Nine Keys – a Key Signature Board Game

Nine Keys

If your students take a standardized theory test like mine do, you know how hard it is for some students to learn key signatures. My fifth grade students need to know nine key signatures for the TMTA theory test, so I created a fun board game that they enjoy.

I find that if I make something colorful and kind of silly, they all want to play. And as they play, they learn, even if I have to help them at first. Like we all do, I teach students how to figure out key signatures by themselves using the circle of 5ths. But  it is a good idea to learn to identify them quickly, because it gives students confidence. As time goes by, they realize the benefits of knowing key signatures quickly, just as knowing multiplication tables quickly gives them confidence in math.

How To Print

Read this section before you print all 4 pages. To download, click the link under the image above. This printable PDF includes 4 pages.The first page is the game board. The next two pages are the calling cards. I made the calling cards to fit on business card templates that are perforated for easy separation so that I don’t have to cut them. If you don’t have business card templates, there are some hash marks for you to draw a few lines to help you cut out the cards. The last page is the optional back to the cards.

Under the Pages to Print instructions in the pop-up box, select “Pages”, and then type 1-3.  In order to print on the back, insert pages 2 and 3 into your printer and type 4  in the Pages selection box. You will need to know which side of the paper your printer prints on, so test that out before you waste paper.

Materials

• Nine Keys, the free printable game board from my website
• The cards, cut or separated, and (optional) printed on the back
• Two game tokens, such as old car keys or key charms from a craft store

Directions

• Students should have a basic understand of key signatures in order to play. They might need help with the answers at first, and that is how they will learn.
• Student and teacher take turns drawing a calling card and moving to the correct key signature or following the directions on the card. The player who lands on the last key wins. My students really love the card that says, “If you know the definition of Key Signature, move up 8 spaces. If you are the teacher, lose a turn.” Every time I draw that card I moan and groan, saying, “Who made the rules to this game, anyway?” and my students love it!

Objectives

• To learn to quickly identify the major key signatures of C, G, D, A, E, F, B flat, E flat, and A flat.

Ages

• Elementary to early middle school

Why I like this activity

• I used business card templates for the cards, so there is nothing to cut out!
• It is colorful and students like color.
• Students had fun when they played the game. They love it when I lose and I make sure I lose a lot!

Please let me know if you can use more key signature games or worksheets.

Whole Step Half Step Game

 

Whole Step Half Step Game

This is the time of year when students learn about whole and half steps so they can construct scales, which is a requirement for many theory tests.

If you have ever used little tokens or figures on the keyboard to construct scales and noticed it was confusing to some students, I think you will find placing the W’s and H’s behind the keys is a big help.

This has turned out to be a great success for my “hands on” learners, as well as students who have trouble understanding the entire concept of scales. Students who were very frustrated with  theory worksheets quickly caught on using manipulatives and these cards I designed to be placed behind the keys.

I made many sizes and styles of cards before I settled on this design. I wanted the cards to be big enough for children to handle, but small enough to see the W and H when placed behind the piano keys.

I am so happy to report how much it has helped my students who were confused. My philosophy is that if they don’t understand what you are teaching, change the way you teach. The student is not going to change!

You can use these cards in a game or simply as a way to visually show scale patterns. Be sure to use sturdy card stock and laminate the cards so they will stand up behind the keys. For major scales, consider using the sentence “We Were Happy When We Were Home.” I’ve noticed my students and I say this continually as we play. All the W’s and H’s are hard to remember, especially for some students.

The inexpensive, colorful pencil erasers in the photo above can be bought in bulk this time of year. Go look now while all the school supply material is on sale.  I bought a large pack years ago and  I use them all the time, especially with an older child who who might be insulted with all the cute toys I have collected. They are also good for the easily distracted child, or the child who takes 5 minutes to decide if they want a kitty or a puppy.

I am posting some of the ways I use these cards, but I would like to emphasize that after you have tried them, adapt the activities to fit your needs. If you have a better idea, please leave a comment. My students have really enjoyed learning scales this way, and I hope yours do too!

