For parents, toys that make noise are probably one of the most irritating gifts that people buy for our kids. Even when we buy them ourselves, we often regret it – quickly. However, noisy toys can be used to develop our children’s minds, functional skills, and other vital aspects of their development. For example, we can help grow our children’s’ musical abilities with kid-friendly instruments and even inspire the future musician or audio-visual artist in them.

While it’s likely not appropriate for small children, the Alesis V25 is an excellent MIDI keyboard for teaching your child some piano and music mixing. Many home recording keyboards are quite expensive, but the Alesis V25 is less than $100 and excellent quality for the price.

Features of the Alesis V25 Keyboard

Although adults typically use it for home music production, your child can use the Alesis V25 with adult supervision and instruction. Its features include:

• 25 full-sized, semi-weighted keys
• Eight velocity-sensitive drum pads with four drum patterns
• Four responsive rotary knobs
• Simple, plug-and-play connection to your computer or digital audio workstation (DAW)
• Compact, portable and lightweight (5.4 pounds) design

How to Use the Alesis V25 Keyboard with Your Child

Again, the Alesis V25 is a bit too advanced for the little kiddos, and it’s a pricey toy to lose if your little guy decides to start banging out some beats with a hammer instead of his fingers. For children that have more control of their strength, the keyboard can be a great way to teach them some musical skill and inspire them to create their unique sounds.

To make the most of your time playing the Alesis V25 with your child:

1. Start small. Whatever your child’s age, there’s a lot to learn about music production and how to use the keyboard itself. You may want to start by teaching them some early piano lessons first and save the drum beats for later.
2. Learn how to play with it yourself. It will be a lot harder to teach your child how to use the Alesis V25 if you don’t know what you’re doing, yourself. Play around with it for a little bit yourself, then watch a Youtube video or two to get comfortable with the equipment before you start playing with your child.
   
3. Add new features slowly. When you introduce the Alesis V25 keyboard to your child, he or she will probably have all kinds of questions and will want to know what every key, knob, and button does. Give them the basics and outline for them how you’ll go about learning to make music with the keyboard together. Then focus on one feature at a time, perhaps starting with just the drums or piano keys, and only moving on to the rotary knobs when your child is ready to learn how to change the sounds more.
4. Start recording. You’ll love to watch the amazement on your child’s face when they hear their own song playing back to them for the first time! Whether they’re singing and playing music, or just recording cool beats, the experience is sure to be a magical one for them.
5. Keep the inspiration going. As you teach your child how to make and record their music, keep them going by inspiring them with all of the things they can do with this equipment. Do they want to be a rock or pop star when they grow up? They can write their own songs! Does your child want to be in a band? They can develop their skills by playing the drums, singing, and playing piano with the Alesis V25. Do DJs and audio-visual artists inspire them? This MIDI keyboard has everything they need to start creating their own musical art.

Josh