Crazy Chord Challenge

This month our studio theme has focussed on the foundation of music - CHORDS! Although not all pieces have an obvious snowman style root chord backing up the melody from the bottom as in the Axis of Awesome Four Chord Sampler of Songs, a solid understanding of chords is the key to easily read and compose songs.

 When I saw these Major and Minor Root Picture Chords posted by Susan Paradis, the crazy chord challenge began to take shape in my mind.  I gave each student a copy of the major and minor picture chords and invited them to complete as many of these challenges during the month as they could. The prize was adding their name to the leaderboard and picking a prize from the treasure box.

To prep them for the challenge, I demonstrate while chanting the chord categories as I play. "Va-ni-lla (C), "Or-e-o" (Db), "Ham-bur-ger" (D), etc.).  Being able to see the color patterns on the keyboard and feel them under their fingers quickly really boosts the ease of playing chords from written notation later on. 

Can you play all of the Major chords Broken style Hands Separate (Left than Right) Moving Chromatically Up the Keyboard in Less than 1 Minute?

Can you play all of the Major chords, Broken style, Hands Together, Moving Chromatically Up the Keyboard in Less than 1 Minute?

Can you play all of the Major chords Block Style, Hands Separate (Left than Right), Moving Chromatically Up the Keyboard in Less than 1 Minute?

Can you play all of the Major chords Block Style, Hands Together (Left than Right), Moving Chromatically Up the Keyboard in Less than 1 Minute?

Can you play all of the Major chords Block Style, Hands Separate (Left than Right), Moving Chromatically Down the Keyboard in Less than 1 Minute?

Can you play all of the Major chords Block Style Hands Together (Left than Right), Moving Chromatically Down the Keyboard in Less than 1 Minute?

Can you play one of the above challenges but using Minor Chords instead?

Can you play one of the above challenges with Eyes Closed?

For a more difficult challenge, students who have already mastered root chords could play inversions or I-IV-I-V-I chord progressions with a longer time limit!