Teach Children Music With Ocarina FUNdamentals

Disclosure: I received an Ocarina to facilitate my music education review. Regardless, all opinions are my own and those of my family.

Finding the right instrument for music education can be hard – particularly when children are young like ours. I wanted to give them an opportunity to expand beyond singing and piano, though, but I wasn’t sure exactly where to start. When I was presented the opportunity to review the Ocarina FUNdamentals homeschooling program I was so excited!
I had never heard of the ocarina prior to this opportunity, so I was surprised to learn it’s one of the world’s oldest musical instrument. I also learns it is easy to use and will be the perfect fit for our homeschooling curriculum.
For our review I received the Ocarina FUNdamentals for the 6 Hole Ocarina. The 6 hole ocarina is recommended for ages 9 and under, and there is a 12 hole ocarina for ages 10 and up. Since all three of our children are under age 9, the 6 hole ocarina was the perfect fit.

The Ocarina FUNdamentals Program for the 6 Hole Ocarina includes:
A plastic 6 Hole Ocarina
The Art of Ocarina Method Book Volume Three on a CD
The Art of Ocarina Method Book Companion CD
Plus, if you have more than one child that will be using it, you can purchase additional ocarinas for a discount.
After inserting The Art of Ocarina Method Book Volume Three CD it gave me two options for running it – MAC or Windows. I have an iMAC, so that was the obvious choice for us, but I love that it includes both on the same CD. The file then comes up and has the appearance of a book. The lessons go step by step starting at the very beginning – leaning how to hold the ocarina and practice breathing.
We then moved on to a finger chart, which is color coded to help us remember what holes to cover. White means that hole should be open. It suggests to actually mark the holes on the ocarina with the color noted in the book if children are struggling with remembering. We didn’t find it necessary since they were doing fine. There was also a suggestion to cover the bottom two holes with masking tape while learning the notes and fingering for the top. This is a fantastic idea because our kids were having a hard time trying to hold it and learn the notes and keeping the holes completely covered. This way they could focus on what we’re doing and not worry about covering the bottom holes.

Overall, though, they have been doing well and get better and better as we practice. I reinforce the suggested breathing technique and work on holding our fingers correctly. I was surprised how quickly they caught on! We do lessons 3-4 days per week or go over any lessons we need to practice again. Not only are we learning how to play the ocarina, but they’re also learning to read music as well!
Something I like about the Method Book is it offers more than just instruction on holding, breathing, and notes. There are actually activities to keep them engages. There are obviously music activities like playing the music shown, but it also asks them questions about what they’re learning. Since they are not reading independently yet, we didn’t do these as written exercises but rather as oral exercises, and this worked well for us.
Overall, we are really happy with the Ocarina FUNdamentals Program. The ocarina is fun and simple to learn, and the program makes it easy to teach. At only $29.99 it’s affordable as well!
For More Information:
Visit the STL Ocarina Website
Connect with STL Ocarina on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube