Some Valentine Games, Music, and Activities

Here are some Valentine’s Day music and activities that I’ve posted over the years. First I list 7 elementary piano solos, and then some worksheets and games. Click on the link below the picture to download this Valentine’s Day Material.

Roses Are Red- for the first few weeks of lessons

Chocolate Valentines pre-reading

Chocolate Valentines on-the-staff

Love Somebody Pre-reading

Love Somebody Primer (on-the-staff)

Love Somebody Level 2 (8th notes and some hands together)

There’s a Little Wheel a-Turning in my Heart (late elementary)

Write a Valentine’s Song (a composing activity)

Valentine Notes (a worksheet to write notes on a grand staff)

Valentine Note  worksheet  (draw lines to connect notes to the staff)

Rhythm Heart Beats (for dictation) You can put this one on your IPad and save paper!

More Rhythm Heart Beats

Valentine Note Hunt – a student favorite!

Hearts and Clubs – Notes

Hearts and Clubs – Intervals

Hearts and Clubs – Keyboard Flash Cards (use these instead of note flash cards with the Hearts and Clubs Notes board game.

Steal a Heart – a board game for group lessons. This is good for reviewing ledger lines with your older students. My middle school students love this game in group lessons.

Cards for Steal a Heart – the PDF contains many ledger line cards.

If you want to keep up with other Valentine’s Day material I may post, you can subscribe to this Word Press blog at the top. It is completely private and you can unsubscribe any time.

Chart to Record One Minute Club Times

Chart for One Minute Club

Every year I challenge my students to say and play flash cards on the piano in one minute or less. Over the years I’ve posted how I do this, so if you’re curious, read some of my old blog posts. Click here to watch a very short video of my students saying and playing flash cards and you will get the idea.

Today I am posting a chart to get you started. Notice that this chart uses the “varsity” theme that matches the calendar I posted back in the fall.

Remember, you cannot expect younger children to have the fine motor skills to do this under a minute, but it is a goal. By 5th grade, most students can do this, unless they have special problems.

To be honest, I don’t think this helps sight-reading all that much, because music reading uses a different skill set. But it does give students confidence and helps when they have to move quickly from one position to another. I’ve found that if I have a fun, light-hearted approach, students will, too. With little ones I start with just a few notes at a time and over the years work up to the entire grand staff.

I will post the membership cards and a new certificate for 2013 soon!

Funny Thanksgiving Food for Printing/iPad, and Some Sad “Skitch” News

Funny Thanksgiving Food for iPad and/or print

Some time ago I made a worksheet called Funny Thanksgiving Food, and recently I drew a version  to use on the iPad or Android, and it is also a printable. This  worksheet is a review of the notes around middle C. Click on the link above for this colorful version that looks good on a mobile device. However, since it is a PDF so it can be printed, laminated, and used with dry erase markers.

I also significantly updated the print-friendly version below, which has keys instead of notes on the staff.  Funny Thanksgiving Food has been a very popular coloring printable over the years, but I think I draw better now. The coloring version is good to use with younger children at a group lesson while waiting for everyone to show up. What child can resist coloring food all the wrong colors! (I also have a version where the pilgrim has to be colored, which might be useful for parents or a group class. Email me and I’ll send it to you.)

Funny Thanksgiving Food

The mention of the iPad brings up the subject of Skitch, my (used-to-be) favorite app to use with worksheets. Imagine my disappointment a few weeks ago when I discovered the company that bought Skitch, Evernote, has totally revamped the app in version Skitch 2.0, so that it is no longer useful with my students!  As a matter of fact, it has created a lot of resentment and angst among long time Skitch users. You can do a search on the web to read about it. If you have the first version of Skitch, I advise you to keep using it and DO NOT update it! Once you update it, you cannot get the old version back.

I am looking for a replacement app for Skitch that will work in my piano lessons, and when I find one that is as easy as the first version of Skitch, I’ll let you know.  So far I have tried many apps, and none are simple and easy enough for my needs.

