The Incredible Whole Rest – Another NoteBoy Poster

The Incredible Whole Rest

Do your students think that a whole rest always gets 4 beats? If so, they probably get confused when they are asked to add a rest for the entire measure in 3/4 time and not use dotted rests! According to the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music, “The whole-note rest is used as a whole measure rest, irrespective of the actual time-value of the measure.”

I print out my NoteBoy posters on cardstock and laminate them. Then I place them on the sofa table in my studio for students to read and chuckle before their lesson. Humor has a way of sticking to your memory!

Teachers always ask me who is the note with the red cape and mask who always has a little comment to make. He is Mighty Dot, the super hero who wears black and flies to notes to make them longer. He’s a powerful guy. In my mind he has an accent kind of like Zorro, and he is an expert in rhythm and all things theory related!

If you are not familiar with my NoteBoy posters, check them out. There are NoteBoy posters on all kinds of music theory, such as lead sheet, ledger lines, and chord inversions, and they are all my gift to your music students.  My students love them! Let me know if yours do, too!

I Can Count Rhythm – a Beginning Worksheet

I Can Count Rhythm

Today I am posting the second worksheet in my “I Can” series for young beginners. My last post was I Can Write the Music Alphabet. The one I am posting today reviews rhythm. I think that it is also big enough to use on the iPad.

As with all of my worksheets, this is free for personal use. In order to print, click on the picture or the link below the picture. That will take you to another page, where you will select “download”.

I am working on a worksheet like this for rests, so hold on and I’ll post it this week. Meanwhile, don’t forget these fun rhythm games for the younger set: Quarter Note Hunt, Fish Rhythm Matching Cards,  Rhythm Round About, and Counting Up the Mountain. Average age beginners will learn rhythm values quickly with the black ink Rhythm Memory Game.

If you use all of these games with your beginning students, they will probably learn rhythm note values very easily!

Jingle Bells with Rhythm Instruments at a Group Lesson

Jingle Bells with instruments

I bought the electronic version of the new book by Philip Johnston called The Dynamic Studio: How to keep students, dazzle parents, and build the music studio everyone wants to get into. (Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate because I get questions about where to buy the things I write about. Amazon sends me a few cents if a reader buys something from clicking  the book link.) Philip Johnston writes inspiring books that get me enthused to teach in different ways. One of his main ideas is to be different; don’t always do the same thing. Maybe that was on my mind when I decided to use rhythm instruments in my group lessons.

After an unsuccessful search for an easy piano/rhythm band ensemble I could use in a group lesson without a lot of preparation, I wrote my own.  I arranged this specifically to be easy enough that they could be successful without having to practice, so please keep that in mind.

I  wrote the second piano part for an electric bass, which some students can play. This part can also be played on the piano, so I call it Piano 2 in the score. You can also use bells or any other tuned instrument, and it sounds fine to omit it.

The first group was my youngest students. They absolutely loved the instruments. But if you have ever used rhythm instruments with young children, you know what a challenge they are.  I didn’t mind that some of them could not play the written part and just played the steady beat.  I was surprised that a few of them actually followed the score. I let the little beginner on the bells shake them through the entire song rather than the way I wrote it in the score. No one in that group reads well enough for the piano part. I had to play by ear because I could not find the piano score! That seemed to amuse the young group.

The second group of 9 and 10-year-old students was absolutely the right age for this activity. Without any practice, (except for the Piano 1 part, which I gave to a 5th grader the week before) they were able to read the score and play the correct rhythm. We traded instruments and repeated it a few times. I am only sorry that I didn’t record it, because they did really well. The student playing the piano part was thrilled to be part of an ensemble.

After that, we changed directions and performed on the piano for each other using good performance skills. Everyone had learned a Christmas song or a favorite piece. That did not take too long and we went on to the next activity.

They had all been looking at the electric bass and wondering why it was there. We discussed the history of the electric bass and how it was like the double bass. I also got in some theory with the older groups, as we discussed the root of chords and how that is an easy way to play the bass. This is where taking our state theory exam really helped. I demonstrated with my meager guitar skills (Me on the electric bass, how funny was that!) and then let them all try it.

