You don't need to have any experience in Indian classical music to enjoy these books! The language and illustrations are super easy to follow, so anyone can understand the topics covered. Plus, each book is self-contained, so you can pick and choose which ones you want to read - although we recommend the following order or just getting the collection The Baby Steps to Carnatic Music Treasury : 3 Books in 1!
These books are all about Carnatic music, but they each have their own unique focus.
Building Blocks: Baby Steps to Carnatic Music is a great place to start - it covers all the basic concepts of Carnatic music in a concise and easy-to-understand way.
If you want to dive deeper into specific topics, we have two other books for you: Swara: Baby Steps to Carnatic Music and Ragam: Baby Steps to Carnatic Music focusing on the concepts of "swaras" and "ragams", respectively, in Carnatic music.
All 3 books come as one exciting collection in The Baby Steps to Carnatic Music Treasury!
Swara : Baby Steps to Carnatic Music is a great resource for anyone who's just starting out with Carnatic music. The book covers the basics of the seven swaras - Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, and Ni - that are taught in the very first class, and it even shows you how to play them on a piano. The best part is that it's designed to be easy to understand, and it helps you develop a basic ear for music as you go along. It's definitely worth checking out if you're interested in learning more about Carnatic music!
Ragam : Baby Steps to Carnatic Music explores what ragams are and how they're created. The book is designed to help babies develop a strong ear for music by getting them to recognize the names of different ragams just by listening to a few notes. This is a great way to introduce them to the world of Carnatic music! Additionally, the book also covers emotions and time of day in relation to different ragams, which makes it a really immersive experience. If you're interested in Carnatic music or just want to learn more about it, this book is definitely worth checking out!
That's a really great question, and we get asked it a lot too! In our opinion, these books are suitable for children in the 0-10 age group. We believe that babies have an incredible ability to absorb information, and we don't like to set a minimum age for any picture book. When we introduce babies to topics like quantum physics or gravity through picture books, our aim isn't for them to understand these concepts fully, but rather to spark their curiosity and inspire them to learn more. Similarly, our books are designed to be accessible to babies and young children, especially since the concepts can be practically applied on a piano.
We actually wrote these books with our own daughter in mind, and she had no trouble grasping the concepts when she was under three years old. Based on the reviews, it seems like other children have enjoyed the books as well!