All I want is an app to import and open PDF’s from the web, with some easy tools to draw lines and circles on  the PDF.  It should have an eraser without erasing the PDF, and/or an un-do button. There should be a way to clear the screen to start over. It needs to be so easy that even *I* can quickly figure out how to use it. Please leave a comment or email me if you know of one! I’ve tried various PDF reader apps that can be marked with annotations, but none are simple enough for what I am looking for.  I’ve also tried various whiteboard apps and drawing apps. I’m still looking!

I wrote Evernote very politely asking if they could put the first version back in the app store for those of us who use it for education, but they never bothered to reply.

Strawberry Notes

Strawberry Notes

The TMTA convention was  last week, and I really enjoyed myself. I saw so many old friends and made some new ones.  I talked to many publishing representatives as well as authors of the excellent piano teaching material available to us. I hope that I will find time to review some of the new music resources I learned about.

Today I am posting a worksheet to coordinate with this summer’s ladybug theme. It often takes students several years to learn to identify note names, and a little color on the page is a lot more fun. I like to work on lines and spaces separately at first, so I grouped them together.

A lot of teachers have told me their students are enjoying the “Summer Treat” set of worksheets I posted last year. If you are a new reader, the links are below.

Summer Treat Note Story 

Orange Popsicle Notes

Frozen Yogurt Rhythms

Snow Cones Signs and Symbols

Thank you for all your kind comments. It is really wonderful to be appreciated!

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.)

A Fast and Simple Way to Use the iPad in Lessons with Skitch

If you are new to the iPad, I want to share the fastest no-fail way I’ve found to download and use graphic activities in piano lessons. Not all worksheets and activities are suitable for use with an iPad, but many are and not only is it more fun, but it saves paper and ink. The picture above shows a students doing rhythmic dictation on the iPad. For the purpose of this tutorial, I will use the Ladybug Board Game graphic that I posted on my website last week.

Download the Free App Skitch

To set this up, you will need to download Skitch., a free app from the iTunes store.   Skitch is not a super complicated app that will do a million things, but it fast and easy to use. Once you have Skitch on your iPad, you can use any graphic from the web in your lessons.

I have tried out many apps to use with my graphics since I was given my iPad, some that I bought and some that are free. In my experience, Skitch is the fastest and easiest to use. In a piano lesson I don’t have a lot of time to fool around with trying to remember how an app works. It has to be as easy as picking up a pencil and paper.

Before Your Student Arrives At the Lesson Set Up Your iPad

1. Using your iPad, open the Skitch app. On the home page there are several icons on the top row. Select “Web.”

2. When next window opens, there will be a place to type in a website or do a Google search. To make it easy for this tutorial, you can click on this link. http://www.susanparadis.com/catalog.php?ID=SP310

3. Select “Download”. This opens my Ladybug Board Game PDF document, just like on your desktop computer.

4. Turn the iPad to Landscape orientation. (You need to do this for any graphic in landscape orientation but not portrait.) Using two fingers, center the graphic exactly like you want to use it. You can make a graphic smaller or larger by zooming in or out. This is one of the reasons I like Skitch.

5. When you have it just like you want it, click the camera icon on the left. Skitch saves the Ladybug picture and puts it on the home page for future use. You cannot change the graphic (other than crop it or zoom in or out), but you can draw or type all over it.

6. Notice now there are a lot of icons on the left side. The Ladybug graphic is saved on the home page of Skitch for you to use in your lessons. It will be there until you delete it.

With Your Student in the Lesson

1. Do not tell your students you are going to play an iPad game. This will confuse them, (especially the younger ones) because iPad games have animation, and all you are going to do is draw on the graphic. I learned this the hard way, with a disappointed little child. (There are plenty of iPad animated games but that is not what this tutorial is about!) I simply tell them we’re going to practice notes or whatever on the iPad. Then they will not expect the ladybugs and bees to fly around and be all let down when they don’t. Sometimes I ask if they want to use paper or iPad. They always choose iPad because it is new and different.

