This is an activity that I have done quite a few times with general music classes.  It would also be fun for a group piano lesson.  Students name notes to decode the Orange Julius Recipe.  After they have it figured out, we simply dump the ingredients into a blender, mix ‘em up, and enjoy.  I sometimes review various tempi when turning the blender from lower to higher speeds.  Students love this activity, and I have to admit, I do, too!

Orange Julius

So, you’ve met The Rock, my darling bespeceled boy on the right.  Next to him is his equally darling brother, who I will call Dash.  Why Dash, you ask?  Well, this child never sits still.  Ever.  Bless his poor school teacher’s heart.  Dash is always on the move – running, jumping, flipping, bouncing,… well, you get the idea.  He is something else in his gymnastics class -  he is just amazing to watch.

Dash loves music.  I  keep his lessons short but frequent.  One of the luxuries of teaching your own child, I suppose.  I assign him 2 pieces at a time.  When he has these down, I teach him another two.  He is bright, and catches on quick.

As a reward for keeping focused, Dash got to play a game with his brother.  The object of the game is to get 3 markers of your color in a row.  I got this game from The Big Book of Music Games, but you could easily adapt it with a keyboard chart and an alphabet spinner of some sort.  The boys took turns spinning the spinner, and putting a marker on the keyboard note.  Luckily, the game ended in a tie, so both Dash and The Rock walked away happy.

This is my son, whom I will refer to as The Rock.  He is strong and solid in body and mind.  He is also a wonderful cuddle-bug, but at 7 years old, I didn’t think he would appreciate that nickname as much.

This week, The Rock is working on the musical alphabet.  We played a little game with the wooden alphabet blocks that I made.  You can print some out of paper here. 

The Rock put the blocks in order as fast as he could.  Then, to make things a bit harder, he had to start on letters other than A.  He loved it, and it was a great way to give him a little bit of wiggle time that little boys so often need.

I love teaching piano.  A lot.  I love it more than any other job I’ve had, except being a mom.  We waited quite awhile for our children to come to our family.  After 5 1/2 years of marriage, we adoped a beautiful baby girl.  When she was 4 years old, we brought home an 18 month old son.  Ten months later, we brought home another son who was almost 2.  Seven months later, we brought home a 7 month old daughter. 

It was quite a time for us.  We went from one child to 4 in just under a year and a half.  Each child brought many blessings, but also unique challenges.  Piano gave me something else to think about during the 20 or so daily diaper changes, bottles, and the endless mischief and destruction that my boys always seemed to be in to.  The few hours in the afternoon that I spent teaching piano were a welcome reprieve from the chaos that seemed to rule my life. 

The Family, when the children were 7, 4, 4, and 2

I couldn’t imagine a time that I wouldn’t want to teach piano.  Until now, that is.  My mischievous boys are in second grade this year, and my baby is in Kindergarten.  My oldest is in 5th grade.  I was blessed to land a part-time teaching job in our school district.  It’s wonderful.  I can teach when they are at school, and we can be together in the afternoons.  I went from 21 students taking 45 minute lessons last year down to a mere 3 students this year.  Now, I have time to do homework, talk after school, and simply spend time with my children.  I cherish this time, and am so thankful for it.  I have all the time in the world to be a piano teacher, but this is the only time that my children will be young, and I want to be with them as much as I can.

The other wonderful thing about this whole arrangement is that I finally have time to teach my 3 little ones piano.  We all know how hard it can be teaching your own children, but I am going to do all that I can to make it work.  To this end, it is my goal to post at least weekly about various activities and such that I do with my children during their lessons.  Since they are mine, they can have more than one lesson a week, and I can pull out many of the wonderful resources that I sometimes don’t get to use.  We are having a great time, and my little ones are pretty excited to be mommy’s piano students, too.  They have waited for this for a long time, and I am glad that I can accomodate their wishes.

Have you seen all of Susan’s wonderful pre-reading songs?  I have used these with so many students, and they have all been well-loved.  Following in her example, I have done up some LDS children’s Primary songs into a pre-reading format.  I have versions with finger numbers and letter names.  So far I only done 8 songs, but hopefully that number will continue to grow. 

I have new respect for Susan.  They are sure time consuming, especially when you add all of the wonderful graphics and color that she does.

LDS Primary Songs – Pre-reading format

Since so many students are naturally competitive, I made a chart to track their progress on the Piano is Fun note naming game.  Students are not competing against anyone, but it sure does motivate them to do the lessons so they can get a sticker on the square.  This chart will print on 2 pages of paper, and I just trimmed and taped them together.

Head on over to Laura’s Blog  for the chance to win a Composers Activity Pack.  It looks like tremendous fun, and is a great price even if you don’t win the drawing.  Good Luck!

There are so many wonderful computer programs to use with music students, but this one is by far my favorite.  Piano is Fun is a program that teaches note reading, and it really is fun!  The program is only $29.95 and worth every penny, in my humble opinion.

There are 20 lessons in this game, and notes are gradually introduced.  Students first itentify the notes by letter name, then do so on the keyboard as in the picture above.  After the lessons have been finished, students then progress to the Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals.  In these challenges, the notes go by, and the screen flips randomly from the keyboard to letter names.  The Bronze and Silver medals are pretty easy to get, but the Gold medal is pretty hard.  I can do it, but I have to concentrate!  I am more than satisfied when my students earn the Silver medal.  If they do get the Gold, I give them a gift certificate to their favorite restraunt.

You can go to the Piano is Fun website to see a video of the game in action, and to download the game.

This is such an effective tool that I will have students take 5 minutes out of their lesson to complete a level.  I don’t do it all the time, but it is a regular part of my note reading arsenol of activities.  It also works well for siblings who are waiting for their turn.  I don’ t have a computer lab or anything like that yet.  Students simply play this one game on my laptop in the piano studio.

I am so sorry for the lack of updates recently.  Lots of other things have been taking my time, and new posts got put on the back burner for awhile. 

This is a fun rhythm activity that I made up for one of my school classes.  The children practiced clapping the rhythms together.  After they had mastered them, each student recieved their own candy bar rhythm sheets.  They cut apart the cards, and glued them in whatever order they wished on a large sheet of construction paper.  Students them performed their rhythms for each other.  They then got to choose a candy bar to eat after the performances.  I have a sneaky suspicion that was their favorite part of the lesson.

As an extension activity, students could turn add notes to their candy bar rhythms.  They could be assigned to do so in middle C posision, or in a particular pentascale or scale that they are working in.  Older students could then add chords to their melodies.  The possibilities are endless!

Candy Bar Rhythms

I have had a couple of requests now to do some rhythm cards in 3 quarter time.  I don’t really feel like folding my laundry, so I thought this was a great time to do them.   Most of the cards only use quarter, half, and dotted half notes, but I threw in a few with 8th notes as well. 

These will work great for one of Cecilly’s new games.  She gives her students several cards with both 3 and 4 beats to a measure.  (Click here for the 4-beat rhythm cards.)  The students seperate them and make a line of music in each time signature.  They can them clap the lines they have created.  It’s a great way to introduce time signatures!

Rhythm Cards in 3/4 Time

If you just want to print out what you need for Cecilly’s Game, then this may be the file for you.

Cecilly’s Rhythm TIme Match-Up Race