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.

This is the first in a set of “Hearts and Clubs” activities that do not take up much valuable lesson time. I am posting this note identification printable in time for Valentine fun, but I made it generic enough so that it can be played all year long. The game board is just a starting place for all the different ways it can be used. Have fun coming up with new ideas!

There are 3 pages of flash cards included in this PDF document. If you wish, you can use your own flash cards. To keep from printing the flash cards, set your printer to print page one only.

Objective

• learn to identify notes on a grand staff  by sight
• quickly identify the notes on the grand staff
• use flash cards in a fun way

Ages

• Suitable for elementary and older piano students

Materials Needed

• Printed game board
• Note flash cards included in the download (or use your own), shuffled well
• Bingo chips

Directions

There are several ways to play this learning activity.

1. Individually: Put the flash cards you want the student to review in a stack face down. Using an hourglass sand timer, the student quickly draws a flash card and places a bingo chip on the corresponding note name. The object is to cover all the note names on the  game board before the hourglass runs out.  An alternate version is to use a stopwatch instead of a sand timer.

2. Two players, such as student and teacher or two students:  One player uses the hearts on the game board and the other uses the clubs. Players take turns drawing flash cards and covering the corresponding note names with chips on their game board. The first person who covers all their hearts or clubs wins.

3. In a group: Each player has a game board and bingo chips or you can put two students on each card. Students take turns drawing flash cards and covering the corresponding note names with bingo chips. Place discarded flash cards back in the deck or print extra if you have a large group. If the group has different levels, give the beginners the easier flash cards.

I have a new little student who just started lessons using the unique and very creative piano method book, My First Piano Adventures, by Nancy and Randall Faber. This wonderful series is has everything you need for young beginners, but I like to make extra material to go along with the book, just for fun or review.

My student was so excited when I asked her if she would like a Valentine’s song! When I checked out my resources, I could not find a Valentine’s piece that was easy enough, so I came up with a Valentine she can play.

If you like using this kind of material for young beginners, get a copy of My First Piano Adventures Book A and study it carefully!

If you are new to this blog, you might not know about the NoteBoys. These little guys are in a series of comics I draw to help students learn a little about music theory.

The NoteBoys think of themselves as actors who teach theory. BlueBoy is very confident and thinks he knows every thing. He’s the fearless leader of the group. RedBoy is the smart, hardworking one, but he is always foiled by BlueBoy. They remain pals anyway. GreenBoy knows a lot more than he thinks he does, but he doesn’t have confidence in himself.

Also appearing every now and then is MightyDot, and the famous PianoGirl.

My students love this series and can’t wait to see what the NoteBoys are up to next.

One teacher told me that she  put them all in a binder for students to read before or after lessons. I will often pull them out to explain things because we all know students remember better when they learn through humor. If you want to see the other NoteBoy comics, do a search on the right. The ones explaining chord inversions are very helpful.

I posted a version of this assignment sheet back in the fall. I liked it, but there was certainly room for improvement. I inadvertently inserted the wrong keyboard graphic and it was not big enough to write a full scale. Also, a friend told me that the type was printing too light to see the circle of 5ths and the keyboard. So I did an UN-extreme make-over and I like it better. I have been lax in sharing my new version, so here it is.

Here are a few suggestions on how to use this assignment sheet.

Next Event and Special Piece

I really believe students stay in piano longer if they are always learning a piece to play for an event that is either adjudicated or has an audience. I think that is the secret to why my students practice fairly well, even though they are extremely busy with outside activities. If parents know their child is going to be playing for an audience, they will make more of an effort to help their child practice. An upcoming even can be playing for an assisted living center for Valentines or St. Patrick’s Day. Or you can have  small recitals during the year. Once we went on Valentines in red colors, and the residents were so happy. They said everyone comes at Christmas and forgets them the rest of the year. Here’s a hint: they usually love upbeat music.

Deadline

Set deadlines for learning certain sections of their Next Event piece. Have a deadline for memorization of each section. Email the parent if they are not meeting their goals.

Circle of Fifths

I put the Circle of Fifths on the assignment sheet so students can gradually learn the order of key signatures. It only takes a few seconds to mention it every week and circle the scales they know. Show even the youngest children how to count up or down to find 5ths.

Scales, Chords, and Arpeggios

You can either circle the ones that are assigned, or ask the student to circle the ones they practice. Some of my students can’t remember what scales they have worked on, so this helps. At least I hope it does!

Let me know if you like the changes and if you have any more suggestions! You are welcome to post a link to your assignment sheet in the comments, if you want to share.

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Natalie at Music Matters has redesigned her website. It has a great new section with all kinds of links in the Community section. As I was writing this blog post, I  checked her blog to make sure I have her link correct, and I discovered she is having a give-away this week of a new scale book she has put together. So if you like contests, check it out!