2. Open Skitch and select the previously saved Ladybug graphic from the home page.

3. When it opens, select the colored *dot* on the left and select the size and color. Now select the *pencil* tool. So far it has only taken 20 seconds of lesson time to get ready to use with a student. Practice this before you use it in a lesson and see how long it takes you! That’s all you have to do!

4. To do the activity, use the same directions as the paper board game. Using either keyboard of grand staff flash cards, students select a card and move to the correct letter. Using the pencil tool, the student will cross out the letter he lands on. Use different colors for two or more players. Keep drawing, moving, and crossing out until the student gets to the end.

If you are on the bench, you can play a piano key instead of selecting a card. Be creative! I try to make activities that teachers can use in different ways.

The picture above is a screen shot that I used with my student. He crossed out in green and I used yellow. We find it a lot easier to use a stylus (around $15.00) than drawing with our fingers.

There is no eraser tool in Skitch, but there is an undo tool, and it will go back as much as you need. The garbage can icon will clear the entire board of any writing you have done, but it won’t clear off the Ladybug graphic. The shapes (the circle icon) are difficult for little ones to use, so I prefer the pencil tool. The pointed finger icon is the select tool, and if you select something you draw, you can move it around the board!

What I like about Skitch is that it makes it easy to use any picture on the web that gives you permission to download. You can use a giant staff and draw notes. You can draw a note, select it, and move it around the staff. You can use Skitch’s (typing) keyboard, type in letters, and move the letters around a grand staff. By modifying the rules of your activities, you can think of many ways to use Skitch. On my game, for example, you can draw a little ladybug and move it around the board with your finger. Or you can draw a circle to use as your “token” to move around instead of crossing out letters.

I plan to show you some more graphics that are good for the iPad this summer. In the meantime, check out the beautiful ones by Anne Crosby. (Go to her links section.)  Jennifer Fox has written a lot of ways to use the iPad in piano lessons, so be sure to check out her blog. If you are willing to share your iPad graphics, please let us know!

Leave a comment if you have any questions or if there is something you need help with. Comments are moderated to avoid spam, so it might not show up right away.

Ladybug Board Game

Ladybug Board Game

Every year I have a different “theme” for summer activities. This is the year of the ladybug. Besides, I have some cute ladybug and dragonfly erasers that I want to use as game tokens!

The Game Board

Print the one page game board in landscape orientation. I printed my game board on very inexpensive photo paper from Dollar Tree and then laminated it. Children love how vibrant the colors look and really want to play. To download, click the heading under the picture above.

The Game Cards

The game cards are in portrait orientation, so remember to change the setting. There are 5 pages to this game card file. The cards with notes on the staff are on pages 1-3. The keyboard cards are page 4. The optional backs to the game cards are on page 5. Do not print page 5 when you are printing pages 1-4.  If you want to print on the backs of pages 1-4, print out those pages first and then re-insert (according to your printer’s instructions) and select page 5 only.  As a friendly reminder, If you don’t want the backs, don’t print page 5.

Game cards for Ladybug Board Game

The above graphic shows the optional back. It really makes the cards look good and makes the game “happier”.

Directions

This game can be played with students or teacher and student. The players take turns drawing cards and moving to the correct alphabet name. There are some instruction cards to make the game more fun. The optional card that says “move up 3 skips” is a quick way to teach alphabet skips, or to play a more speedy game. The game is over when someone draws a card after G at the end of the path. It is such a quick game you can play more than once. If you are playing with beginners using the keyboard cards, be sure to have the student say the alphabet letters out loud. This really helps them learn the music alphabet. There are so many games you can play with this game board. For example, you can start and G and move backwards. Use your own ideas and I hope you have fun!

Objectives

• To learn the music alphabet
• To learn to recognize notes on the grand staff or keys on a piano keyboard
• To learn the meaning of a skip in the music alphabet
• To play a fast (under 3 minutes) music board game

Ages

• Early childhood to grade 2 or 3

 I’m not going to be posting very much this summer, but if I make anything I think other teachers might enjoy, I’ll post it. At the top of the page you can subscribe to receive an email when I post something new. It is completely anonymous and you can easily unsubscribe.

