Halloween Games

There has been some great discussion on the Yahoo Piano Teachers list about games for Halloween.  Well, thinking up games is much more fun than completing the homework for the class I need to renew my teaching certificate, so here you are! 

The first game is Trick or Treat.  Print off the Pumpkin Rhythm Cards, and place in a Halloween candy bucket.  If the student picks a rhythm, it is a “trick” and they must clap it correctly.  If they draw out a pumpkin that is says “treat” they get to pick a treat from the candy stash.  If you want to, you can print the reverse side on the back of the pumpkin cards, making for games that are a bit more commercial-looking.  That way, when you cut them out there will be an image on the front and back of each card.  There is also a blank pumpkin page so you can customize the game.

Pumpkin Rhythm Cards

Pumpkin Cards – Blank

Pumpkin Cards – Reverse Side

The next game is Candy Corn Note Match. Cut apart all of the sections, and have the students match up the note on the staff, note on the keyboard, and letter name. This can be done individually or in groups, and can be competitive or not in nature. Once again, there is a blank Candy Corn page if you’d like to make your own game. I think it would be great for terms – the abbreviation, Italian word, and definition.

Candy Corn Note Match

 Candy Corn Blanks

Now, I’m going to finish writing about the Flores Consent order and Lau vs. Nichols. Really. No more procrastinating…at least for today!

Real Rhythm Cards

I made wood Rhythm Blocks of various lenghts to represent the different note values, and thought some paper ones would be good to have as well.  So I made some, and they have been uselessly sitting on my computer.  Today Cecilly posted a great idea about how to use these rhythm cards on the Yahoo Piano Teachers list, and I thought it would be nice to take a minute and upload them.  I am going to mount my cards on lightweight cardboard from cereal boxes, then “laminate” them with 2 inch clear packaging tape for durability.  Hope you enjoy them!

Real Rhythm Cards Black and White

Real Rhythm Cards Color

Summer Ice Cream Challenge

This past summer I wanted to do something a bit different for our practice incentive. I decided to do a Summer Ice Cream Challenge. It was really quite simple. I printed ice cream cones and ice cream scoops, cut them apart, and laminated them so they would last for future use. For each 10 points a student earned, I awarded them with a scoop to add to their cone. Students earned points for meeting practice and performance goals.

At the end of the summer, we had a party for students who had a minimum of 4 scoops. Yeah, this was easy to attain, but since I had several students who were going to be gone for much of the summer, it worked well. At our party we had ice cream – of course – with lots of toppings to choose from. Afterwards, we watched Bugs Bunny’s Overtures to Disaster. The kids loved it, and it was low-stress for me.

Just a word of warning – I cut out a LOT of ice cream scoops. Most of it was done during my kids’ swimming lessons, when I was just sitting with little to do. If this had been a year-long incentive program, I would have gotten really tired of cutting! It would be much easier to cut the ice cream cones and scoops from a die cut. Check your local scrapbooking store or school to see if they have one you could use.

Rhythm Blocks

I have been wanting to make these for years, ever since I read about them in the book “A Galaxy of Games for the Music Class.” (A WONDERFUL resource, by the way!) They are great for showing the relationships between note values, rhythmic dictation, and are just a lot of fun in general. Here are the steps in making these blocks.

First, I bought 7 1/2 feet of 3/4 inch square pine. It was cut to the following lenghts:
8th note: 1 inch (cut 4)
Quarter note: 2″ (cut eight)
Dotted Quarter note: 3″ (cut 4)
Half Note: 4″ (cut 4)
Dotted Half Note: 6 inches (cut 4)
Whole Note: 8 inches (cut 2)

Next, I painted them. You wouldn’t need to do this, but I like the bright colors, and wanted easy identification of the different lengths of blocks.

Using a black sharpie marker, I drew notes and rests on each of the blocks. On the quarter note blocks, I drew a quarter note on 2 sides, a quarter rest on 1 side, and 2 eighth notes on the remaining side. The notes don’t show up well in the picture, but they do in real life.

Here are a few activities that can be done with these: (you may want 2 or more sets for group activities)

The teacher chants or plays a rhythmic pattern, and the student notates it with their blocks. This can also be done as a competition between 2 students or 2 teams.

The teacher gives a certain number of beats, such as 8. A student notates with the blocks the exact number of beats the teacher has called.

The teacher gives the student a set of parameters, such as 3 measures in 4/4 time. Student builds the set number of measures. This is fun for a group of students as well.

Another added bonus of these blocks – they are wonderful for entertaining little boys while their mommy updates her blog!

Dotted Quarter Rhythm Cards

I had a request for some rhythm cards with the dotted quarter/8th note combination that so many students seem to struggle with. Well, here you are! 15 new rhythm cards online, and me sitting here wondering why I didn’t think to do this rhythm combination earlier.

Rhythm Cards Set 5

Fun Game Ideas

Megan, a piano pedagogy master’s student at Wichita State University, shared some fantastic games. I am excited to try these with my students.

