The Incredible Whole Rest – Another NoteBoy Poster

The Incredible Whole Rest

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!

Essential Elements Piano Theory by Mona Rejino

Essential Elements Piano Theory

Essential Elements Piano Theory by Mona Rejino

I have attended many presentations by Mona Rejino over the years. Mona is a piano teacher as well as a composer with the music publisher Hal Leonard. Recently at the MTNA conference Mona gave me a tour of her new theory course, Essential Elements Piano Theory, and discussed her motivation in writing this series.

Mona said that when she was a student she did not understand how completing theory pages would make her a better musician. With that in mind, she set about writing a theory course with a bridge between theoretical and practical.

Each paperback book in this course is the size of a method book with about 40 pages. Level One starts at the very beginning, learning the alphabet letters on the keyboard.

My first impression is that this series is written by a piano teacher who understands what students need in beginning theory. Concepts are presented sequentially, moving right along with no busy work. The layout is clean and uncluttered. Since there are no age specific graphics on the page, it can be used with older beginners who often need to learn a lot of theory quickly. While the series is not directed at the preschool age group, music students vary widely in their abilities and the font in level one is large enough for first graders. There is even an online Teacher’s Answer Key on the Hal Leonard website.

There are 8 units in each book. Each level contains three Musical Mastery sections where students work on ear training, answer questions, as well as analyze a short piano piece that they can also play. For example, after unit eight, students study Yankee Doodle and analyze theory concepts they have learned. As a bonus, they can play Yankee Doodle. In this way, theory becomes more meaningful.

As the series progresses, the analysis in the Musical Mastery section is more detailed. In addition, students learn, in a gradual way, improvisation, transposition, chord progressions, and reading lead lines.

Here are some ideas on ways to use this course:

  • In theory classes
  • Summer music camps
  • Preparation for the Texas State Theory Test
  • Other theory examination programs
  • Teaching improvisation and reading lead lines
  • A supplement to any method book
  • Home school music classes

Essential Elements Piano Theory is published by Hal Leonard. At the present time there are 4 levels and I hope there are more to come!

Disclosure: I received a teacher reference copy at the MTNA convention. The opinions are completely my own.

I Can Write the Music Alphabet Worksheet

ICanWriteMusicAlphabetI Can Write the Music Alphabet

I love to make theory worksheets for my students! Just a little bit of color makes them so much more fun for students.

This worksheet is for beginning students who are learning the music alphabet. I made it with large, easy to read print for younger children. The larger print also makes it possible to use this on your iPad with older beginners who can write smaller. You will have to experiment because pre-children vary a lot in their ability to write on the iPad.

All my printables are 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 making a series of these larger worksheets for my younger students. I will post more as I have time. I hope you enjoy them!

Mini Ledger Line Flash Cards

MiniLedgerL_FlashCardsMini Ledger Line Flash Cards

Now that Valentine’s Day is over, I’ll have to change the background on my blog. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I made different green backgrounds for each holiday. I started doing it because I seem to forget that holidays are coming up. Then I don’t get to use all the holiday material I’ve made! So down go the hearts, and up go the shamrocks.

Today I am posting the ledger line version of the mini flash cards I posted the other day. I like to tell my students that even though I won a ledger line contest when I took piano, I didn’t remember them. Every time I would get to a ledger line note in my music, I would have to stop and think, and count up or down. Finally I got sick of not knowing them quickly, and made myself a set of flash cards (yes, even way back then I was making flash cards…) and practiced, until I finally had them really set in my memory.

Those of you who are visual learners have no idea how hard it is for some of us to learn to read notes quickly on the staff. In my case, notes tend to jump around on the page, first looking like a B and then a D. I used to get so confused and I still do sometimes! To make matters worse, my eyes turn anything with lines and patterns into 3D, which is not good for note reading.

I think not knowing ledger lines notes quickly is one reason intermediate students break down when they sight read. I hope these cards will help.

Mini Flash Cards

MiniFlashCards_653x490Mini Flash Cards

Years and years of flipping flash cards for the One Minute Club has left its toll on my old set of mini flash cards. I needed a new set, and while I was at it, I made a few changes. I moved up the placement of the staves so that my thumb has a place to hold the card without covering the bass notes. Then it popped into my head that some of my students with learning problems might do better if the bass and treble clefs are different colors. So far it’s really helped. Let me know if you think it’s a good idea, too. Of course, you can always print them on the same color card stock. I do not recommend laminating these cards if you plan to use them for speed.