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.

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.

One Minute Club

One Minute Club 2012

Years ago I got an idea from Jane Bastien, the noted composer and music educator, to have a One Minute Club with my piano students. In order to be a member, students have to “say and play” grand staff flash cards in one minute or less. In order to commemorate their success, I started making “membership” cards for them, a different one each year, with a spot to add how many years they have been a member. Then I put it in a clear plastic name tag holder and attach it to their music bags.

If you are using the calendar and binder cover I made in the fall, you will notice this is the same theme. Also, I have made a matching chart to list your students’ times, and you can download it as soon as I post it, hopefully this week!

Last year I wrote a question and answer blog post with the frequently asked questions that are emailed to me. Here is an edited re-post for those of you who may be interested.

With what age group do you use these cards?

They are made for elementary age children. In my studio, it usually takes several years of lessons before a student can do this in less than one minute. Only a few students in grades 2-3  can do it, and I usually don’t even try it with younger students. They do not have the coordination. Older students are more interested in the gift card I give to the overall fastest student.

Why do they have to play the note as well as say the note name? Isn’t it enough to know the name of the note? 

Piano students need to know where to quickly move their hands when they see a note that is not in a five-finger position. The faster they can do this, the better they are at sight-reading. You will see sight-reading improve as well as the student’s self-confidence when they can find notes quickly. However, while it will help,  it is not the cure to sight-reading problems if the student has difficulty tracking the notes on the staff. A good sight reader does not think of individual notes as they play, but in patterns of intervals. This is just one part of the difficult skill of sight reading.

How much time do you spend on this at a lesson?

I don’t think a lot of time should be spent on this at a lesson. Just a couple of minutes each week can reap great rewards, if the student is prepared in the first place. If the student takes over 2 minutes, I usually need to prepare them better before I start. Often the problem is simply developmental. Students need to learn gradually and in a child-centered manner. That takes time and patience on the teacher’s part. Before you start flash cards, use a lot of activities and games to learn the note names. There are many on my website and other sites in the links on this blog. Don’t let this turn into drudgery!

I gave up on this because my students don’t like flash cards.  Do you have any suggestions?

Well, make sure they are old enough and have the potential to be successful. Everyone in your studio does not have to participate. Sometimes I tell a reluctant (a capable, older) student that they don’t have to win or even be able to do it in a minute. But parents are paying a lot for lessons and the least they expect is for students to learn notes and where they are located on the piano.  I have noticed that the ones who need it the most are the most reluctant. That’s natural, because kids like to do things they are good at.  Once they start getting faster it becomes so much more fun.

These cards are not  centered correctly when I print them out on my blank business cards. 

I made them for pre-perforated 2″ x 3.5″ business cards, 10 to a page. When you print the PDF file, under “size options” select “actual size.” You have to have the latest update to Adobe Reader for it to print correctly. This is a free download you can get at the Adobe Reader website.

Hearts and Clubs – Notes

Hearts and Clubs

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.

Snowmen and Reindeer Game-Notes

Student playing the game with Bastien flash cards, sand timer, and a magnetic wand

I’ve had a lot of fun playing my new games with my students. But more importantly, it has been such a good way to evaluate what my younger students remember, and how quickly they know the answer.

Reading music is more than just knowing note names. However, students have to learn notes or how can they do theory or move their hands around the keyboard?

As I evaluated my younger students, I noticed some  were  counting up the staff or saying sentences (All Cows Eat Grass and so on.) All my careful teaching of guide notes seemed to be a flop. I want students to know notes instantly. But it takes  time, maybe more than 4 years (gasp!) for many students to be able to remember from week to week the  notes on the staff. So new teachers, if you are frustrated that your students cannot identify notes quickly, or knows them at one lesson and forgets the next, don’t give up on them. Keep at it, don’t push too hard, and eventually it will happen.

