1) Rock Band – This is the game most kids want.  Made by Harmonix, this musical video game lets everyone choose an instrument and rock out against the game.  There are 3 different version fo Rock Band: the original “Rock Band”, the latest version (as of 2009) “Rock Band 2″, and even one for the Boomer in your life “The Beatles: Rock Band”.  All of the instrument controllers will play on each of the three versions, so no need to buy them all separately.  There are even specially designed replica guitars and bass guitars for “The Beatles” version.  And it’s not just rockin’ out on stage either.  You can go inside the studio, record albums, take a world tour, even learn how to play the drums in real life.  This game has it all and the set list of songs is staggering.  Plus, you can download even more songs from online.  Look for software only or get the software and all of the instruments together for a real value.

2) Guitar Hero – The yin to Rock Band’s Yang, Guitar Hero is the one that started the entire instrument video game craze.  Known for constantly pumping out new versions, nine(!) at last count, make sure you know exactly which one your child has in mind.  There’s Guitar Hero 1 and 2, Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero 5 and the band versions for Metallica, Van Halen, and Aerosmith.  There’s also a version called Smash Hits which includes some of the more popular songs from the non-band versions.  WARNING: ROCK BAND AND GUITAR HERO INSTRUMENTS DO NOT MIX!  You need to buy separate instruments for the different games.  There are also Track Packs you can buy which add songs to the set lists of Guitar Hero and are themed by type of music, i.e. Metal. Classic Rock, Country, etc.

3) DJ Hero – This was the most recent edition to the “Hero” universe until Band Hero (more on that in a second) and is geared more for the hip-hop crowd.  There are two versions: DJ Hero comes with the software and the turntable controller, while DJ Hero: Renegade Edition comes with the software (and different songs), the turntable controller with a stand, and a couple of actual CDs by Jay-Z and Eminem.  The turntable controller will take a little getting used to and if you get DJ Hero you will most likely have to put it on a coffee table to play the game.  Renegade edition not only solves this problem by including a stand, but also includes a case so you can bring your turntable over to a friend’s house for a hip-hop battle!

4) Band Hero – Guitar Hero’s blatant attempt to appeal to young girls by featuring Taylor Swift on the set list as well as in the commercials.  Don’t worry – the Guitar Hero instrument controllers work with this game saving you the added expense.  The song list is every 14 year old girl’s dream with acts you probably don’t listen to except when their blaring from her ipod or cell phone.  You can buy the software only or get the instruments bundled in the package.  This way you can get it for a girl if a boy already has Guitar Hero and vice versa.

5) Lego Rock Band – Boys?  Check!  Girls?  Check!  Parents?  Check!  Wait…what about little kids?  Someone at some marketing meeting must have raised this cry last year and, thus, Lego Rock Band was born.  It is a very family friendly version of Rock Band.  The Rock Band instrument controllers will work with this game and it’s very similar to the style of play, but everything is Lego-fied.  You can create your own little Lego den to chill in and perform within the game which is really fun.  This is the perfect game to get your little kids involved in the musical video game universe and looking forward to their future hand-me-down Rocks Bands and Guitar Heroes from the older siblings.

Music is the essence of life and every one is in touch with this beautiful gift given to mankind. Even children also love to play music and enjoy it when they get a chance to do so. Now is the time to expose kids to the wonders of music. For this, you do not require various expensive musical instruments but children can create their own music at your home just with music software on your PC.

FlexiMusic music Software Company has programmed unique software especially for kids namely FlexiMusic Kids Composer. This unique music software allows kids to listen and play with musical pieces. Children learn to differentiate musical instruments and develop skills in memory, logical thinking, sound differentiation and musical vocabulary. They can play, identify and learn the different sounds generated by the musical instruments. They learn all about melodies, rhythm and more on an exciting adventure through this software. Several activities challenge kids to match sound to instruments.

FlexiMusic Kids Composer has separate panels namely “Beats” and “Stars”, one can select the instruments of choice from” Beats” and tunes from” Stars “panel. With features like “Paint” brush, and “Erase” tool kids can create music of their own. It has tracks of two colors (blue and pink). Blue track is for composing music and pink is for singing and recording. A tempo panel is in use to control the speed of the song. As the tempo slider is moved the percentage of speed and the duration of the song are displayed.

Kids can record their own vocals, sing and compose music using the special feature “Audio recording”. A new window for singing and recording pops out with a simple click on the “Sing and Record” button in the main window. Once the recording is set on the red bar shows the recording level by moving up and down and the progress of recording duration is indicated by the blue bar. The whole process of recording is indicated by an animated bird which is sucking nectar and flapping its wings. As soon as the recording gets completed click “finish recording” button to stop the recording. An option to edit recording is available which is used to modify the recorded song by either making changes in volume or by deleting unwanted sounds.

As an offer, another program namely Kids Music World comes along with FlexiMusic Kids Composer. This software is obtained on shareware basis and available for free trial. To put in a nut shell, this musical software gives kids a Jump Start on music.

BEACHWOOD, OH – Kids Idol will return to Beachwood Place mall the 2008 holiday season. Kids Idol sells personalized music and video products for children.

Beachwood Mall Shoppers will remember Kids Idol from the 2007 Holiday Season.Kids Idol will be located in the popular NORDSTROM’s wing, and is easily accessible from any entrance in the mall.

Earlier this year, Kids Idol introduced the “You Can Do Anything” personalized DVD. The personalized video contains the child’s name in 8 original songs more than 105 times. The motivational, and educational DVD stars children from the original cast of FOX-TV’s “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?”.