The nice thing about mini flash cards is that they can sit on your piano all the time and not get in the way.

FlashCardsPiano

There are only two pages to this printable, one page for the treble clef and on for the bass. I know some of you are wondering, where are the ledger line mini-cards? Well, they are coming. Check back in a few days!

If you are looking for larger flash cards and a file with answers to print on the back, click here for the flash cards and here for the reverse side with the answers. This is a good set for parents to print out for their children.

Free Christmas Gift Tags

Christmas Gift TagsArt Stuff Printables is a new website with really cheerful and inexpensive printables for teachers, children,  and families. The site just opened last week and they have been adding new things every day. To celebrate their grand opening, they are giving away a cute set of Christmas gift tags. Plus, they are having a big grand opening sale.  If you want some last-minute gift tags, head on over there and download them before Christmas. Click on the pictures to go to the site.

GiftTags_Christmas

In case you’re wondering, the artist is my own amazingly talented daughter who has taught me all I know about drawing in Photoshop. The gift tag with the piano playing Santa is the same graphic used in the Santa thank you cards that are on sale. I have looked all over for piano teacher thank you cards to give to my students, and finally I asked Liz to make me a set.  Right now she is working on a New Year’s banner that can be used to decorate your piano studio, and she has plans for a lot of other things.

If you have any requests, for example wall art for your piano studio, music teacher cards, or art for your children’s room,  leave a comment on their Facebook page and she might be able to make it.

If you go to ArtStuff Printables, be sure to like it on Facebook! I know she would be thrilled if you would pin some of her art on Pinterest!

ArtStuffPrintables Logo

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater – On the Staff

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

Question of the Week

Dear Susan,

Will you be posting a version of Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater with notes on a staff? I would like to teach it to my daughter. 

–Anxiously Waiting

Dear Anxious,

Oh my goodness, I totally forgot to post this, even though I have a student working on it! So wait no longer, here it is! Click on the link below the picture of the music, and be sure to print it in landscape orientation.

–Susan

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater, Pre-reading

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

Have you ever made something for a student that did not turn out as well as you hoped? Well, that’s what happened to this. One of my younger students loved it, but found the skipping fingers in the first measure difficult. So if you want immediate success, my advice is to give it to an average age beginner who will not get frustrated with the 5 – 3 finger pattern. Luckily my student is the confidant type who told me that with a little practice it would be easy. I did not try it with my preschool students. This is just a reminder to me that a skill that is easily picked up by an 8 or 9-year-old beginner is much harder for a  6-year-old. Skipping fingers are easier if you don’t start with 5-3. The problem with folk songs is that I do not have control of the melody!

This song has quite a vocal range, so for singing, I change the key and start way up in the soprano range. (B flat is a good singing key, starting on the D above treble C.) It is a good song to help children find their head tone.

Afterwards, I played the black key version that I used to play as a child. For children who learn easily by ear, that is a fun option! This is such an appealing folk melody. I changed the verse slightly because my student loves cats.  Change if back if you wish.

I hope that this is a piece you can add to your collection of autumn pieces that are fun this time of year!

Interval Bingo Game

Interval Bingo Game

If I haven’t said it recently, thank you so much for your emails and comments. For those of us who like to share our material, your feedback is greatly appreciated. And to those of you who support my blog, thank you so very much!

I like material that can be used more than one way, so that is how I designed this interval bingo game. Worksheets and theory books are useful, but students enjoy games more and retain concepts better when playing a game or some other hands-on activity. Well, at least that has been my experience! You can play the short version of this game in less than 5 minutes.

There are 4 pages in this printable, two pages of bingo cards and 2 pages of calling cards. Print all the pages in landscape orientation. If you do not want to use the calling cards, print only the first 2 pages.

I had a lot of fun designing the graphics for this game. I hope your students enjoy it!

Material

  • Interval Bingo Game printable cards, cut in half
  • Calling cards, cut up
  • Bingo chips or tokens to cover the squares (magnetic wands are fun!)

Directions

  • For a quick game In a private lesson, the student and teacher alternate selecting calling cards from the stack and covering the correct interval with a bingo chip. The goal is to cover three squares in a row in any direction.

  • At a group lesson, play “blackout” where students cover all the squares on their card. When the calling cards are used up, shuffle and re-use.
  • For ear training, the teacher can play the intervals and the students put a bingo chip on the correct interval.
  • Students can sing the intervals.