As a matter of fact, I have decided that I need to work more on guide notes, so after Christmas I’m going to get out my 3 C’s activity, (a free download that you tape together) plus make a game just for guide notes. Does anyone think that guide notes are not as great for learning notes as maybe they first thought? I’m starting to wonder.

Snowmen and Reindeer Games

Well, that was a long introduction to get us to this last game in my series of Snowmen and Reindeer Games. I like this game because I am able to choose just the 7 cards I want to work on. You can throw in ledger lines if your student is far enough along. I even have a beginner who used keyboard flashcards since he hasn’t learned notes yet.

I don’t have flash cards made to go with this game because I have posted so many flash cards already, and besides, what teacher doesn’t have flash cards. If you have commercial flash cards, use them face up, since the answers are on the back of the cards!

Snowmen and Reindeer Games – Notes

Objective

• learn to identify notes on a grand staff quickly by sight
• practice fine motor speed and coordination
• develop confidence by knowing note names
• quickly identify notes under pressure
• play a fun seasonal game in less than 3 minutes at an individual music lesson

Ages

• Children, ages 6-10  who like cartoon graphics

Materials Needed

• Printed game board
• 7 flash note cards,  A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, in any clef
• Sand timer or stop watch
• Bingo chips

Directions

Give the student a set of  flash cards, placed face up if the answer is on the back. Let the student turn over the sand timer, as they think it’s fun.  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 in the fastest time possible. Repeat if you have time.

Free metronome app

Metronome Plus, the very nice metronome iPhone app for music teachers (because it is simple and well designed,) is FREE through this weekend in the Apple app store.  Joe, the designer, sent me this info and asked me to share. Now’s a great time to try it out. [Ed: this offer has expired, but check out the app anyway if you're looking for a metronome.]]

Cards for Christmas Note Bingo

Cards for Christmas Note Bingo

Here are the cards I promised yesterday that you can use with Christmas Note Bingo.  (To help out teachers in the country that gave us Bach and Beethoven, I included an H, which they use instead of B.)

When you play Christmas Note Bingo, if you wish, the red cards can be treble notes and the blue cards can be bass notes. For fun, students can take turns deciding if the green cards are treble, bass, or both. Use your imagination. The wild card can also be used any way you wish. [Honestly, I added the wild card because I had a blank space to fill.] There is no right or wrong way to use my games. Well, that’s not quite true. The right way is to adjust a game so the students win more than they lose, and to make it light-hearted and fun. If you find the game is a struggle, change gears and help them out. Of course, you know that.  I’m preachin’ to the choir!

By the way, yesterday’s printable was in landscape mode, and today’s post is portrait, so be sure and change the mode if you are printing both. My printer does not do this for me, and I am always forgetting.

Other Ways to Use These Cards

Here are some suggestions to use these cards in other ways than the bingo game.

Beginners can learn the music alphabet by stringing the cards out on a table. These cards are small enough to use on the piano bench, unlike some cards, which are so big they have to be put on the floor. I don’t mind getting on the floor. It’s the getting up that’s the problem! Be sure to remove the H so they won’t get confused. (Unless you’re in Germany!)

For a Christmas piano party with young students, print out enough cards for 8 octaves. Divide the cards between the students. Tell them they have to make a string of cards on the floor that are the exact letter names on the piano. They will keep running over to the piano to count the keys and it is a good game for the group to work together.

Give a set to a beginning student and tell him you think you made a mistake. Ask if he can pick out the cards that do not belong.

If you’re like me and don’t know what to do with the H card, try using it as a wild card and call it the “Help” card. We all need a little help now and then. Plus it makes the game go faster.

I love it when teachers think of other ways to use material I post, so please feel free to leave a comment if you made up a fun game for your students.

Christmas Note Bingo

Christmas Note Bingo

Just in time for your holiday piano parties, I am posting a Christmas bingo game. This game features a snowman, so you can play it after Christmas, too. I like note bingo games with only 9 notes on a card because the game goes faster. In a group situation the game can be played more than once, so more students can win.