Review Cube:

I made a giant dice by wrapping a styrofoam cube in
paper. For each class I teach, I make 6 cards with the concepts we
worked on in that class or older concepts from past classes. The
cards are held on to the dice with large photo corners (but Velcro
would work too). In the last 10 minutes of class students take turns
rolling the dice and we review the concept that is rolled. Sometimes
I put a different key on each side and students have to play the
pentascale.

Pentascale Spoons:

I was trying to think of a way to teach my class of 8 and 9
year old students how to be more aware of the notes they play in their
pentascales, rather than just playing the 5 notes that sound right. I
found your pentascale flashcards and started brainstorming games. We
ended playing a pentascale version of the card game “Spoons“. I made
a card with each letter name on it and instead of collecting 4 of the
same cards like in the real game, we had to collect all the letters of
a pentascale in any key. Your pentascale flash cards were spread out on the
table to help them know what to look for. When a student won and had
all 5 notes to a pentascale we went to the piano and played it. It
kept all the students thinking about which notes made up the scales
and we had so much fun!

Memory:

I made keyboard flashcards and staff flashcards. We lay the
cards out on the table and look for pairs of the same note made up of
one keyboard and one staff.

For this one, you can use the note flashcards, and the keyboard cards below.

Keyboard Note Cards

Music Certificates

I had my recital a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to hand out certificates to my students. Unfortunately, the ones I wanted were back-ordered, and would not get to me before the recital date. So, with some help from my trusty computer, I made these up. I printed them on Staples matte finish double-sided photo paper to avoid the logo on the back of the regular photo paper. The end product looked very polished and professional, though I’m sure normal card stock would work well, too.

The first certificate is a full sheet. The second is a half sheet.

Here are some other certificates I have made in past years. The first one looks good printed on colored card stock. They all print 2 to a page.

Recital Program Templates

Since this is a busy time of year for so many music teachers, I thought it might be helpful to post a few of the recital programs I have used in the past. They are done in Microsoft Word, and all you need to do is type your information in over the sample text. Feel free to change and customize this all you want to fit your needs.

If you really want to go all out, you can do like I do and put a photo and short blurb about each student in the program. If you have Microsoft Publisher, I can mail you the template I use for that program. Just drop me an e-mail!

Recital Program 1

Recital Program 2

Recital Program 3

Quarter Note Royalty

I was so excited this morning! I have a beginning student that was going to be introduced to quarter notes today. I got everything ready, and waited, and waited…but he didn’t show. I didn’t want to waste the preparation, so I enlisted my daughter to show everyone our incredibly fun and memorable “Introduction to Quarter Notes” lesson.

To begin with, I put a bit of tape on the back of 4 or more quarters and stick them to a white board. I explain to the students that every time we see a quarter, we will clap and say “ta.” I will often let the students use boomwhackers or other rhythm instruments for this activity.

Then, I magically change the quarters into quarter notes by adding stems. I make a big deal of turning the quarters into quarter notes. We then clap and ta the quarters again. I ask the student many times throughout the rest of the activity what kind of notes we are playing.

Next, I have the student take a quarter away. I erase the stem, and replace it with a quarter rest. We then clap the rhythm again, saying “sh” on the rests. We continue taking quarters away until we are left with only quarter rests. I ask them at every turn what kind of notes they are clapping. It’s not too hard for them to remember it is a quarter note or quarter rest!

Next, I tell the students that if music publishers actually put quarters into all of the books, not only would they be very heavy and cumbersome, but also SUPER expensive! To fix this, they just use black dots instead of actual quarters. I then draw quarter notes on the board, and we clap them just the same as before.

Finally, they have a test. They have to tell me which symbols are quarter notes, and which are quarter rests. They clap several rhythms all by themselves. If they are successful (which they all are after all of that) I dub them the Quarter Note King or Queen. I crown them with a Burger King hat, with a quarter or two taped to it.

The students are so excited to show their parents the honor they have earned, and they NEVER forget the name of a quarter note!

Technique Achievement Poster

My good friend Claire showed me a wonderful technique chart she had made for her studio.  I liked the idea so much I made a poster for my own studio.  I LOVE it!  When a student masters a scale, they earn a foil star in the corresponding box.  Different colors of stars represent various levels.  For example, red stars for pentascales, blue stars for 1 octave scales, and so on.  Since only the major keys are listed at the top of the chart, we use small dot stickers inside the stars to show the minor key has been learned. 

I can tell at a glance where an individual student is and what technique they are working on.  Students are actually excited to do their scales, because they earn a point for each star, and seeing the progress of other students keeps them motivated.  My chart also has spaces for local MTA events that the students have participated in. 

I thought it would be nice to modify the chart for general use.  The major and minor keys are listed across the top, and the left column is blank for student names.  Version 1 has a key similar to what I use in my studio, telling what colors of stars represent each skill level.  The second chart has no key, so you can use it however you would like.

The chart will print on 4 sheets of paper, and will be about 15×19 when finished.  Trim the paper at the crop marks, mount on a half sheet of poster board, and you’re ready to go. 

Note: when the picture is clicked, lines are missing on the chart.  Click on the words, and your chart will look and print as it should.

Technique Poster 1

 

 

 

 

 

Technique Poster 2