Material

• Whole Step Half Step free printable from my website, cut into individual cards
• Pencil erasers to use as game tokens
• Piano keyboard
• Optional: W W H W W W H written on a chart for student reference

Directions for playing as a game with two players

• There are two color backgrounds, making it easy to separate the cards for two players. Each player receives 8 cards of one color. However, when I play against a student, I often do not give myself a “wild card” because students really enjoy winning and love to beat me.
• Place the cards on the piano book stand, with the blank side up.
• Decide which scale you are going to construct. C major is  good because the half steps are so easy to see.
• Both players put an eraser (or token) on the first note of the scale.
• Player one draws a card. If it is a “W”, place it behind the D on the piano keyboard, because that is the first whole step. The student also places a token on the D key. The first whole step has been completed.
• If the player draws an “H”, the player discards the card by putting it in the back of his stack on the piano stand. No token is placed on the piano.
• If a “Wildcard” is drawn, the student can place it aside to use later and draw again, or he can use the wild card immediately. The wild card can be turned upside down to be either a “half” or “whole” step.
• The second player then draws and plays in the same manner as above.
• Play continues between the players. The game is over when one player completes a major scale.
• An alternate version for younger students is to let the student (but not the teacher) draw again if they draw the wrong card. Obviously the objective is to learn how to construct the scale, not for the teacher to win.

Directions for other ways to use the cards

• With one player, the student draws all the cards, continuing until a scale is completed. This is a good way to explain how to construct scales to beginners.
• The cards can also be used to simply explain whole and half steps, placing the cards and erasers randomly on the piano keyboard and not constructing a scale.
• In a group lesson, 3 or more players can play. You will need to print out more cards.
• Younger children love to use my collectible erasers of cute animals instead of the erasers in the picture above.

Objectives

• To learn how to construct major or natural minor scales.
• To learn half and whole steps on the piano keyboard.

Ages

• Elementary to middle school, depending on the scale and the student’s abilities.

Why I like this activity

• There is only one page to cut out!
• It is colorful and students like color.
• Students like the games and activities we use with these cards.
• Students tell me the WWHWWWH cards really help to understand how to write scales.
• When we get to natural minor scales, a light bulb comes on as they change the order of whole and half steps.
• It really works.

I wish

• I wish I had room on the printable to add a  “step+half step” card to construct harmonic minor scales.
• I wish I had made a matching WWHWWWH chart.
• I wish I could remember the sentence for the natural minor scale pattern! Can anyone help me?

Save the Turkey-intermediate set

Save the Turkey Intermediate Level

If you have been following my blog lately, you know that I’ve been playing this game with my students. If you missed it, here are the instructions, found in the post with the first set.  That post also includes how to add the back of the cards. Set two is found here.

When I make a game for beginners, my older students want to play, too. So this time I made some cards for them. Included in this set are a few ledger line notes and all the key signatures. If students don’t constantly review these concepts, they forget them. A game is a great way to review!

You can mix and match these cards to suit yourself. Remove the ones you don’t want to use and save them for another day. You can also add some of these cards to set one or two. You can even use cards from the Memory Game found on my website (there are 6 sets) because they are the same size.

One thing I have discovered as I play this game with students, is that the more skip a turn cards the better, so you might want to add some from the previous levels. They also love it when I make a “mistake” and lose a turn.

Be sure to email me if you can’t figure out how to play. I really have trouble following game instructions, so I don’t mind helping. But first, read through my instructions in Set 1 so you can ask me specific questions! This is a fast game and you can easily play it in less than 5 minutes.

Here is a little guy playing with the first set. I think he liked the turkey!

Save the Turkey Game – Set 2

Save the Turkey set 2

In my last post I mentioned that I would post more  cards for the Save the Turkey Game. This set has a few more notes to identify and some more terms. My students have been enjoying this game. It is so easy to set up and play and doesn’t take much lesson time.

For directions to play please see read my previous post. You can find it here. I did not include the back of the cards in this PDF. If you want to print backs to these cards, set your PDF printing setting to Page 2 when you print the back. If you don’t want to print backs, I suggest you use some cute stickers on the back of the cards.