I made this game for students who know all the notes on the grand staff. One way to play it with beginning students is to give them a chart of the notes they have not learned yet so they can play along with the others. There is usually a chart in method books that we all have on hand. Or you can print out one of the many staves I have on my website and label the notes for the student to use.

There are 4 PDF pages with 2 boards on each page, supplying enough game boards for 8 students to have a different one.  Print the number of pages you need on card stock and cut in half. Laminate or cover the boards with clear contact paper to protect them.

Directions:

Give each student a game board and some bingo chips. Randomly call out notes from the music alphabet, such as “treble A”. (My next post will be a page of matching alphabet letters for teachers who want calling cards, or to play variations on the game.) If the student has that note on their board, they cover it with a bingo chip. I use magnetic wands and plastic chips, but it might be fun to use white chocolate candy chips as bingo chips and call it “snow.”  The game is over when the first person covers all the notes on their board.

Variations

1. For quick games, students only need to cover 3 notes, either diagonally or in a row up or down. This is great for students with short attention spans.

2. This game can also be played with the student and teacher. Place alphabet cards in a bowl and take turns drawing and covering the notes.

3. Students who know their notes really well like to play 2 cards at a time.

4. For an older student who needs to review ledger lines, play a different game.  Instead of using alphabet letters, place a stack of ledger line flash cards in front of the student.  After drawing a flash card, they put a chip on a corresponding note on their game board that is a different octave.

When the game is over, use your magnetic wand as the “snow plow” to swoop up their chips!

If you like this game and want to play it at other times of the year, there is a regular version on my website.

Bat Facts – a Note Story About Bats!

Bat Facts

Some of my students were begging me for another note story so I made one for them.  Actually this is not a story, but 5 sentences with some interesting information about bats that children might not know.

When it comes to note stories, I’ve noticed that some students love them and some don’t care for them at all. Some students try to figure out the words by context instead of reading the notes. You are free to use this with students you think will enjoy it!

If you are having a group lesson this week, your students might enjoy working on it together. I’m going to put it in my student’s binder and let them work on it in their spare time.

Bats are actually very helpful animals, and I’ve always liked them — from a distance, of course!

Summer Treat Note Story

Summer Treats

When I was a young piano student, I loved  worksheets that told stories using notes. Today I am posting one I made with the “summer treat” theme that I have been drawing all summer.  I wrote a little rhyming verse to use. Well, it sort of rhymes!

These note stores are hard to make.  I made one in February with a Valentine theme and while it was fun to draw, it took forever.   This one  was  easier since I had some experience. That is what I always tell my students when they learn something new;  it is always easier the second time. I seem to relate everything I do to teaching piano! Do you do that?

I tried this worksheet out with my young students, and they liked it. Since they are young and earnest, they carefully figured out each note.  However, I talked to a really nice teacher who told me that when her students do  note stories they don’t read the notes, but just guess the words. I thought about that, so I am posting a 2nd  version without the text, just the notes. Now she can make 2 copies, and trick her students into reading the notes.  After they write in the note names, they can transfer it over to the original version and read the rhyme.

Summer Treats_NotesOnly

To save some space on my website, this 2nd version is only available here. You can laminate the sheets or put them in sheet protectors and use dry erase pens to save ink. Leave a comment if you think this experiment is helpful.

Orange Popsicles – to practice writing notes on a grand staff

 

Orange Popsicles

 This weekend I am attending the Texas Music Teacher’s Convention. We have a lot of teachers in Texas, so we have 3 days of workshops.

The convention is great. I have already attended 3 sessions with Randall Faber, and sessions with Jennifer Lin, Brenda Dillon, Richard Rejino, and some other great teachers. I picked up a lot of tips and  ideas which I hope to try out with my students. If you ever have the opportunity to attend workshops for piano teachers, please take advantage of them. I  always get excited about teaching and enthused to try out all the new ideas and music.  And it is so wonderful to get together with like-minded people, because the average person doesn’t understand what is involved with being a good piano teacher.

