When you are listening to a classical music, do you listen passively, or are vivid images produced by the notes permeating your imagination?
"Can You Hear It?" book (buy here) offers great examples of pictorial classical music filled with unforgettable images, which are matched to masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. There is no better way to introduce both: music and art appreciation to your child! The book comes with a CD featuring 13 short works and an introduction to the orchestra and musical instruments.
In association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, this book introduces famous classical music through great works of art. Selections of classical music correspond with themes and images from the Metropolitan Museum's masterpieces. From “The Flight of the Bumblee” to “The Four Seasons” to the “Night on Bald Mountain,” a child is encouraged to actively listen for certain instruments. For each pairing, the book suggests what to find in the art and what to listen to in the music, making strong connections between the sounds of instruments and the mental images they evoke.
"Can you hear the car horns honking, played by clarinets? Can you hear the horses’ hooves, played by castanets?"
https://player.vimeo.com/video/198307456
We always have classical music 
playing in the house and during the car rides. So, Julia and Adrian are accustomed to hearing it since birth. I also have been doing Suzuki music toddler curriculum (see here) since Adrian was ten months old, and he still enjoys it once a week. Julia loves it too! (Here, you can see and purchase the CD we use and the materials. Here, you can view a demo lesson presentation.)
We also casually exposed children to piano and violin. Recently, Adrian has been exhibiting a desire to take formal violin lessons, so today children were fitted for their violins🎻! They are very excited to start weekly violin lessons tomorrow. Julia had some lessons in the past, but last year, due to the move, she took a long break (: Adrian is super excited, but I was also told that he is too little to start a violin! I believe however, that the age does not matter, so long as there is a desire to do it! Time will show 🙂
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