Our last activity was playing a Thanksgiving board game, with different level cards for each age group. I was relieved my students enjoyed the game because I had not tried it out with a group. Even my older students had fun and reviewed some theory at the same time. Finally, we just had enough time to pass out cookies and candy canes, and they all left happy.

Later I asked what was their favorite activity. Can you guess what it was? The rhythm instruments! So with that in mind, I am sharing my simple score with you. Feel free to change the instruments to whatever you have on hand, even homemade instruments.

Obviously you don’t need a score for this simple rhythm section, but my students found it interesting, and it helped me focus. If one of your students has a family member who can play the Piano 2 part on the electric bass or any other instrument, that would be really fun, especially for a Christmas recital! Please alert me if you find any mistakes in my score, as I don’t have an editor. Have fun and if you have a successful performance, let me know!

Colorful Rhythm Review – Late Elementary Set

Colorful Rhythm Review Levels 4-6

Last week I posted beginning levels and today I am posting a set of 3 more levels. As you can see, the difficulty increases quite a bit. The first page reviews eighth notes and rests. The second page adds 16th notes and rests. Level 6 adds the triplet, more 16th note patterns,  and 6/8 time signatures. To print these free worksheets, click on the link above.

This set correlates to grades 4, 5, and 6 of the TMTA (Texas Music Teacher Association) theory test. In most method books these concepts are in levels 2B through  4 or 5. Please let me know immediately if you see any typos or mistakes! My proofreading skills are pretty poor!

Objectives:

• review late elementary through early intermediate rhythm concepts

• discover the rhythm knowledge of a transfer student

• use with band or orchestra students who often learn rhythm concepts faster than piano students

• test the knowledge of piano students who are moving up into a higher level method book

• review concepts for the theory test or similar exams

Materials:

• Print these worksheets from my website

• Pencil

• If desired, insert them into clear sheet protectors and use with dry erase markers

If you would be interested in a series of reviews for another aspect of music study, such as vocabulary or note reading, please leave a comment!

Colorful Rhythm Review Worksheets – Elementary Level

Rhythm Review (page 1 of 3)

Today I am posting some worksheets to review rhythm concepts. There are three pages in this set, with more to come later. Each page increases slightly in difficulty. At the top left hand corner, there is a tiny code to help keep the levels straight, L1, L2, or L3. To help sort the pages when I get in a hurry, each level is a different color. To download these free printables, click on the title above, which will take you to the page where you can print them.

I’ve noticed that my students enjoy worksheets a lot more if I add a little color, so that is how I made these. They are fast enough to do in the lesson.

While the levels are compatible with the Texas Music Teachers Association’s theory program, these worksheets contain rhythm concepts that every music student should know. The first level (that I use with my first graders) reviews quarter notes and rests, half notes and rests, and whole notes and rests. The second level that I made for my second grade students adds a dotted half note. The third level uses the same rhythm values, but the questions are slightly more difficult.

We have to constantly review concepts in piano lessons or students will forget what we carefully taught them. In addition to being a good review, these are excellent worksheets to discover what a transfer student knows about rhythm.

These sheets are meant to be reviews, so you can teach the concepts however you feel comfortable. If you see any typos, let me know right away! I don’t have the best eyes and sometimes I see what I want to see!

Check back soon for the next set, which will review eighth notes and dotted quarter notes. At the top of this page, you can subscribe to the Word Press email which will let you know when something new is posted here.

Objective

• To reinforce elementary rhythm concepts
• To determine what concepts a transfer student has learned

Ages

• These sheets were made for school grades 1 -3. However, they may be used by all beginning students.

Material

• Worksheet
• Pencil

Valentine Rhythm Hunt

Valentine Rhythm Hunt

I made this last year, using a variation of a game idea from Cecilly. All of my younger students played it at their private lesson the week of Valentine’s. They liked it so much we also played it at our performance class.

