Product Details

• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Run Time: 32 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001B4I4ZW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,219 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

1 Dvd Produced in the USA Running Time : 32 minutes Upc code # 880984100015 Ages 1-4

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, informal intro, May 11, 2009

By 

Jennifer Bogart "@ Quiverfullfamily.com" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trebellina Ages 1-4 Music Dvd (DVD)

"Teach Your Baby to Read Music with Trebellina," proclaims the DVD cover of Introducing Trebellina from the Cristofori Baby Company. Tapping into the trend towards early education (teach your baby to read, teach your baby to sign, etc.) Trebellina provides a lighthearted, informal introduction to simple music theory for one to four-year-olds.

Trebellina is an exuberant, animated treble clef that leads young children through a simple, lively introduction to Da Notes of the treble staff (a gang of bright, animated notes that live on the staff) with the help of her friends Rock Bassey (a bass cleff) and Rhythmo (an abstract representation of rhythm), while providing simple music appreciation segments. Various musical instruments, familiar songs, live action dance sequences, and rhythm recognition are all incorporated into this fast-paced half-hour program for pre-schoolers.

The child approval rating for the disc runs high in our home. All of our children from age six down to our ten-month-old baby are fascinated by the bright, fun-filled antics of Trebellina. They are learning the names of a variety of instruments, singing note names along with Trebellina, dancing to the live action sequences, and clapping along with Rhythmo. I might be imagining things, but I believe I heard our wee baby sing "F" after I echoed Trebellina's introduction to the note.

Personally, I don't recommend pushing young children into early academics, and my little ones aren't reading music yet. I am however, very interested in developing an affinity for music, rhythm and tonal recognition from a young age. Trebellina can be effectively used as a pre-primer to formal music lessons, as part of an informal music program for preschoolers, or even as a guilt-free babysitter for busy parents who can assure themselves that, "Well, they are learning something at least!"

Parents looking for a highly structured program to teach their child to read sheet music won't find Trebellina the best program to use with their children. There are no formal lesson plans presented, and the pace of the video is so rapid that only a general familiarity with the concepts presented will be gained. By incorporating the parent-led teaching tips included with the DVD the learning experience can be taken deeper, and becomes more interactive rather than a passive DVD viewing experience.

Being independently produced, the music can at times be tinny or too loud, and the animation somewhat choppy but my children don't mind. In fact, if I let them have their way we'd be dancing with Trebellina upwards of three times a day! My three-year-old is her biggest fan, and our baby loves to groove along as well. The disc can be run through in one go and has the option of watching only the animated portions or live action segments.

While I remain unconvinced of the disc's ability to transform the average child into a virtuoso, this child-friendly DVD is a fun way to introduce the simplest concepts of music theory through play, bright visuals and fun tunes.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Overated, February 4, 2009

By 

Robert in Cambridge "rmluk" (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trebellina Ages 1-4 Music Dvd (DVD)

Despite all the rave reviews I found this DVD very poor. It is true that every note is introduced (A,B,C,D...) on the music staff, by singing,on the keyboard and sounded on the piano, but there is very little to help the child link the notation with musical sound. What we need are simple tunes with the notation displayed as the tune plays. We don't get this.

There are mistakes even in introductory part: (she sings an e instead of an f, and the piano sounds the last four notes one tone lower than it should).

We do get two bars of "old Macdonold" where the tune is played and the notation is shown at the same time. This is great, but it only happens for those two bars. For the rest of the music we either get no notation at all, or we get notation for a different tune altogether. Where we do get examples of music with matching notation the music is complicated (in many parts) and the notation does not follow the 'top line' but follows first one inner part and then another and is impossible to follow for a novice.

When "counting the rythmn" is introduced they use a complicated jazz piece with syncopations. This is very difficult and there is no explanation of what is going on. The counting gives up after a bit.

There are a few sequences showing people playing instruments (some times playing a different tune to the one on the soundtrack), but in many cases all we see is a still photo of the instrument or a photo of a soft toy playing a toy instrument.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very poorly done, March 19, 2010

By 

B. Reichel "twin mom" (new york, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Trebellina Ages 1-4 Music Dvd (DVD)

I bought this DVD for my 2 year old twins who love music. After reading all the rave reviews I purchased it on Amazon.
I was very disappointed with the quality and the sound. The animation is rudimentary at best and the songs have no rythem. I did not even finish the DVD it was so bad. The picture quality was pretty bad too, especially on the non-animated parts.
My kids lost interest quickly and I did not think it was easy to follow and make sense of it.
I play Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang & Mary Poppins instead and feel like they learn more music, rythem and song from those movies.
I would return this DVD if I could. I am seriously thinking of throwing it away. I can't give this to anyone...
I definitely do not recommend this product.