal finger puppets. We use them to work on finger numbers, but then our tiger one goes along with the tiger songs in MFPA, plus you never know what the little animals are going to do to help teach students….kids love animals!
My wife does the little ones and she is always telling me that “There has to be something out there that works better than what I can find.”
I am doing this program with my grandchildren. They love music and love the fun things that we do with this. My daughter who is a band teacher bought the program in salt lake city at the music convention years ago so it is the original book and supplies. It would be wonderful to get all the new and updated supplies that it comes with now.
With my little grandgirls always singing this is a great way to be introducing them to the world of music!
My favorite activity with young children is anything using manipulatives like glass gems or animal erasers on the piano keys or on a worksheet – they love the colors and tactile nature of it!
Been doing adults only but wanting to add 3 to 5 year olds because think I could add income to the studio but never found anything that seemed to be worth the investment. This looks like it is what I have been looking for.
This isn’t really a game, but I have found recently that instead of just making a list for practicing each week that my students seem to be more motivated (and realize that practicing doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment each day) if I give them a checklist that they can mark off each day. It helps it be more doable for them.
This has been so fun reading everyone’s ideas and musical activities for younger students! A very big thank you goes to Jennifer Foxx for reviewing the Minimusic program. Thank you!
I will continue to enjoy the comments… Sunday is coming quickly!
I have been thinking about teaching 3 to 5 year olds, just never sit down and researched my options. Guess it is time to do that.
All the early beginners in my studio go straight for my box of rhythm instruments- they just love them. I use MFPA for the little ones, but supplement with a combination of other books, plus have compiled a simple one of my own for a group class I do for 3-5 year olds. We play tons of games and lots of off-the-bench activities, too.
I currently use My First Piano Adventures books fort young beginners. My favorite game is an exercise in the book with play dough & placing pretend chocolate chips in the dough with correct piano finger placement. I incorporate that game with all my beginning students; as it is a fun helpful tool!