Students should be familiar with the rhythm names of notes. If they are beginners and are not secure in the names yet, use the game as a way to teach rhythm identification. It is a fast way to learn the names of notes.

Objective

• review rhythm note names by sight
• quickly identify rhythms under pressure
• play a fun, seasonal game in less than 3 minutes

Ages

• Younger children, ages 5-8

Materials Needed

• Printed Valentine rhythm cards, cut and folded, but not laminated
• stop watch or mobile phone timer

Directions

Print and cut out these Valentine rhythm cards and fold to make a tent card. Before your student arrives, place the cards around the room with the heart side facing out. Call out a rhythm value, such as “quarter note,” and start the timer. Have your student quickly find all the notes of that value. If you have time, your students can hunt for other note values. Depending on the age of the students, don’t hide them too carefully or they will not be able to find them! It is so much fun to watch them quickly run around the room looking for notes!

Children love this game. It can be used at an individual lesson or with a group. For a non-seasonal version of the same game, see Cecilly’s game, Quarter Note Hunt.

Snowmen and Reindeer Games – Rhythm

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Every Christmas WordPress lets a little snow fall on their blogs. Hover over the picture at the top of the slide show and you will see snow begin to fall.

I designed these 3 Christmas games as timed games because students like to play against the clock and I haven’t done that lately.  Today I am posting the rhythm version of this set.

Students should be familiar with the rhythm values of notes and rests. Be sure to mention these are the values in 4/4 time.

Snowmen and Reindeer Rhythm Game

I have tested these games with students in grades 1-4 and they have liked them. As a matter of fact, we test  every game before I post it!

I have an inexpensive 1 minute sand timer  that I bought from a school supply store, but I also have been using the stop watch timer on my phone. Most of the time  we  use both,  because they love the novelty factor of the sand timer. In fact, I think that’s one reason they like this game so much!

You will need at least 7 rhythm flash cards for this game. I am posting the set I use, but you can make your own set if you want to modify the game.

Cards for Snowmen and Reindeer Rhythm Game

Students should be familiar with the rhythm values of notes and rests. Since note valued change depending on the meter, be sure to mention these are the values in 4/4 time.

Objective

•  review rhythm values in 4/4 time
• practice fine motor speed and coordination
• quickly identify rhythm values under pressure
• to play a fun seasonal game in less than 3 minutes at an individual music lesson

Ages

• Younger children, ages 5-9  who like cartoon graphics

Materials Needed

• Printed game board
• Flash cards with individual rhythm values to match the numbers on the game board
• Sand timer or stop watch
• Bingo chips

Directions

Give the student a set of rhythm flash cards. Set the timer.  The student quickly draws a flash card and places a bingo chip on the corresponding number of beats the note gets in 4/4 meter. The object is to cover all the numbers on the game board in the fastest time possible. Using a stop watch, let the student try 3 times to increase their speed.

The game is more challenging if there are more flash cards than there are spaces on the board. I’ve tried it both ways and for the younger children  I settled on 7 cards, enough cards to cover the board. My students wanted to play it several times as I timed them on my phone stopwatch. One of my students said he liked it because it was “different.” Sometimes my older students see my games and want to play, too, especially in a private lesson when they don’t have to act older than they are. I try to think of ways to make the game harder for them.

Tomorrow I will post the interval version of this game.

As a music educator, I know how important it is to know the objectives of educational games and activities. That is why I am going to try to post the objectives of each game from now on, if I have time. If you find this useful, please leave some feedback in the comment section.

Rhythm Menagerie™ – a Review

Rhythm Menagerie™ Book 1 by Wendy Stevens

How would you like your music students to be proficient in playing and counting rhythm patterns, and have fun doing it?

Wendy Stevens has written and recently published the resource Rhythm Menagerie™, Reproducible Rhythm Explorations, a book to sequentially learn how to be an independent rhythm reader. Recently she sent me the book to give it a look-over and try out with my students.