Hint: I printed this set on a different color of card stock than the first set so I can keep the levels separate. Or, you could combine the two sets.

Does anyone want another level? I have one but I don’t know if it’s too late to post this year.

Enjoy!

Save the Turkey

Save the Turkey

Save the Turkey is a fast and easy turn-over-the-card game. It only takes a few minutes of lesson time. It is a great game for teacher and student, but it can also be modified for groups. We have a few more weeks before Thanksgiving and I hope someone can use it.

The purpose of this game is to review music symbols and guide notes, so it is perfect for beginning students. Later I will add cards for more advanced students.

How to play

I tell students that whoever draws the turkey will save it from being turned into Thanksgiving dinner!

Shuffle the cards and put them in a stack on the table. Be sure the Turkey card is not near the top. The Skip a Turn cards should be evenly distributed. Player one draws a card and identifies the symbol.  As long as they answer the card correctly, they continue to draw until they draw a Skip a Turn card. Then the teacher (player 2) does the same thing. Whoever draws the Turkey card has “saved the turkey” and is the winner. The game is short, so the cards can be shuffled and played again.

For a variation,  I tell the student that if I make a mistake or “forget” the correct answer and they correct me, they take my turn. That keeps the student on his toes and it helps to keep the teacher from answering all the questions. I love to hold up the bass clef card, pretend to think really hard, and call it a treble clef. They giggle and bounce up and down and generally have fun. Feel free to make up your own rules and post them in a comment here.

I like the fact that even a beginner can win. All they have to do is draw the turkey card! However, along the way, they will be learning or reviewing important musical concepts. Let your younger children win most of the time.  They love it and it really helps make lessons more fun.

How to print

Download the PDF. In the PDF printer setting, set Print Range to  page 1. You do not want to print 2 pages right away because page 2 is the back of the cards. Set Page Scaling to None.

Print the first page on sturdy card stock. I used yellow card stock and below you can see how it looks.  Re-insert the page back into the printer (so you can print the reverse side) and set Print Range to page 2. If the front and back do not line up correctly, you either do not have page scaling set to “none” or you are not using 8.5″ x 11″ paper.

Alternately, if you don’t want to print on the back, put some cute Thanksgiving stickers on the backs of the cards.

After printing, cut the cards out along the dotted lines.

Please make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Reader. If your printed copy has odd black lines or boxes, or if some parts are missing, it is probably because you are using an old version of Adobe Reader.

Don’t Swipe My Sharp!

Don’t Swipe My Sharp

Do you have students who have a little difficultly learning to read sharp and flat keys or understanding the concept of enharmonic notes? Would you like to find another way besides a theory book or a worksheet to review these concepts?  I made up this game for my students, and it is the fastest and most fun way to learn enharmonic notes and quickly identify accidentals. It is especially good for tactile learners.

Don’t Swipe My Sharp is a game on the piano keys the teacher can play with a student. The student draws and places a token on the correct sharp or flat key. The first player to cover all 5 black keys wins. To add to the fun, players can “swipe a sharp” from their opponent.  There are also some optional white key sharp and flat enharmonic notes.

Objective: The student will learn to read and physically identify a selected group of enharmonic notes preceded with accidentals. The student will develop an understanding of enharmonic keys on the keyboard.

Level: Students in Level 2 and above enjoy playing this. It is designed for students who know the notes on the grand staff, but it can be played with all ages, even intermediate students who get confused with enharmonic notes.

Materials: Don’t Swipe My Sharp cards, 10 or more pawns that are suitable for placing on piano keys, and a piano keyboard. Suggestions for tokens are: inexpensive pencil erasers, glass jewel stones, small magnets, Lego blocks, or collectable erasers that are available in many shapes. The tokens should be able to stay on the black keys for the duration of the game. The age of the student can determine what tokens you use.

I bought 50 of these colorful erasers for $1.00 and I use them for many different games.

For younger children I use these cute erasers from my collection.