Objectives

  • To learn to quickly Identify diatonic intervals on the grand staff

Ages

  • Late elementary students

Calendar for 2012 – 2013

Binder Calendar

Today I am posting an academic calendar for the school year 2012-2013. This year I drew one with a school varsity look. It is sometimes hard to come with an idea that is good for girls and boys ages 5 to 18! I try to avoid flowers and girly things so that boys will like it. The calendar has no music symbols on it, so it can also be a general use calendar.

In the center I list all their events for the year, including “memorize by” dates, group lessons, holidays, recitals, festivals, and tests. It is so helpful for planning out dates to memorize sections. It also helps my older students to set priorities, and even to schedule around school projects.

I like to put the calendar in the see through plastic cover on their binder so they can refer to it easily. (I request they use that kind of binder. They are always on sale at the beginning of the school year, so I often buy a few extra). If you use a spiral notebook, cut around the white space and tape or staple it to the notebook.

I suggest you center your name, phone number, and email address under the header in Times Roman font to coordinate with the calendar.

If you have trouble printing on templates, read on. If not, I hope you enjoy my calendar!

Tutorial

  • Print the PDF of my graphic and set it aside. You will need to have Adobe Reader installed, which is a free program to download from Adobe’s website. For best results, use the latest version.
  • Draw an X on a plain piece of paper. Put it in your printer and make note of what side your printer prints. It may take several tries. I suggest you write it down to keep for future use.
  • Open Word or another word processing program. In “Page Set Up” set the left and right margins to 2.5 inches (6.4 cm), the top margin to 1.6 inches (4.1 cm), and the bottom margin to 1 inch (2.5 cm). If you are not in North America, I hope you know how to adjust for A4 paper.
  • Type your events and adjust the spacing and font size to fit.
  • Remembering what side your printer prints on, insert my graphic into your printer.
  • Print a test copy, adjust the margins, and try again if necessary.

Magnetic Matching Game

Magnetic Matching Game

I found some Avery magnetic paper/sheets in my craft stash when I was spring cleaning, and I decided it was time to stop hoarding and actually use them. I have seen teachers use them on baking sheets, so I made them to fit one of mine. You can purchase the magnetic sheets at any office supply store, and they are fun but pricey. If you want to save money but still have them magnetic, print on card stock and glue magnet strips on the back, or just use it without being magnetic.

The printable is simple because I made it for a beginner. The student will match the note or symbol to the corresponding answer. It contains only rhythm note values from quarter notes to whole notes and very simple vocabulary words. I used some basic terms and a few challenge cards that can be used with young children. Keep the magnets in a zip lock bag and let the student play with it right before or after a lesson.

Notice I used the graphics from my ladybug series, so you can coordinate with that if you have a summer theme.

Directions:

Print on magnetic 8 1/2 x 11 sheets such as Avery #3270. Notice that the entire sheet is a magnet, and you will cut out your magnet cards. Please read the instructions on the magnetic sheets carefully and print a test page on plain paper. Decide before hand which side to insert so your printer will print on the correct side.

There are 2 pages to print, and it is best to print each page separately. Under “Pages to Print”, select page 1, and if that prints correctly, select and print page 2. Cut along the dotted lines.

Students use the cards by matching the picture with a number or symbol to the corresponding answer, as you can see in my picture above. The colored graphics are just for fun and make the game more visually appealing. With little ones, I often make up stories as I do activities with them. Ask if they know why the ladybird likes dotted half notes!

Our Buggy Friends – a Note Story

Our Buggy Friends

Note Stories! Some students love them and some hate them. The students who don’t like note stories sit there in silence when you give them one. I’ve noticed these are the students who don’t know notes very well! The students who love them kind of bounce up and down or at the very least give you some eye contact! Note stories are more fun in group lessons such as music summer camp. I know some of you are planning summer camps, so I hope this is in time for you to use.

Here are a few suggestions.

Do parts of this at the lesson, taking several weeks to complete it.  It will give you a good idea of how well your student is at note identification. But remember, just knowing notes does not turn a student into a good sight-reader. That is another skill set.

If you want to save paper, print out one copy and place it in a plastic sheet protector and use dry erase markers. Some teachers have a binder full of worksheets in sheet protectors to use with their students. You can also laminate it and use a dry erase marker.

If you have an old ladybug stuffed animal (such as my daughter’s Beanie Babies) around the house, use that to get some enthusiasm going. Children love themes!