I think as music teachers we want our students to be able to work out rhythms on their own and not rely on copying or learning by rote. Not only is this book very attractive with an easy to follow layout, but it is so comprehensive that students who use it diligently will certainly become independent rhythmically.

Rhythm Menagerie is 92 pages long, with 8 chapters. Each chapter features a new rhythm problem, starting with quarter and half notes and going all the way to dotted quarter notes. The book will have students enjoying themselves as they play rhythms in a fun and imaginative way. Students will also like the attractive graphics of unusual animals, with interesting information about each one. The graphics are suitable for all ages of piano students, good news for those of use with older beginners.

Have you ever noticed that some students are so concerned about the notes that their rhythm and steady beat is all over the place, and not in a good way? Wendy says that students will learn to read rhythms easier and be more successful if they are not also trying to play notes at the same time.

Rhythm Menagerie is an excellent resource to use along with a regular lesson book at a private lesson, but it can also be adapted for groups, such as a summer music camp. Home school families who want to introduce some music into their curriculum might also find this book useful.

After downloading the book, Wendy suggests printing out one page a week to use at the lesson and gradually work on rhythm skills throughout the year. I think that if you use the book with an older beginner, you can speed up the pace considerably.

Wendy’s book can be purchased and printed directly from her website. Once you have purchased the book, you can print it on your computer to use with your students again and again, and of course adapt it for your needs.

If you order the book before Sept. 20, you will receive a discount. Take a look at her the inside of her book here, and don’t forget to watch the cute video she made showing some of her students having fun with Rhythm Menagerie.

Frozen Yogurt Rhythms

 Frozen Yogurt Rhythms

Every summer I have a theme for printable material for my younger students.  I have a group of the cutest young students, all about the same age, and I’m making some theory sheets for them to help study for the Texas theory exam. Maybe because it is so hot, my theme this year is “summer treats”.   (Last year my theme was frogs!)

There are some great frozen yogurt shops popping up all over the place nowadays,  so my first worksheet  is  Frozen Yogurt Rhythms.  This one has 4 short rhythm activities that will help students learn how to count  and maybe have a little fun.  I’ve made some more printable worksheets featuring fun treats for the summer that I am using with my younger students, and I’ll post them as I have time. I told my students that when they finish all of their summer worksheets, we will go out for a treat. I hope they choose frozen yogurt!

This weekend TMTA is having their annual convention with 3 days of non-stop recitals, workshops and presentations. I’m so excited to be able to visit with some of my favorite composers and I hope I will get a lot of new ideas to inspire me!

UK cards for Rhythm Round About

My students love this game. It is fast, and doesn’t take up very much time in the lesson.

Rhythm Round About Game Board

Until today I didn’t have a version of the cards for those of you in the UK who use those quaint rhythm terms that always seem such a mystery to those of us in the U.S.,  such as semi-demi-hemi-mini-quaver. (That’s a joke!) I made these cards to fit business card cardstock, but if your paper is a different size, (such as A4) you might need to draw lines and cut it out.  Don’t forget I made some colorful backs below that you can print out. This photo was a prototype, so the final version looks a little different.

UK Rhythm Cards

 

Colorful Backs for Cards

On another topic, Wendy, over at ComposeCreate posted a picture of one of my darling students who is learning Tangy Tango, an early elementary piece she wrote that I reviewed earlier this year. My student loves it, especially when I play the loads-of-fun teacher duet with her!

 

Rhythm Round About – to identify notes and rests

Rhythm Round About Game Board

I made this game to help students who can’t remember the rhythmic names of notes. My younger ones don’t have any trouble remembering how many beats a note is worth, but they often either forget the name, or get the names mixed up. This is especially true with rests. I wanted a fun activity that would only take a few minutes of lesson time, and this is what I came up with.  Rhythm Round About  really moves along quickly, and if you only have a few minutes left at the end of a lesson, you might be able to play it several times. I tested it quite a lot with my students and they gave me helpful suggestions!

