Review by Kim Alessi, Common Sense Education | Updated December 2012

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My First Classical Music App HD

Name: My First Classical Music App HD
Item: My First Classical Music App HD
Rating: 4
Author: Kim Alessi

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Inviting, interactive app makes learning classical music fun

Subjects & skills

Grades This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.

K–5

Common Sense says (See details)

Teachers say (3 Reviews)

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Kids can navigate to a Welcome page and content pages showcasing composers, instruments, and places were classical music is heard.

Kids learn that classical music is found in television and cinemas, at dances and wedding, and in concert halls and theaters.

Kids can explore eight different classical composers whose works span over three centuries.

Kids explore 19 instruments found in an orchestra and hear examples of with guided listening suggestions from Music Bird.

Kids can hear 28 classical compositions examples; some are full-length, others are 3-minute excerpts.

Pros: Engaging, interactive interface, easy navigation, and superb audio samples make for great listening and learning.

Cons: Featured composers are all white males and represent an already stereotyped genre; would benefit by adding female and non-European composers.

Bottom Line: My First Classical Music App is a great interactive introduction to the Western classical music tradition.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Use the app's audio samples and guided listening to help demystify the complexities of classical music and its many moods. The app particularly shines in its analysis of programmatic music, such as Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf," Saint-Saëns' "Carnival of the Animals," Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker," and Holst's "The Planets." Kids will greatly benefit from a conversation about what defines music as "classical." Is it instrumentation, compositional style, intended audience or performance space, country of origin?

What Is It?

My First Classical Music App HD is an interactive reference app showcasing composers, instruments, and audio samples of Western classical music. Kids begin at the Contents page, where they'll find a Welcome page (which describes how the app works) and a list of eight composers, 19 orchestral instruments, and five places where classical music is often heard. More than 40 high-quality music samples are linked to corresponding content in-app. Facts are engaging and easily understood, with content that's often silly and loaded with imagery. The whimsical illustrations, such as an octopus playing the piano, help to instill a sense of wonder. Kids can read text or tap it to hear it read aloud. A recurring character named Music Bird announces musical samples and guides listening prompts to help young ears discern the finer points of classical music.

Is It Good for Learning?

Kids can learn about Western classical music through great audio snippets, lively illustrations, clever language, and guided listening, such as "The French horn looks like a solid brass lump of spaghetti, it has a smooth sound" and "Imagine an elephant bumbling along, that's the sound of the double bass." Guided listenings are especially useful as they give kids of all learning abilities vivid imagery to help understand the genre. Kids are taught to listen for the elements of music (such as melody, timbre, dynamics, rhythm, form) and to feel the many moods conveyed through music. The one downside of My First Classical Music App HD is that all featured composers are male. Such domination begs for a broader, more diverse, and historically accurate representation of the genre, which includes well-known female and non-European composers who aren't represented here.

Rating Details

Overall Rating

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

The at-times daunting world of classical music is now approachable, thanks to lively illustrations, kid-friendly text and voice-over, and guided listening samples of popular classical pieces.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Designed like an interactive book, the app encourages self-directed exploration. It features eight composers and all orchestral instruments through interesting facts, illustrations, listening questions, and audio samples.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Information is easy to find through a central, well-organized table of contents. There's voice-over narration throughout the app, so kids can both hear and read text. Guided listening text and high-quality audio samples tune kids in.

Common Sense Reviewer

Kim Alessi Educational Technology Specialist

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Teacher Reviews

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Featured review by
Michelle L. , Other

Other

Rowlesburg School
Rowlesburg, United States

Different take on common material.

The younger students enjoyed the app, but surprisingly my 5th and 6th graders liked the app too. One of the big problems with the app is you run out of material quickly. They need to continually update this app. But for what it had it was great and the children really enjoyed using it.

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My First Classical Music App HD

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