Classroom teachers, this is the 3rd of a set of note stories with a nature theme, for some cross curriculum work. I have also posted note stories on bats and bunnies. Eventually I will post some more about other creatures. If you click on the link above, it will take you to my website, where you can also click on Bunny Basics and True Bat Facts.

This note story is too small to use on an iPad or Android tablet, but several posts ago I explained how to enlarge parts of this to make it big enough to use in Skitch. If you enlarge each sentence in landscape view as a separate part, you can do one sentence a week.

So you can see there are so many ways to use the material that you find on the internet!

I hope you enjoy my note story on ladybugs. What animal would you like me to feature next?

Finale App for iPad

Finale App for iPad

Make Music, the company that produces Finale, has released a free iPad app called SongBook. You can check it out here at their website. Several months ago they announced it was coming, and I was waiting with anticipation.

I downloaded SongBook last week and it is very handy for me, since Finale is my composing program. I can put any score of the music I compose on my iPad and SongBook will play it. Of course, I can play it myself on the piano, but it’s nice to talk to the student and point to the score as it plays or to be able to play a score for someone away from the piano. SongBook will play back any file or a program from the Finale family, such as the free NotePad program, as long as it has the .MUS extension.

In addition to playing music, you can also use it to save and read any PDF file, such as the ones on my website. It will not play regular PDF files back, obviously! Please don’t download it and expect it to play any score you download from the internet!

However, it is a nice PDF reader if you want to open a PDF score and play it on your instrument, rather than carry around a lot of music books. At this time there is no option to write on the score, an option I would like to see in future updates.

There are some other features such as wireless printing if you have a printer that will work with your iPad, and the ability to extract parts and print them. That would be really handy for a music director at school or worship.

If you have an iPad but don’t have Finale, there are still ways to use this new app without having to buy anything. You can write exercises in NotePad and use them at your lesson. If your students use NotePad to compose like mine do, you can play those back for your students as you both view the score and critique it. Also, you can create ear training examples for your students in NotePad and play them at the lesson.

My students do not find NotePad hard to use, with students as young as 3rd grade using it. One little guy brought me an “orchestra” score that he composed without knowing there was such a thing as concert pitch. That was a learning experience!

Just as computers and cell phones became ubiquitous, so will tablets in a few years!

 

Using Skitch for iPad Part Two

Finger Numbers for Beginners

My last post was a tutorial on how to use the Skitch app with the iPad during music lessons. Above is a worksheet downloaded from my website into Skitch. It is one of the most popular documents on my website, and I recently completely revised the file. (You can click on the link for a printable copy.) I wish I had made the boxes bigger for use with the iPad, but I tell students it’s ok to write outside the box, so it works fine with young students.

This rest of this post is going to show a newbie another educational, but fun way to use Skitch. If you’re already familiar with mobile apps, you probably don’t need this tutorial, but since Skitch doesn’t come with directions as far as I know, this might help some teachers learn a few tricks.

Drawing Notes in Skitch

First open up a music staff in Skitch. You are welcome to use the Skittle Game Board that I made several years ago. I like this one because it has ledger lines. If you want one without ledger lines but with a line for middle C, download Grand Staff for Dimes.  For one with just lines so you can draw clefs, use Large Grand Staff Paper. I’ve been planning on taking down some of these old graphics, but now I’m giving them new life on the iPad! It helps some students focus when there are not other illustrations on the page. Email me if you have any trouble with the downloads.

Once you have the staff in Skitch, use two fingers to make it the size you want it to be. Mine looks like this. Use the picture tool to save the size. Now it is on the home page for future use.

Now we are going to draw a note to use on our staff. Chose a color from the tool bar. Using the slider in the color tool, move the slider toward the left. If you move it to the right, the note will be too thick. Adjust it to the size you like best.

Select the circle tool and draw a note that will fit on the staff. If it’s too big or too small, don’t worry, you can change that in the next step. If you prefer, you can draw your note with the pencil tool, which is a lot easier if you plan to draw quarter notes or eighth notes.

The tool with the pointed finger is the selection tool. Touch it to make it active, and now touch the note you just drew. See the flashing dots? That means it is selected. You can modify your note now. With two fingers, pull out diagonally on the note to make it larger or come in and make it smaller. If the flashing dots disappear, you can touch your note and it will be selected again as long as the selection tool is active.

Now comes the fun part!  With the note selected, you can move it all around the staff. Use your finger to move the note down to bass G and move it up one step at a time. Or move it in spaces so students can learn skipping notes. You can do so many things with a moving note! This is a great tool for learn steps and skips, note names, intervals, etc.

Adding Text

Not only can you draw notes on your staff, but you can add text. Be sure to move the slider over to the largest setting for text. Otherwise, the text will be too small to work with. If your text is big enough, you can grab it and re-size just like we did with the note. When text is too small, it’s impossible to re-size or move around. I don’t think the developer planned on text being used in this way!

You can have all this ready to use before your student arrives so that all you have to do is select the note and let your student move it. But if you draw the note at the lesson, it will only take a few seconds as long as you have practiced before hand.

Use Skitch Anywhere

You can draw in Skitch without a WiFi connection, too. (You need one to download graphics, of course.) Without any internet connection, it only took a minute to draw the staff below. I selected “Blank” on the home page, then used the straight line tool to draw the staff. I drew the treble clef and note with the pencil tool. Skitch automatically saved it on the home page. So if you’re on the plane this summer, you can make all kinds of things for your students!

Don’t forget you can email the parents a worksheet their child does at the piano lesson. So they can keep up with what you are doing at lessons without using paper and ink.

If you buy a stylus for your students to use, I suggest an inexpensive one that is a thick as a pencil. That will be easier for them to handle. My student used his finger for the finger number worksheet at the top. Experiment with the line size.

The possibilities of things to do with moving notes and letters are endless, and I hope that teachers will leave some comments with ideas. (Comments are anonymous.)

One Minute Club Video

Link to One Minute Club Video

I get many emails from teachers asking about the one minute club. So I decided to put together a very short (one minute-what a coincidence!) video that shows different ages of students in action. This is my first video and I didn’t know what I was doing, so please be gentle! The video is posted on Vimeo. You will have to click on the link below the picture to see the video. Vimeo is like YouTube, but not commercial.

The students in this video are saying and playing the notes, but the microphone didn’t pick it all up. The times each student was able to say and play the cards ranged from 24 seconds to just a little over a minute. I keep the cards in the same order each semester so that it is fair.

If you want to read more about the One Minute Club, do a search on the side bar because I have a lot of posts about it.

One Minute Club Certificate

One Minute Club Certificate

It’s the end of the year and time to pass out certificates to our students. I am posting an 8 1/2 /x 11 size certificate you can give to your students if they were able to join the “club” this year. This is the same graphic theme that I used all year, and the certificate looks just like this year’s (2012) membership card.

If you want to read more about how I use the One Minute Club in my studio, (the idea is not original to me) check out my posts here, and here, as well as posts with a different card each year. (I have been making these cards for many years, long before the internet! Unfortunately I can’t find them all, lost to time I guess.) You can type in One Minute Club in the search engine at the top left of the page, and when the results show up, scroll down and click “Older Posts” at the bottom to see the past posts. You can look at how I change the card each year as my graphic ideas evolve.

LaDona, over at LaDona’s Music Studio, writes about the One Minute Club today. LaDona asked if I had a certificate, and I am happy she reminded me to post this one. I follow her always interesting blog on Flipboard. (Thank you PianoAnne for telling me about Flipboard a few years ago!)

Click on the link under the picture to download this free printable. Be sure to set your printer to landscape. There is a 1/4 inch white border around the edges. The watermark will not show in your copy. It uses a fair amount of ink, but it is still cheaper than buying color certificates! I do not have a black and white version available, but I am working on that for the future.

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

Flashnote Derby – a Great App for iPhone and iPad

If you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, there is an excellent app available to help students learn note names, Flashnote Derby. After using it for quite a while now, I have decided this is the perfect iPhone or iPad game for piano teachers because it is easy to set up and play and my students love it. Plus, it really works, and makes drilling notes a lot more fun.

Screenshots used with permission

In order to play the game, select the notes you want to work on. You can select one note, or up to 34 notes, shown above. The notes are fun to select. Just touch the notes you want to use and they change color as they are selected. Touch the “gear” icon and you can select how many flash cards you want to use in your game, and the speed they will be shown. Touch the “thumbs up” icon and the race begins. As 2 horses race across the screen, one flash card at a time is shown above the horses. Students select the name of the note at the bottom of the screen. At the end of the game there is an opportunity to review the missed notes. If the student gets enough correct answers, he wins.

For my beginning students I select 2 notes, usually middle C and G, and 10 questions, at the slowest speed. Beginners always win a game this easy and this give them the confidence to want to play more. I add more notes gradually over a period of weeks, often corresponding to the notes they are learning in their method book. It is very easy to change the level of difficulty for the next student.