Rhythm Round About Cards

I found that printing 2 pages of the card PDF is enough for a teacher/student game. The cards will run out, but shuffle them and keep going. 

I did something different for the cards that go along with this game. A few years ago I bought a huge box of blank perforated business cards at a warehouse store for a very reasonable price.  I made the cards for this game to fit business cards, and I really like the size, and the fact that I don’t have to cut out anything!  The cards are 2″ X 3 1/2″.  For those of you who don’t have any blank business cards, my PDF also contains short cutting lines.

Since I love graphics, I usually draw a colorful back for my game cards.  This one has little pianos covered by dots to match the game board.

Colorful Backs for Cards

I laminated the game board, but since the cards are perforated, I coated them  with clear acrylic matte coating to keep the ink from smearing. Here in hot Texas, students’ hands will cause ink to smudge. If you are in a cooler climate, you might not have this problem. 

This is a good game to check if your students really know the rhythm symbol names for association tests!

If your students enjoy this game, leave a comment!

Easter Season Games and Printables

Front                                                            BackEaster Egg Hunt

You might have seen this game last year, but I am posting it again for teachers new to this site. You will have to print on both sides, so be sure to adjust your printer settings carefully before you start. Cut them out and hide the eggs around your studio. Your younger students will be so excited when you tell them they are going on an Easter egg hunt!  When they find an egg, they clap or tap the rhythm. If your students can’t clap 8th notes, print only the first side and write in the rhythms you want to use. It is a fun diversion and a nice treat at the end of a lesson. Plus, students get to practice reading rhythms! If Easter eggs are not appropriate for your students, give me a suggestion and I might be able to come up with something else.

As an aside, and coming from a music education specialist,  *quarter, quarter, two eighths, quarter*, is the easiest rhythm pattern for children to clap. It is the first rhythm clapping pattern I start with. Just because eighth notes are not in beginning piano books doesn’t mean you  have to wait for the second or third year of piano to learn them.  Students can learn all sorts of rhythm patterns before they actually play them in their music, using syllables or words to clap the rhythm.

Here are some more Easter season activities from my website, including two composing activities for beginners. In the Music section of my website, www.susanparadis.com you can also find some beginning hymns you might be able to use. I also have a Mother’s Day composing printable.

• Easter Egg Notes
• Easter Egg Find the Notes
• See the Bunny - a pre-reading composing activity
• See the Bunny - an on the staff composing activity
• Follow the Bunny Trail

Drawing Notes for beginners

Drawing Notes

Here is another page to go in the preschool binder I am making. The objective of  this one is for very beginning students to learn to draw the notes they will be using in their first lessons, and be able to read or repeat  the words out loud. They might also be able to notice that the notes engraved in books look different than the notes they draw themselves.

So many times when students copy notes they try to draw the half and whole notes exactly like they look in professionally engraved music, with the thicker lines on the sides.   This slows them down when they are working in theory books and makes it needlessly difficult. I like to draw the notes by hand so they can copy them better, and that’s what I did in this worksheet.

If you are a teacher with a beginning student or a Mom helping your child, you might enjoy printing out the Fish Rhythm Cards and see if they can also learn the names of these notes, although that is not the objective of this worksheet. Use only the flash cards that are in this worksheet before you add them all, unless you are working with an older child.

Children are so different that for some students this will be all they need to learn note value names, while others will struggle all year to remember them. That is why I have a variety of methods and materials!

Easter Rhythm Games

I am posting several games to play the week before Easter. Some teacher will be having group lessons and these games might come in handy if you have younger students.

Easter Egg Find the Notes

Here are how the cards look when printed and cut out.

This first game can be played with one student or a small group. After printing the cards in landscape format, cut them out and fold them so the egg is on one side and the note on the other. Hide them around the room. Ask the student to find all the quarter notes, or find all the whole notes. Little ones love to play this. For older children, set your timer and have a timed race. You might need to print out more than one copy. From experience I have found that if they are laminated they do not fold well unless you only laminate one side. These cards are similiar to the  Quarter Note Hunt game that I posted a  while ago. If you don’t want the Easter Eggs on your cards, print out the earlier version, but the rhythms are a little different.

Easter Egg  Hunt

The second  game can be played more than one way, but it was designed for a group. Of course you can modify it for one student.  First, there are 2 pages and they need to be printed front and back on card stock so the rhythms are on the back of the eggs. If my rhythms don’t suit your students, print just the colored page and write in your own rhythms on the back.

After printing the front and back twice, I cut out the eggs and laminated them. The next step was to cut out the eggs after they were laminated.  I used this two step process because I have trouble cutting laminated card stock in circles. Usually I design things with straight lines so I can cut them with my paper cutter.

You have a choice of games with these cards.  You can hide them around the room and let a student or a group of students look for them. When all the cards are found, the student will clap  the rhythm of the card he found.   This is a good hide a seek game for students too old to play the first game. Be sure to print enough cards for your group.

Another way to use these cards  is to sit in a circle and pass the cards to some music. Older students like to play the music while younger ones pass cards. Have one less card than the number of students. When the music stops, everyone has to clap their rhythm card, and the student without a card is out.  Or you can pass one card and whoever has it when the music stops has to clap it. Well, the possibilities are endless and I’m sure you will have a lot better ideas than me! If older students are playing, you really will have to print some blank cards and draw  some harder rhythms.

Last week I posted a staff with little eggs on it for notes. This week, all the younger students are going to use it with jelly beans as notes on the staff. Then when we’re finished I’m going to let them choose a plastic egg that has a little chocolate egg inside and a rhythm note. If they know the name of the rhythm value, they can put all their jelly beans inside the egg and take it home. If they get it wrong (and I don’t think any will, because by now they all know their rhythm note values) I’ll let them keep trying until they get it right.  I want all that candy out of the house and I want them to go home happy!

Three or Four?

Does the music move in three or four?

I like to give my students something to listen for when they play for each other at  group lessons. I was watching the Olympics and decided it would be fun to hold up numbers at the end of each piece like the judges in some of the competitions.  But our numbers are not  a rating. Students have to listen to each piece and decide if the meter is in 3 or 4. 

The older group had one piece in 6/8, but it was played  rather slowly, so students felt it in 3. This gave us an opportunity to discuss how 6/8 should be felt in 2 when it is played up to tempo and I was gratified that the students remembered what I was talking about.

Another student played a piece in 4/4 time with accents grouped in threes  in the first few bars that faked everyone out. Students learned they need to listen to the entire piece.

When I first announced we were going to play Three or Four, it was interesting watching the younger students quickly open their music to check out their time signature.  So we were able to discuss why they should know the meter and key signature of their own piece!  The games we play in group lessons usually lead to some interesting musical discussions, and hopefully some new things learned.  

If you want to try this activity, here is how to make the signs. Click on the link under the cards. That will take you to my website. Click on “download” to print. After printing the PDF,  cut the cards out and paste to large size popsicle sticks. I put 2 cards back to back and laminated them in my home laminating machine. That way the back of the cards we not laminated and stuck a lot better to the popsicle sticks. After I cut out the cards, it looked like the laminating material might pull off, so I put them through the laminating machine again. That worked great.  I used a glue gun for the adhesive because kids can be rough. They used the cards to keep time on their knees!

Students had a lot of fun holding up them up,  and it gave them something to listen for, which is sometimes hard for students. 

Now that I have the cards,  I’m going to try and come up with some other way to use them. Any ideas? Should I make more numbers and use them for intervals?  

The rest of the group lesson we played games from my links, such as D’net and Music Matters. There are other great sites for games, so check them all out.

Three or Four?

Another way to organize your piano teaching materials

My next resolution is to organize my material better. I have tried all kinds of things, from baskets to boxes to 3 ring binders. The latter is good for certain things and with clear sheet protectors has been  efficient. But a lot of my material has flash cards and small pieces  that doesn’t work too well in a binder.

Take the Rhythm Memory Game, for example. It is something that I can pull out quickly to review the rhythm value of simple notes and rests. I like to use it with first year students.  Sometimes at the end of a lesson we will play a quick game. (On my list of things to do is to make a more difficult version of this game for second and third year students.)

I’m not a naturally neat person, and it used to be that every time I would get ready to play I would hunt all over for the cards because they are not very big. I keep the cards in a zip lock baggie that would be hidden under all my mounds of other material I had out to use that week. 

Then I took the advice of another teacher and made it a folder game! Check out D’net’s site for some great examples of folder games.

I bought a bunch of pocket folders at a Big Box Store when they were having a back to school clearance sale. They were only 5 cents each, so I stocked up. If you are on a budget, don’t spend too much money on these folders because they usually are on sale in August. After school starts you can get real bargains.  

Below is a picture of the front of my folder.   Because I’m a visual person, I have to see a picture to remember what the game is.  I printed  and cut out a graphic from the game and pasted it to the  front of the pocket folder. I can’t remember the names of any of my games, but I always remember the graphic! I try not to get excessive and spend too much time on it. You could just write the name on the front with a marker.

Below is  what the folder looks like when I open it. The instructions are printed out in case a student plays by himself or with a partner. A zip lock bag with the cards is stored in the pocket. On the right side of the folder is a grid glued right over the pocket. You can draw the lines with a sharpie a little larger than the cards you print out.  The grid really helps the little ones to focus and to put their cards back if they don’t match. Now we just open the  folder when we want to play and we are all set.  

When we finish the game, I put the folder in these inexpensive but sturdy magazine files I bought at Ikea. I have several magazine files for different musical categories, such as rhythm activities or note reading. The front of the magazine file has a place to put a label so you can find which file you need in a hurry when you store the magazine file on a shelf.

If you print out  the Rhythm Memory Game  you might notice that o your cards do not look exactly like the ones in these pictures. I recently made some changes in the color graphic because I thought my original was too cluttered.

Christmas Rhythm/Tune Challenge

Christmas Tune Challenge

A few years ago I made up some cards to cut up and use to play Name That Tune or Mystery Rhythms with Christmas songs. I took a poll of the songs most students knew and used those songs.

After reading  Natalie’s Music Matters and Wendy’s Compose Create, I decided it was time to play one of the games again at my  group lesson.  I remember from past experience how much fun they can be,  but also how challenging. Since I had already made the little cards of  Christmas songs, all I did this year was add a color border and a  stocking I previously drew so the game would have a more festive look. I am always going back and changing things.

I decided to do Mystery Rhythms this year and use the same cards  next year for Name That Tune. After printing,  I cut up the cards on the dotted line and chose the ones to use for each group.  To keep my group lessons moving along, I play short games,  so I didn’t use all the cards. Besides, you need to keep the list short for the young ones and use the simple songs.  I turned the cards upside down  in a small bowl for students to pick from.

I played the game differently for each age group. The youngest group called out answers and the one who guessed first was the next to draw a card. Older students had a partner and would tap the rhythm with a mallet. Sometimes younger students will do better if they clap, rather than use a mallet.  I used the less known carols for the high school students.

Since this game is so much harder than it seems,  I made a list of the carols that I planned to use with each group and put it in front of the students.  Below is the page I used to write the songs for my list. While that may seem to make the game too easy, it didn’t for my students.  Students are usually surprised  how difficult it is to identity a song just by the rhythm.

List of Tunes

After the game, we discussed this.  One student said that you have a certain tune in your head, and no matter what the person taps, you think you have the right one. We discussed how students also do that also when they take rhythmic dictation. Often students are so sure they have written the correct note values that they cannot hear what is actually being played.  I think this Christmas Tune Challenge will help with listening skills. Plus, it is fun!

If you like this kind of rhythm challenge, check out  “tappers and listeners“  from Natalie’s Music Matter’s blog and watch  the videos of her students. Watching her videos will really help you if you haven’t tried this at a group lesson before.