I like to use erasers on my piano keys because I know they will not scratch the keys.

Preparation: Print pages  1 – 4 of the Don’t Swipe My Sharp PDF file on card stock. Click the link at the top of the page to go to my website where you can print the PDF. Pages 5 and 6 are the optional back of the cards so do not print them initially.

There is one set of cards for the bass clef and one set for the treble clef. For ease in use, the cards for each clef are distinguished by color. There are two ways to do this. Option 1 is to print the front of the cards, pages 1-4, and reinsert the pages in your printer and print the back of the cards. The blue graphic is for the treble cards, and the green graphic is for the bass clef cards. Option 2 is to print the bass and treble clef cards on 2 colors of card stock and omit the back of the cards.

Directions: The student and teacher sit side by side on the bench. The black keys above and below middle C is the ‘game board”. Divide the cards by color, shuffle, and place on the piano music rack face down in front of each player. The player on the right has the treble clef cards, and the player on the left the bass. The  cards without the staff, the Swipe My Sharp cards, should be in each deck, but make sure they are spread out in the deck and not the first card. Remove the white key enharmonic notes for a shorter game.

Student and teacher take turns drawing a card and placing a token on the corresponding key. If a student draws a note that is enharmonic to a key they have already covered, for example, G Flat when F sharp is already covered, the player cannot place a token  and skips a turn.

If he draws a Swipe My Sharp card, he “swipes” a token off his opponent’s key and puts it on his own key, if it is vacant. He can only take a sharp he needs, and he must verbally identify it as a sharp key in order to “swipe” it. For example, if he needs an F# on his keys, he must stay, “I’m swiping your F# (not G flat). Of course, you can change this rule if you want the keys identified as flats!

The game is over when the first person covers all 5 black keys or how many you decide before you play. It is a very fast game, and quite easy, even thought it might not seem like it when you read my instructions!

There are other ways to play.  You can print out more note flash cards and use more than one octave. You can play in a small group using paper keyboards. You can set the rule that the student can keep their Swipe My Sharp card and use it later when they need it.

I used the cards to introduce accidentals to a 6-year-old primer student who asked me what the sharp and flat symbols meant. He learned it very quickly and enjoyed the game. He went home and wrote a song with E flats! So while I intended this for older students, I have found a lot of different uses for this game.

Have fun!

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

Note Spelling Bee from Cecilly



Music Alphabet Words

Cecilly sent me a new activity she is using with her students and I made some cards to go with it. I like the way Cecilly has included identifying intervals in this activity because that is very important in my studio.  

There are 8 pages of words in this printable PDF, ranging from 3 to 7 letter words. When I made these cards, I carefully designed them for the smallest amount of cutting necessary. If you don’t have a large staff, there are many to choose from on my website and some more here (scroll down).  The following was written by Cecilly.

Spelling/Interval Bee

Materials: A Grand staff board with up to 7 plastic transparent discs (bingo
chips) and file cards with as many spelling words that you can think of written
on the cards (BAG, CAGE, DEAF, FEED, ACE, CABBAGE, EDGE, etc.).

Set Up: I have laminated my staff board and placed a little blob of poster putty
on the back of each bingo chip so they can be positioned on the staff and not
slide off, but this isn’t necessary to do the activity. Using a table or the floor, sit across from the student. The staff board and
chips are for the student and the spelling word cards are for the teacher.

To Play: Shuffle the spelling cards and place face down on the table. Draw the
first card and call out the word, showing the word to the student. He in turn is
to spell the word using the bingo chips and placing them on whatever line or
space corresponds to the letters in the word. However, use only one clef at a
time. The chips should be placed in order of each letter in the word and in a “melodic” fashion on the staff. Repeated letters should be represented by different note locations. Allow a few moments for the student to spell the word. Once spelled accurately on the staff, ask the student to dictate the interval path of the melody created by the chips to you out loud (F down a 2nd E, up an 8va E, down a 2nd D: FEED). Then have him play the interval path on the piano if desired. Remove the chips and cont. with another word to spell. Make sure to play on each clef. Play as long as you wish.