The horse racing sound track can get annoying, so I often turn the sound off on my device. I wish there was a way to turn off the sound in the game. I also would like a way to start over if I make a mistake when I first select the settings. [Ed:There is a way to start over. I am embarrassed I didn't know it!  This is from Luke Bartolomeo, the developer:

I just wanted to mention that there is a way to stop a race in the middle if you find that you used the wrong settings, or have made the drill to difficult or too easy for a student. Once the race has started, tap the screen on either side of the actual flashcard, but not on the flashcard itself. A red X will appear in the upper left portion of the screen. Tap the X and the drill will immediately stop and return you to the settings screen.

Thanks so much, Luke for clearing this up.]

Flash Note Derby was designed by a music teacher and I think that is why I find it so successful in my studio. The developer emailed me recently with news of an update that features a dozen instructional video lessons about the grand staff, as well as a way for teachers to create custom drills for their students and send them to students by email.

This app works on the iPhone 3 and 4, iPod touch, and iPad. It seems like every student I teach now has at least one of those in the family.

This app is only $.99 in the Apple iTunes store, and at that price it is a real bargain.

You can read more about it at the website:  http//www.FlashnoteDerbyApp.com

Disclosure: I receive no compensation for my reviews and the ideas are my own. The screenshots are used by permission.

Color the Egg Puzzle

Color the Egg Puzzle

Today I am posting a black and white puzzle to identify notes around middle C. I plan to use it as a coloring sheet to send home in their binder because I don’t have time to do this at a lesson. However, I think students might enjoy cutting it out after they color it. With Mom or Dad’s help they can put the pieces back together as they name the notes.

Another way to use this printable is to make it a game for a group lesson. Cut out enough puzzles for the students who are playing and put the puzzle pieces in a bowl. Students draw puzzle pieces one at a time and try to be the first one to put the egg back together. If they draw a note they already have, they have to put it back. Students can stick the piece down with double-sided tape. This game requires the teacher to do a lot of fine cutting, which my hands doesn’t seem to like nowadays! But it would reinforce matching skills that would be helpful for beginners. If you want to do this, email me and I’ll send you a color version you can cut out.

I use inexpensive double-sided tape that is a lot less messier than glue, so you might want to pick some up.

Objectives

  • To reinforce note names around middle C
  • To enjoy a seasonal activity

Ages

  • All elementary age children who have learned the notes around middle C

Material

  • Worksheet
  • Crayons (brown can be substituted for pink)

If cutting out and using as a puzzle, you need these materials:

  • Double sided tape or glue
  • Scissors
  • Colored construction paper as the background to stick down the puzzle

I have received so many nice emails and comments lately. Thank you so much! Sometimes my readers find mistakes and let me know about them. I appreciate that, too, because I am not a very good proof-reader!

Coming up soon are several new Easter bunny songs for primer and elementary students. Subscribe to this blog if you want to be notified when I post new material. Simple click on the subscribe button above. You will remain anonymous.

Note Drop, Write, and Play – a game from Cecilly

Today we have a guest post from Cecilly. Be sure to check all her games under the category “Cecilly’s Games.” Thanks, Cecilly, for sharing.

Note drop, write, and play activity

I tried out a new idea in the studio this week to help a student reinforce her
ability to identify, recall, and play the notes in her reading range. It proved
to be a good one.

Materials needed:

Large staff board and note foamy to fit the lines/spaces,
Smaller staff board and marker or magnetic board and note, piano.

Objective:

To identify (using landmark/measuring or other tool) individual
notes, recall them again by writing or marking them, and then playing them where
they live on the piano.

Set up:

Place large staff board on the floor at somewhere behind the piano bench
with the foam note. Place the smaller staff board on the piano music rack with
the marker or magnet note.

To Play:

Ask the student to stand over and in front of the large staff board
with the foam note, extend arm, and drop the foamy onto the staff. Have her
identify by name the line or space that the note falls onto (adjust the foamy to
the nearest line or space if it doesn’t fall squarely onto one or the other).
Encourage her to picture the note in her memory quickly and then go to the piano
and write the same note on the smaller staff saying its name. Finally ask her
to play and say the note’s name again on the piano. Return to the large staff
and drop the foamy for another note round. Repeat as many times as desired.

The secret in this activity is in the student having to recall the note to be
able to write it on the small staff. This (hopefully) will help implant it into
the brain.

Enjoy,
Cecilly