If you want to print out some  very nice flash cards with Christmas tunes to use for mystery tune games, check out Wendy’s site at Compose/Create.

D’net also has very good group lesson ideas. I really believe that when we read what other teachers do, it gets our creative juices going and we can modify things for our own students.

New Fish Rhythm Matching Cards

 Fish Rhythm Cards 

To those uninitiated to the joys of fish flash cards, these may look just like all the other’s I’ve posted. But they’re not! 

Use these cards with the fish cards with the rhythm symbols on them that I have already posted. Students will “catch” these fish and match the numbers with the rhythm notes. This is a fun way for beginning students to enjoy the fishing games. I guess we are keeping the color ink companies in business, LOL.

Don’t forget to see if you can find a cute fishing pole at the dollar store. If not, the students like the handmade ones, too. Or don’t bother to use a fishing pole if you don’t have time. Just play matching games. Check out this post if you want to know more about fishing flash cards.

Happy fishing!

Fish Rhythm Cards

Fish Rhythm Cards

My beginning student wanted to play the fishing game, so I made some rhythm flash cards for him. He had not learned rests yet, but after playing this game, now he knows them!  I changed the color of the fish so they are all a solid color. I thought this would help young and/or distracted children to focus on the notes. Then they looked too plain, so I added the dots.

My little student is bothered by the fact that the dotted half note doesn’t have his own name!  He feels sorry for it. Then he wanted to know why I didn’t make a dotted half rest. Isn’t it funny what children will key on?

I also used these cards with lower elementary level students,  and for them I set a time limit to see how many they could catch and identify in a certain amount of time. Otherwise, we would have spent the whole lesson fishing, which I think was fine with the kids, but not for me because I have a lot of music I want to teach!

The cartoon nature of these cards show they are intended for young children, so I don’t plan to make any with higher note values. However, if you want to play a fishing game with older students, you can use regular flash cards. I suggest a time limit for this, too.

Every day I get emails asking me what program I use to make these fish. I drew these myself in Photoshop.  The reason they look so homemade is because they are! I’m not an artist, so it’s kind of painstaking for me. But I love art and I wish I could really draw.

Rhythm Memory Game

Rhythm Memory Game

Graphic for Back of Cards

I am back from the TMTA convention and I have a lot of new ideas and music reviews to post. I’ll try to do that as I have time, but let me just say that I am very excited about some of new music I heard as well as new ideas for composing and improvising with our students. The Texas convention is 4 days long and it is huge because we are such a big state. 

I went to as many sessions as possible and one I went to was on teaching group lessons. Our presenter was Dr. Lesley Sisterhen McAllister and she had some great ideas for group lessons. Even if we teach private lessons, most of the teachers who read this blog also have groups at some point. One game she mentioned seemed like something my students would enjoy.  It is a memory game and she kindly gave me permission to post it here. I don’t know if I made it exactly like she makes hers, but here is my version for beginning students who have at least learned the basic notes and rests. There are no 8th notes so it can be played with young students.  

I made 2 PDF’s for this game, one side with the notes and the other an optional graphic.  You need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to print it.  Using sturdy card stock, print one side; turn your paper over and print the other side.  You must use card stock, or students will be able to see through the cards. Laminate,  and cut on the dotted lines. Some teachers have glued it to foam board so the students can use it better.

In case you do not know how to play Memory, here are the directions. Arrange the cards with the notes and numbers face down in a 4 X 4 grid. The object of the game is to match a note to its rhythm value in 4-4 meter. The first player turns over two cards. If the note and rhythm match he keeps the cards and plays again. If not, it is the other person’s turn. Play continues until all the cards are gone. The winner is the player with the most cards. Young children need help learning how to play this. They have trouble putting the cards that don’t match exactly back where they found them so that the next person knows where the matches are.

I often play this at a private lesson,  with the student either playing the game with me.  Personally I’m not very good with this type of  game and the students can beat me. This is a good game to check if they are learning their note values. 

I always have teachers ask me how I make the graphics.  I drew these in Photoshop using the shape tools.