Objective: There are really 3 objectives to this activity: 1) Identifying basic notes on the staff, 2) Melodic interval recognition and tracking, and 3) Playing the notes where they live intervallically on the piano.

Variations: Play with multiple students just like a spelling bee.

Enjoy!

Cecilly

New Year Game Reminder

New Year Game

Game Pieces

I have over 300 pages of activities, music, and ideas posted, all available at no charge to music teachers around the world. With this much material, it is very time comsuming for a teacher to sort through it all. With this in mind, I am reposting a New Year’s game you can play this month.  This is one of those games that it is easy to forget about until it is too late! 

When I first played this game, it was with a group of beginning students.  This week I plan to make it a fast activity at a private lesson. I plan to put the star game pieces in a bowl and let the student draw a star, name the symbol, and place it on the hat. This is simple and it won’t take very much time at a lesson. With an even younger child or with a new beginner,  you can leave off the identification and let the student match the symbols to help with visual identification.

You can also play it in a group, but notice there is only one game board.  You can go here if you want to read the directions I posted several years ago for playing with a group.  Feel free to make up your own rules and post your ideas as a comment to share with other teachers. 

For durability, laminate the game pieces and game board. You can cut the game pieces into stars, or keep the circle shape. 

 

Ornaments and Lights make your own worksheet

Ornaments and Lights

Are you tired of seeing material that I make for my own students and wish you could make a quick worksheet for Christmas that suits your own needs? Now you can!  You can use this one to match vocabulary words, rhythms, symbols, and even non-music concepts. You can make a lotto or bingo type game and call out words or rhythms for students to cover with  magnetic chips and swoop up with a magnetic wand.  You can have students color various concepts. Print on the back what colors should be used. You make an individual worksheet for each student, if your students are at different levels.  My advice if you want to make one that you will put through a photo copy machine is to use a dark, not-to-thin marker, such as a sharpie. Otherwise it will not show up.

As long as you leave the copyright notice on the page, feel free to use this in your classroom. However, you may not make a worksheet out of PDF and post it on your own website, or publish it yourself, or put it in a collection for others to use.

Once you have made your worksheet, post a comment here to share your ideas with others. You might come up with something I have never thought of. Or take a picture and email it to me. You do not have to register to post a comment here, and your comments are anonymous.  However, I do moderate comments to make sure I don’t get spam, so you might not see your comment right away.

Have fun!

Music Memory Level Three

Musical Memory Game Level Three

Today I am posting the third level of the Musical Memory Game, which is a review of musical symbols and vocabulary words. Today’s level includes the terms tie, brace, natural, slur, legato staccato, and tonic or key note as some teachers call it.  There are two pages in the PDF file for you to download, and the second page, which is the back of the cards, is optional.

Monday I am going to post the last level I have in this series. One of my students told me yesterday it is his favorite table game. Maybe it’s because he can beat me!

Musical Memory Level One

Musical Memory Game Level One

This summer I finished up the theory memory games I started last spring for all the early levels of piano lessons.  These games are just like my Rhythm Memory Game, except they use vocabulary words and musical signs. Since I think memory games are more fun with  colorful backs,  I made the graphic for the back of the cards that you see above. Also, each level has a different color graphic on the back so I can keep the levels sorted correctly. The levels contains the vocabulary and symbols on the Texas State Theory Test. However, I could not fit all the words on level 4 because I only had 8 spaces. 

If this game looks familiar, it is the same game I posted in April, but I have changed the back sides. This time I promise to add the other 3 levels in my next posts. Last spring I was busy with recital plans and dropped the ball on the other levels.

Even if your students don’t take a special theory test, every piano student needs to learn these terms.  What better way to learn them than by playing a memory game? The student turns over two cards, trying to match the symbol with the definition. It is fun to play it with a partner, and the one who collects the most pairs wins. If there is only one student, I am the other player. The student can also play alone if you have the time.  I’ve noticed students who are good at sight reading are also good at this game, so a good memory helps with that skill.

