Teaching Piano Triads and Seventh Chords with Games

When teaching piano students about chords I find it helpful to create meaningful visuals to represent music concepts in a way that relates to them. What does this image represent?

Keep reading to find out the details!

Chord Visuals

For beginners I introduce the pentascales and chords as "food families" (vanilla, hamburger, oreos, chocolate/killer bs) based on the color of the piano keys with this helpful printable from Layton music. Making relevant connections for kids is so powerful in the learning process. In my studio we start with vanilla ice cream for dessert instead of snowmen!😋

Wunderkeys Pop 2: The Ninth Session and Creating Variations

The Ninth Session in B-flat Major is a spinoff of Beethoven's classic Ode to Joy Theme with left-hand syncopated interrupting eighths that sound a bit like the Forrest Gump Theme.

• Tap along with the rhythms as you listen to the performance to prep for the syncopation in the intro and outro.

Wunderkeys Pop 2: Rohan Rising Practice Tips

 

Rohan Rising in B minor from Wunderkeys Intermediate Pop 2 Performance Book has a cinematic feeling including dramatic dynamic changes and left hand 1-5-8-5 repeating patterns.

• Watch out for the double treble clefs at the beginning.
• Use a flexible wrist aligning your arm behind the playing finger as you play the repetitive left- hand patterns. 

Improvisation

If you like the melancholy minor beginning of this piece, you might enjoy improvising music using patterns from Create First Quiet Voices.

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Wunderkeys Pop 2: The Road Home Practice Tips

 

The Road Home in D Major from Wunderkeys Intermediate Pop 2 Performance Book is a tranquil piece with several repetitive cadences. 

Piano Practice Tips

• Label the chords in your music. 
• Which "road is used the most?  vi-V-I or IV-V-I?
• Can you hear and spot the deceptive cadence IV-V-vi?

Wunderkeys Intermediate Pop Piano Performance 2 Review

Have you ever had any teen piano students that feel "stuck" in their method book? While some students really love the classics, I've found that branching out to other genres of their choice can really up their excitement and practice. I recently purchased Wunderkeys Intermediate Pop 2 Performance Book after one of my teen students was eager to learn more music like Nik Day's "Trust in the Lord" that I had assigned her as a supplementary choice piece. 

She was enthralled with the lyrical pop sound of the repetitive chordal accompaniment with intriguing syncopation and it boosted her rhythmic accuracy to a whole new level as she practiced over and over as an accompanist to the soundtrack. I had difficulty finding many pieces with a similar style in my collection of classical and supplementary music.