Thanks for the great and thorough review! We ultimately bought Little Musician about ten days ago and now I can't imagine being without both!
They really are not only complementary but almost symbiotic! I have seen my toddlers enthusiasm for playing piano with SM more than double with the addition of LM...
We do SM during the day, but it is not really conducive to cuddling at bedtime for a quick review like LM is. And I think SM has made her SO much more aware of music in general...on day three of LM, when the music appreciation section played Air on a G String (Bach), Alex piped up, "oh, I have that on my IPod." not because she recognized the name, but the music itself!
Yes, I know it is pricy to shell out the money for both. But, if your goals are to not only teach music, piano, appreciation, EK, etc.? Remember how much a years worth of piano lessons will cost, monetarily, time wise, opportunity cost, travel, etc... Oh, yeah, and the fact that I know kiddos who have been taking 'professional' lessons for two years that are not where SM kids are after a few months.
I can't thank you enough Helene!