Piano for Little Kids: there's an app for that!

By Jill Simeone -

Andrew Ingkavet, the most sought-after music teacher in Brooklyn (and, I'm proud to add, the Cozy Owl Music Contributor), has just released a fabulous educational music app for young kids: Play Piano for Kids, Volume I.

The app, available in the iBookstore for $.99 and for use on the iPad, is really great because it targets very young and pre-literate kids and teaches them to play simple songs on the piano.  Andrew uses a color coding system that makes reading music really simple and intuitive for the early learner.

Play Piano for Kids includes videos of young children playing the songs (so your little one can see how it's done), as well as really helpful teaching notes for parents (so you can fake your way through the lesson if you --like me-- lost your flute in the 4th grade and haven't touched an instrument since). 

As a parent who has sat through many of my daughters' piano lessons, I am incredibly impressed with how well this app captures the warm, fun  and encouraging feel of lessons with Andrew...in a digital medium.

If you are wondering about the benefits of music instruction for little kids, there's a ton of research out there showing that early exposure to music has a wide range of developmental benefits, including:  development of abstract reasoning skills, later success in science and complex math, and spatial-temporal intelligence.

So go check out the app, forward it to your friends, and if you love it like I do, be sure to leave a glowing review.  That's how good apps float to the top of the list at the Apple Store.  Plus...I want to make sure we get to see Volume II. 

Happy playing!