If you would like to see how I set up and store music memory games, check out this post.  I am going to post a grid for this game to make it easier to play, so check back.

Key Signature Cards with colorful backs

Reverse Side of Key Signature Flash Cards with Key Names

Today I am posting some handy key signature cards that can be used both as flash cards and playing card games. You can even print them both ways!

Above is  the reverse side, which has the major and minor keys printed on the cards.  I worked on these over the summer when I had some spare time.  I wanted a design that would appeal to older students and also be appropriate for  card games.  This is what I finally came up with.

When you get ready to print and the PDF print box pops up, check the setting for “page scaling.” It should be set to “none.” If not, your front and back might not line up properly.

Reverse Side of Key Signature Cards without the printed answers

I also wanted a reverse side that I could use for a rummy type card game. Obviously, the answers could not be on the back of the cards, so I drew a colorful piano graphic. For card games, you will need to print out several sets of cards.

Posted below are the key signature cards. There are 2 pages, one for flats and one for sharps.  I put in two C Major cards because of a Circle of 5ths activity we do.  These are black and white, so if you don’t want or can’t print the colorful backs, print only the following PDF. You can always use a pen and label the backs yourself or ask students to color the backs.

Key Signature Flash Cards

I have decided I do not like to laminate card games because they are too stiff and  don’t shuffle well.  Instead  I have been spraying my cards with clear acrylic matte coating. A can of spray costs about $5.00,  lasts a long time and really works. If I use this spray, the ink from my ink jet printer will not run when it gets wet. If you use an ink jet printer  and want students to handle these cards, you should put some sort of clear coating on the cards, either by laminating,  spraying, or a clear self-adhesive book cover material. Otherwise when you play in warm weather you will have a smeary mess. 

If you print on both sides, I suggest you test out one page first using plain paper and an economy setting. I don’t want you to waste your good paper and ink. If you print on both sides, use the colorful side to cut out the cards, cutting on the thin yellow line in the middle. That way the back of your cards will have an even border.  This was a big project for me, requiring a lot of drawing and placing by hand.  I hope that you will find it helpful.

Note Bingo

Note Bingo

When students come back to lessons after a break it is not unusual for them to forget note names, especially in the first few years of piano study.  I made a Bingo game to help with this problem. You can play it by trying to cover 3 in a row or if you have more time, Black Out. What I like about this game is that it is quick to play and will not take up a lot of lesson time. I tried to make these cards appropriate for all ages, so you can use these cards with older beginners, too.

Magnetic Wand and Bingo Chips

I’ve had many teachers ask where they can get magnetic wands and chips and I’m happy to announce that you can order them here. The student gets to scoop up all the chips with the magnetic wand and that makes the game more fun.

There are 8 student cards in this set so you can use this game in a group lesson, too. The last 2 pages are answer cards you can use as calling or drawing cards in various ways.

One time I played it so the student would pick a treble or bass card and then an alphabet card.

When played in a group, the teacher can pick a grand staff card and then call out the note, such as “high treble F”. If there is one student in your group who is more advanced, he can draw the grand staff cards and announce the name for the rest of the group.  

One of my young beginning students was having trouble remembering the treble and bass clef, so we only used the treble and bass answer cards and he would place a chip on a note if it was in the treble or bass clef. He didn’t even know the names of the notes yet.

You can also have students place chips on notes that are high or low, or lines and spaces. 

I try to make all my material so that the teacher can use it in various ways to suit each student or group. Actually the possibilities are endless depending on the level of your students, and that is the way piano games should be.

Sign and Symbol Hunt — from Cecilly

 

 

This is a picture I took along the coastal highway in California where I was visiting for a few weeks. The clouds are descending down from the mountains, but you can still see a little bit of the Pacific Ocean in the right corner. What a beautiful state, and the people are so friendly! I look forward to visiting again some day.

