creative children compose music online

10 Free Starter Lessons

To help you get started, we've prepared a series of progressive starter lessons which are made up of one main lesson as well as one variation/bonus lesson.
If possible, play the 10 lessons over a period of two weeks, five lessons per week. Spend about 15 minutes each day playing and talking about the animals. See the FAQ section of additional info.

How to play lesson 1

When the app has loaded:

  1. Touch the rabbit or turtle button
  2. Watch and listen to the lesson
  3. Play the lesson 3 times

Variation
After you've repeated the main lesson, have a little talking/asking questions break and then load variation 1

Always follow the same steps:
1 - Touch the rabbit or turtle button
2 - Watch and listen
3 - Play the variation about 2 or 3 times

Just like yesterday, first listen (rabbit or turtle) and when the lesson has finished playing, ether demonstrate how to play it or let your child try.
Please be patient and praise you little composer.


Once the above lesson has been mastered, give today's bonus lesson a try

Lesson 3 still uses the same 3 notes (animals) but in a different order. Please pay attention to the tempo and make sure that it matches ether the turtle or rabbit speed.


Today's variation complements the main lesson with a slight change in the ending

Today's lesson is easy but do pay attention when jumping (skipping) from the Elephant right to the Camel. There shouldn't be any noticeable delay. When in doubt, listen to how the rabbit or turtle would play it.


The matching variation builds on lesson 4 but with a slight increase of complexity. The goal is to prepare for tomorrow.

This lesson builds the skill of moving the finger a slightly longer distance when skipping over an animal. Please practice the main lesson about 5 times and take little talking breaks in between.


The variation mixes the notes in a slightly different order. If your best student can play the variation three times in a row without mistake then you have succeeded. Time for a treat?

If you have followed our suggestion then this should be day six (or week two). Now it's time to introduce a new animal


The variation once again is meant to strengthen what the main lesson teaches. Steady and without mistakes is what we are after.

Let's use a mix of four notes to form a more interesting melody.


This variation begins with an E note and is meant to plant a memory for later on when the little composer gets to pick her/his own starting note.

It's time for a new note. The lesson is simple but very important to play at least five times before moving on. Doing so will help the musical ear to establish a reference for the often-used melody.


Let's see if we can play all of the notes that we've learned so far. Reminder! Please watch for consistency as the child plays. The aim is to mimic the rabbit or turtle speed.

If all previous lessons were played as shown (turtle / rabbit) then today's lesson should go fine. Try five repeats of the main lesson


After a short chat (where you ask some questions), give the variation a try and express amazement how fast your child has learned. Praise does miracles (and treats help too).

Well you did it! If you are playing this lesson today then you have done everything right. You have encouraged, praised and most of all, shown patience.
After this lesson, you child will be able to use the full NOAH app which has 1000's of unique melodies to discover.


Finally, we'll end with a tricky variation. Don't worry if your child struggles with this one as it's challenging.
Please don't rush the speed. Slow and steady is better than an uneven tempo. Give variation 10 a try now

Thank you for making time to play together.
In 10 years from now, you will be glad you did.

If your child enjoyed playing the lessons then continue your musical journey by exploring more little melodies with NOAH which has more features for you to discover.

Please tell others about Little Composers and the free apps and lessons we offer.

Supplemental information

In time, we will compile the most asked questions in order to provide more help and guidance for you.

Q: Which finger do we use when playing the lessons?
A: Always use the right index finger when playing the large animals. If the child is left-handed, then use the left index finger.

Please contact us if you need additional information

The next app

Once a child has mastered NOAH, we encourage you to continue your musical journey by enrolling your child as a student here at the Little Composers School of Music and Composition for kids.

Creative Children Compose Music

To make composing music possible, we've developed a series of web apps which cater to visual learners. Just like NOAH replaced the actual piano keys with animals, the prePiano Keyboard (app) uses a similar strategy. Instead of animals, the app features color-coded keys and the first letter of each animal. Instead of Camel, we just use C and so on.
We are still working on the lessons but soon you will be able to load the prePiano Keyboard app and start composing amazing little melodies.

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