Today I got up really early to post this companion to Frozen Yogurt Rhythms in case you want to use both printables together. You can either make copies for their notebooks, or make one laminated copy to use in your studio.

This is a continuation of my summer treats theme.  I am an amateur computer artist, but it is a  fun hobby for me.  Art is very much like piano. The more time you spend on it, the better you get.  I don’t have a lot of natural art talent, but I keep working at it, just like a student has to do to be a good musician.

Find the Starting Note

Find the Starting Note

 As piano teachers we spend a lot of time explaining to beginners how to find the starting note.  The younger the student, the more they need help with this.

A  few years ago I started a ritual with my beginning students.

• Name the note on the staff.
• Point to the correct key on the piano.
• Wiggle the starting finger. Wave it around in circles and talk to it.
• “Fly” it to the correct starting key on the piano. We have a lot of fun with this!

And yet, some students still have trouble knowing where to place their hands when they practice alone.

To help beginning students of all ages develop  independence  in finding their starting position,  I made these printable worksheets.   There are two pages, one for each hand. Students only need to know the beginning note in each pattern, and then step up or down to the next note.  This also helps with interval reading. The idea is to gain  confidence to tackle a new piece on their own.

 For those of you who don’t want to print individual copies, you can laminate  them for use with dry erase markers.  A sheet protector works the same way. If you are making summer take-home folders,  this might be a good worksheet to include.

I’ve thought about drawing another set that starts  with different fingers in each pattern, not just the thumb.  If you have an opinion, let me know.

Note-Go-Find

Note-Go-Find

I designed this game for my youngest age group, because they told me Quarter Note Hunt  was their favorite group lesson game. It is also a quick game at an individual lesson.

This black and white printable looks great printed on different colored cardstock. After printing both sides and cutting them out, score each card in the middle and fold like a tent card. It is better if you do not laminate it, because that makes it hard to fold.  If you’re worried about smearing, spray it with a fixative.  A few of my cards did get a little smeared, but it only slightly.

Hide the cards around the room. Now you can play several different games:

• Play it like a scavenger hunt. Give students a list of the notes they should look for. I made a list for every student, and each one was  different.  There was a check off box on the sheet. If a student finished, I asked him to help a younger student.
• Give each student one specific note to look for. This way a beginner can look for an easy note he knows, such as middle C.
• Play it at an individual lesson when you introduce a new note. After introducing E, for example, tell the student to find all the E’s you have placed around the room.  Since there are other notes hidden as well, the student quickly learns that E is on the first line. There is nothing like a game to learn notes. It is much more effective than flash cards!
• Use the blank card for you or a special student to draw and hide a challenge card.
• If you have a student who doesn’t know the notes yet or has learning disabilities,  make up an answer sheet or give him some flash cards with the names on the back.  It might be good to have something on hand in case you see a student struggling in a group situation.
• I found that I can’t hide the cards too well. They have to be easy to find! 

Thanks to Cecilly for giving me the tent card idea.

If you use this game in a creative way, consider leaving a comment here so we can share with other teachers.

Follow the Bunny Trail – an Easter season worksheet

Follow the Bunny Trail

I promised another Easter season activity, and here it is. I wanted to make something for my younger students. They had to learn the entire grand staff for our state theory exam, and of course they need constant review for it to become part of their long-term memory. They are too young for the One Minute Club, so I approach it differently for them.

When I made it, I was thinking how my cute husband used to put out “bunny tracks” around their Easter baskets for our children when they were young, and how much fun that was. With that in mind, I made tracks for students to label note names. The hardest part was drawing the bunny!

My students  seem to like it, so I hope you will, too. In fact, one of my older students saw it and asked if she could do it while she waited. She said, “Mrs. Paradis, I just LOVE all the things you make,” and that really made my day!

By the way,  my web wizard was able to add a search engine to my website, www.susanparadis.com so please try it out and let me know if it helps you wade through the hundreds of pages I have posted over there!