Rave

I’m a big fan of Kickstarter, the site that gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to raise funds for innovative new projects. If you’re not familiar with the site, project leads submit a video proposal, dollar amount to be raised, funding levels, and a time frame. If the dollar amount isn’t reached by the deadline, no one is charged a penny. Typically, different contribution levels provide different rewards.

Today I stumbled across a new project called the Loog Guitar, a child-friendly instrument that theoretically makes learning the guitar easier for little hands and minds. The guitar comes disassembled for some fun (I hope!) parent-child bonding time. It is designed with only three nylon strings so kids can learn power chords and build their confidence on the guitar before switching to a more traditional six-string.

As a sometimes-guitar-player, I’m always on the look-out for ways to teach my kids to play. Fake guitars like Paper Jamz and Guitar Hero are fun toys, but teach nothing about how to handle a real instrument. A child-size six-string – which we have in our home – is more “genuine” but difficult for the kids to hold and overwhelming to learn the basics. Watch the video on Kickstarter to see the vision of creator Rafael Atijas.

I paused before contributing only because I didn’t know at which level to participate. The $150 level appealed to me since it includes one of the first instruments off the production line. On the other hand, a $500 contribution gets you three of the buggers. However, without the chance to play or listen to one, I opted for the lower amount. This is one area I think Kickstarter could improve: provide a flexible way for contributors to suggest alternative reward packages. In this case, I might have chosen to give $300 for two guitars.

Looking at the pace at which the project is getting funded, I don’t doubt that this one will succeed. I’m looking forward to playing…er, I mean helping my kids play with the Loog when it arrives!