“When my daughter Allie heard her name in the song, she couldn’t believe it. She had the biggest smile on her face!” says customer Patty Cox. Patty adds that the personalized DVD has a permanent home inside the family minivan. She plays it for her daughter whenever they are out for a drive.

The Kids Idol sales strategy is easy : “Sales are consistently strong throughout the year. When you have a solid product, and provide the most exceptional customer service, people return to buy other products, and will spread the word.”

Kids Idol has personalized music and video products for children. They market personalized music CD albums and personalized videos. The Kids Idol product line includes personalized music CD’s — CDs where your child’s name is actually sung into the audio and video — and are available for all ages. They range from a Barney Personalized Music CD, a Disney Princess Personalized CD, a Mickey Mouse Personalized Music CD, Veggie Tales Personalized Music CD, and a Wiggles Personalized Music CD.

Kids Idol is also the place to find the Dora The Explorer Personalized Video. It also has a great line of non-licensed, character-personalized music including, a beautiful personalized lullaby album and personalized Christian music.

Kids Idol Music is based just outside Cleveland in Chagrin Falls, Ohio and now has mall kiosks around the country. For more information, visit www.kidsidolmusic.com

It may help to explain my passion for kids musical toys and my belief in the roll that they play in childrenâ??s early development by sharing a brief overview of my early childhood and teenage years.

Although I was not brought up in a musical family and canâ??t remember much about any musical toys I may have had , but I was able to play around on my grandmotherâ??s piano very early in my life, which I enjoyed very much. Although I could not read music I had a good ear and could pick up a tune quite easily. I only wish I had pursued the lessons I started and learnt to read music properly, but like most kids I could always find something better to be doing.

It wasnâ??t until I reached my middle teens that I discovered I had a natural rhythm, timing and a desire to learn to play drums. It probably helped that I was growing up in London in the 60â??s when the Beatles, Rolling Stones and dozens of other groups hit the scene.

I acquired my first used set of drums when I was 17 and within a year had joined a band, performed at some amazing gigs, alongside some very popular artists of the time and even performed in front of Royalty. I continued to play in various different bands for about 12 years until I gave up my sticks to concentrate on my main career.

Having benefited from my early involvement with music, I have a great appreciation of the benefit that kids musical toys can provide in a childâ??s early development and in later life. This has also been confirmed by studies carried out by early childhood specialists who have found that children who received regular music lessons over several months showed a marked improvement over those that had not.

I have actually been able to witness this development now that I have a beautiful granddaughter and have had the time to watch her reaction when introduced to some of the wonderful musical toys available today, as she has grown from a baby to a very active 2 year old.

I am also aware from personal experience, how difficult it can be for busy parents or grand parents to be able to take the time necessary to research and find the best and most appropriate childrenâ??s musical toys. I would certainly suggest that before purchasing any toy, you take the time to visit a good independent musical toy review site to see what is on offer and how it has been received by other parents.

I grew up middle class and happy. We had a TV which we were only allowed to turn on once a week to watch either the Brady Bunch or My Three sons. My dad had a state of the art Sony reel to reel which we were not even allowed to touch. We also had a record player with a needle so delicate that it would scratch the vinyl if you even moved so we had to sit very still. Until this day I can’t dance. When I hear great music, I just sit very still and listen – scarred from early technology.

I have such strong memories of those first few albums. Not just the music but the memory of experiencing the excitement with my family. Fighting over favourites, whose band was cooler, which song on thealbum was the best.  It was great family time which I’ll never forget.

When I was about eight my dad bought home Help by the Beatles. What a great first album, it has  everything,  great songs like Yesterday and Dizzy Miss Lizzy. That was the start of a lifelong obsession with good music that I now share with my kids. We had a Jonny Cash Album that was a real eye opener -  Boy named Sue etc . He was a wild man and a great introduction into Country Music.

As we grew older we started hanging out with the other kids in the street – we each had to choose a band to support and having little knowledge of the world of rock, I chose deep purple because I liked thecolour purple. My brother was a Zoot fan and my friend was into the Stones. My dad was into Burt Bacharach, but he wasn’t allowed to hang out with us.

Those were great times, and it might have continued that way forever if not for the dark clouds of disco…but that’s another story.

Now I’m all grown up with kids, and if I had a job, we would be middle class too. When they were little, I sat them down on the couch and forced them to listen to Dark Side of the Moon. The Beatles of course form a central part of their syllabus as do some of the great Jazz musicians, also bands like Led Zeppelin and Elton John, the Beach Boys and Bowie. They love it all. My theory is that if its good, really good, it will always be good and we’ll always appreciate it.

As a family we also watch TV and movies together and that’s great fun too. Yet it’s not the same, there’s something special about the music. With TV we all sit around like zombies, but with the music there’s a buzz, an excitement, its interactive and its fun.  We don’t just listen to the old stuff, three teenage daughters bring plenty of new music to listen to and believe me, there are plenty of great musicians like Amy Winehouse, Elliot Smith and Kanye West. There’s always something new to experience

The hard thing is to do it together as a family because it’s something kids usually do with their friends and it’s not so cool to hang out with your parents. Still if the music is good, its good and they get it and we have fun.

With today’s technology there’s no excuse for listening to bad music. Computer download sites give us a huge choice – every style and every artist. We don’t even have to listens to whole albums we can pick and chose our favourite songs. Don’t forget to use good speakers and download from a reputable site like the new Kazaa.com.