While I was there Cecily sent me a new activity. I’ve already thought of different ways I can vary this activity, and I’m sure it will spark your imagination, too. Cecilly is really creative when it comes to thinking up new ways to make piano lessons more interesting.  She designed this as a refresher activity when students return from their summer break, as well as prepare new repertoire. I’m going to try this with all my festival pieces and see if it will help students put in expression from the very beginning. If you have a student who never notices what is on the page, try this out. I will be making some flash cards with signs and symbols, so check back for that.  

Here is the game in her own words. Thanks, Cecilly, for sending it to me.

Sign & Symbol Hunt

Materials needed: a specific piece of music you plan to prepare with a student
as part of their assignment, flashcards of all the signs & symbols present in
the score of that piece plus a few extra ones that aren’t in the score.

Set up: Place all the flash cards face up on the floor or table top in random
fashion.

To play: Open the student’s book to the given piece you’ll be preparing and
introduce it by title, etc. Ask the student to take about 10 seconds to
carefully look over the music making mental notes of any signs and symbols he sees that
will help him learn the piece and play it musically. After this time, have the
student bring his book to the floor or table of flashcards and find as many of
the signs/symbols he can in the music on the flashcards. He can gather the cards
into a pile. There should be some left over because you placed extra ones.
Return to the piano with the book and cards. Then take the first card. Have
the student find this sign/symbol in the score, and then depending on the card,
help the student apply the sign/symbol at the piano. For example, if the card
is the time signature symbol for the meter of the piece, have him point along
the melodic line and count metrically. If the card is a slur sign, select a
phrase and challenge the student to play that phrase smoothly. If it’s a
dynamic sign, find where that dynamic marking is in the music and challenge the
student to play that phrase or section at that dynamic level. If it’s an 8va
higher sign, find it in the score and help the student practice making the 8va
move. So whatever the sign/symbol is, the student can “prepare” for this
element on the spot.

This will help draw the student’s attention to all the signs/symbols in the
score, refresh them in his mind AND fingers, and prepare the piece for his
assignment all in one fell swoop.

Enjoy.

Cecilly

Silly Sentences for Summer Group Lessons

 

Silly Sentences with no graphics

I had some requests for the Silly Sentences Game without the Christmas graphics. I made this game for a holiday group lesson and I was surprised how much the students enjoyed it. Other teachers, too, said their students liked it and asked me to take off the Christmas graphics so they could play it anytime. So, finally, here it is, just in time for summer group lessons and music camps.  To play the game and read the directions, look back at my original post from December 2009, called, appropriately, Silly Sentences.  

This new black and white version has two PDF pages, one with the vocabulary words and one with the silly sentences. If you have younger students, use the sentences near the top, and use the cards toward the end with your older students.

Wouldn’t it be fun for students to make up their own silly sentences? Teachers with long summer camps might have time to do that.

Triangulars

Cecilly has a new game called Triangulars. It is a floor activity and since I am not good at following written instructions, I drew the above diagram to show how the set up will look on the floor.  Don’t try to print it!

 Remember, you can use this activity for any kind of a challenge: notes, rhythm, keys, even vocabulary and symbols.  When we played it in my studio I didn’t have a prize to give them, so we  played for fun.  They liked it because it was something different. When I play with my preschool  students I think I’ll give them a sticker. Use this idea and adapt it  for your own situation. Here are Cecilly’s directions, in her own words.

Materials: 9 5″X7″ cards (in one color) numbered 1-9. 11 flashcards (I used
note name cards) to some degree smaller than the numbered cards. 11 discs or
playing pawns of some kind. Floor or table space.

Set up: Place the numbered cards in order clockwise in pairs around the #9 card
which is placed in the middle. For example, place 1 next to 2 in the 12 O’clock
spot, 3 above 4 in the 3 O’clock spot, 5 to the right of 6 in the 6 O’clock
spot, and 7 below 8 in the 9 O’clock spot. Remember, 9 is in the middle. This
should look a bit like an octagon. Allow a bit of space between sets of
numbers. Place the flashcards underneath the cards, 1 to a card except for 9
which will have 3 flashcards under it. Place the discs to the side.

Objective: To correctly identify any 3 triangular arrangements of cards that
include 1 of the pairings plus #9, creating a triangle. For example, 1,2 and 9;
3,4 and 9; 5,6 and 9, or 7,8 and 9.

