A Toy Saxophone Will Intrigue the Younger Kids

Giving your child a toy saxophone is one way to spark an early interest in music.

Some popularly available musical toys come tuned to what is called the pentatonic scale. This is a 5-note scale that has a melodic sound. It is often used in preschool classes in the Waldorf style schools. Usually a child saxophone will not be tuned to these notes. The pentatonic scale notes are what you hear when you play around on the black notes of the piano. You can create tunes that are pleasant and even haunting.

Some early childhood educators think using these notes is helpful because the tunes created by the child are more pleasant on the ear than those from the major eight-note scale heard on a toy sax. This might be true for children just making noise, but those that are interested in playing real songs they’ve heard will need the versatility of a toy with a complete scale on it.

A good toy sax will probably be made in gold or silver tone plastic with rainbow colored keys. The cost of such a toy will probably be under $20. Look for a book of color-coded tunes that will help a youngster play melodies on that new saxophone.

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