Published distributed by Golden Apple, Music Sales Limited available from your local music shop or the The Education Hot Line: 01284 773666

Ocarina Choo-Choo Books 1 and 2
 5 years upwards
Your youngest pupils can discover the fun of playing music together, while laying a firm base of musical understanding.
For younger children, where co-ordination may not yet be developed sufficiently to successfully play the recorder, the ocarina is an ideal introduction to playing an instrument. Using just two fingers on each hand, it's easy to play lots of tunes, and the bright, plastic instruments are very appealing to children. Ocarina Choo-Choo helps teach the basics of breathing, tone and pitch, developing skills so that transition to the recorder is a simple step. Ocarinas and recorder sound great together too!    

A new fun method for the four-hole alto ocarina!
*           Teaches traditional notation, terms and signs
*           Includes pieces for part-playing including chord work,
            ostinati and rounds
*           Covers slurs and staccato notes, a scale and an arpeggio 
*           Available with accompaniment CDs featuring backing
            tracks for many of the tunes

Why teach ocarina?
The four-hole alto ocarina is ideal for teaching young children music. 
It can't be dismantled, is a child-friendly shape and hangs round the neck ready to be picked up or let go - there is no rolling away and it can hang on a peg.  From a safety perspective, it can't be used as a sword or thrust into the mouth, and is unlikely to cause tinnitus if blown near the ears.  It's also easy to sterilise.
Ocarinas are easy and fun to play - the finger holes are in just the right places for young hands, and the sound is gentle and pleasing with no screeching.  If the ocarina is blown too hard, the sound cuts out.  Children love the bright colours!  The instruments are fun to have, fitting easily into a pocket or school bag.

The Ocarina-Cho-Choo Books (4 hole Alto Ocarina)	CH61740

"The Ocarina Choo-Choo books were written for my own pupils in Years 1 and 2. As a trained musician, I'm keen for children to have a thorough musical knowledge. Ocarina Choo-Choo teaches traditional notation, signs and terms with helpful pictorial fingering diagrams. Progress is gentle and the books are packed with tunes - as a teacher, I'm well aware of the need for value for money. There's no need to go from page to page: on the contrary, the books are designed for hopping about and for learning new notes as suits the teacher's needs. Most tunes have words, so even if you have some non-starters in your group, they can join in with singing the songs, or playing along with simple percussion"

What about recorder?

Alison Hedger sees the ocarina as a bridge to recorder playing:
"The ocarina is ideal for young beginners to appreciate correct stance, mouth position, phrasing, finger control and the interaction of breath, tone and pitch.  Transferring pupils to the recorder goes smoothly, as many of the preliminary problems encountered with young children and recorders are avoided.  In addition, recorders and ocarinas sound fine playing together - there's every reason to teach and use both instruments alongside each other”.

Have fun with the CHOO-CHOO books!

© 2009 Alison Hedger Children’s Music