To Play: Have student call out a # that is NOT 9. Take the flashcard from under
that # card for the student to identify. If correct, place the flashcard on top
of the # card along with one of the discs. That card is now earned. Student
should call out the other number in the pairing now, hoping to earn it too. If
earned, place it and the disc on top of the # card like the first one. Now, the
student must try for 1 of the flashcards under #9. If correct, place that
flashcard and 1 disc on the 9. This completes 1 Triangle. The student moves on
to try and complete another triangle that also includes #9. But this time, the
2nd flashcard is shown from under #9. If earned, place that flashcard and
another disc on #9 (so now there are 2 flashcards and 2 discs on #9). Cont. for
a 3rd triangle. If at some point, the student makes a mistake in identifying
the flashcard, that triangle is lost and they can try for the remaining
triangle. The goal remember is to earn 3 triangles including 9 in each one.

I awarded a Composer buck for each triangle earned.

You can use any kind of flashcards you like to review or drill whatever you
need with that student.

Click here to print Triangular cards which are the number cards I have posted here  for your convenience. You can print them if you don’t have time to make a set yourself.  These are in black and white with no graphics to help us save a little printer ink. They will look better printed on colored paper if you happen to have some.  Be sure and set your printer to landscape mode.

If any teacher uses this at a group lesson, please leave a comment on how you used it with a group.

Thanks for the game, Cecilly!

 

Which Way Is Up? Bean Bag Game

An inspirational colleague  of mine told me about her staff rug, so I decided to make one myself. I bought a remnant of  plastic material on sale at Hancocks and added a single staff and a ledger line for middle C. I used black tape for the lines and the whole thing only took a few minutes. Notice it is puckered because my remnant was thin. I hope to re-make it with a heavier vinyl that will not pucker.  

We used my new staff to play bean bag games. I thought I would share my latest bean bag game, which I made up to reinforce the notes around middle C. After some discussion with  students, we decided to call this game Which Way Is Up?

The objective of this game is to reinforce the 2 notes above and below middle C, which are D and E in the treble clef and B and A in the bass clef.  Even though they learn these notes early in piano lesson, students get them mixed up. 

I put the large staff on the floor with enough space to walk around to either side.  

First we stand on one side of the staff so that middle C is in the treble and we try to throw the bean bag to middle C.  Then we walk around to the other side and *presto, chango*,  middle C is now on the bass staff, way up on the top. No, I haven’t used clef signs so far, but I am seriously thinking of making them.  They will have to be very large and my idea is to cut them out of a dark vinyl.  

Then we walk back to the treble side and try for middle D. Next we walk back around so it’s the bass clef again and I ask the student to tell me what note will be in the space below middle C.  If they say B, this lets me know they understand the concept. 

 Finally, we go back and try for middle E on the treble and then back to the bass side for the A below middle C.

At this point we stop because I want our activities at individual lessons to be fast and to the point. After all, we’re learning a recital piece and a sonatina for our Sonatina Festival that is coming up. But they seem to enjoy this activity because their aim is usually better than mine and they get a kick out of beating me!

If you don’t have any bean bags and you’re not the sewing type, ask your parents for help. You may be surprised that one of your parents or even a student can stitch up a few bean bags in less than 30 minutes. One of my students in 3rd grade made the ones in the picture above.  I mentioned to her that I used to love to sew, but now my eyesight is  poor and I can’t see the thread anymore.  She made some and gave them to me the next week. 

So far I have not tried this with my youngest students. My thoughts are they need something with more structure. Children need to be about 7 before they can visualize the changing staff in their heads. Of course, as piano teachers we often have students who are intellectually gifted and these children will have no trouble. But play it safe and if your student gets confused, stay on one side of the staff. 

One more thing, make your bean bags first and then make your staff to fit the bean bags.

The picture above was taken at a group lesson. The older students were throwing the bean bags to make triads. We have played a lot of different games on this staff, and I usually change them around to fit the student or the age group.