Simon Nibbles a Note
Have you ever played the game of Simon which tests your musical memory skills in a fun way? I think this would be a fun game to keep in the waiting area of my music studio. But today I'm sharing a new way to use the concept of Simon in music lessons.
This game came to my mind as I was brainstorming ideas for introducing the Nibble a Note Practice strategy to my piano students during our next group lesson, where we will focus on Piano Practice Strategies.
The object of the game is to remember the sequence of sounds that you hear and then play them back on "Simon." You can give the online game a try at Phil Tulga Simon.
If someone were to ask you to echo a long string of notes all at once, it might feel impossible! But because Simon introduces just one new note at a time, the gradual "Nibble a Note" style game makes remembering musical patterns much easier.
The same approach can also be effective when trying to learn a new melody on the piano.
Instead of trying to muddle through a bunch of measures thick with notes, sometimes it can often be more effective to do what Simon does. Just start with 1 note, then 2, then 3, etc. until you can build the muscle memory to play all 16 notes in a row without errors. This is especially helpful in music with fast sixteenth notes, tricky fingering crosses, or large leaps.
Simon Meets Solfa Music Game
One of my favorite sessions in the Piano Teacher Turboboost that I recently attended emphasized the brain boost that movement gives you while learning new concepts. I came up with this music movement activity that is like a mash-up of the games Simon, Name that Tune, and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes.
Have students put a strip of masking tape on their foot, belly and forehead. These represent the lower lines of the bass clef on the music staff (DO is G, MI is B, SO is D)
Choose a simple song to "play" on your music staff that uses notes from the major pentascale. Start with just the first pitch, then 2, then 3, etc. Have your students copy your movements and solfa singing as they try to "Name that Tune"
For example, if the song were Mary Had a Little Lamb, you would sing the patterns below "nibble a note" style as you tap your body to represent pitches on the music staff
Mi (Waist)
Mi, Re (Waist, Knees)
Mi, Re, Do (Waist, Knees, Toes)
Mi, Re, Do, Re (Waist, Knees, Toes, Knees)
Mi, Re, Do, Re, Mi (Waist, Knees, Toes, Knees, Waist)
Me, Re, Do, Re, Mi, Mi,
Mi, Re, Do, Re, Mi, Mi, Mi
Simon Steps or ABC
If you don't use solfa in your studio, you could sing the letters of the staff (B, A, G, A, B, B, B) to emphasize the music alphabet or (line, space, line, space, line, line, line) to emphasize the stepping relationships to line/space on the staff.
A few songs that would work well for this activity are:
Once There Was a Snowman
Hot Cross Buns
How To Skip (from Let's Play Music)
Yankee Doodle
This Old Man (Throw Hands in the air for "La")
Happy Birthday
Try Everything (from Zootopia)
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