Powerful Playful Piano Practice Kits

Inspired by this Colourful keys blog post on practice kits I compiled practice kits with a few modifications as a gift for my piano students and it has definitely made practicing sessions with my own children more fun.  The mood cards were definitely a big hit and I love how some students are eager to repeat their songs multiple times in lessons so they can experiment with different moods.
Contents of Practice Pouch
Zootopia Cards (Dollar Tree)
Post-it Notes
Dice
Mood Cards
Candy Pieces
Dry Erase Marker/Eraser
Score Card


As this Ted-ed video suggests, the most effective practice begins with slow repetitions with focused precision to accuracy.  As students practice multiple repetitions while gradually increasing speed the music solidifies under their fingertips.  I was especially inspired by the results of mental practice experiment that suggests the power that practice away from the piano can have.

The various games suggested like "Beat the Dealer" and "Three in A Row" motivate students to really focus on the task at hand while encouraging slow precise practice rather than inefficiently just plodding sloppily over and over through a piece they are trying to learn.

Bass Clef Lines: Hear See and Feel the Fun

A
F
D
B
G

A myriad of mnemonic devices are used to help music students learn their note names.  As a child I learned my bass lines with "Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always" but the "Every Good Boy Does Fine" was a little too close and I sometimes mixed them up.
As a teacher I prefer methods that "cut out the middleman" of mnemonics and actually use music to teach music just like I learned me ABCs :)! For that reason, I love the My First Piano Adventures repetitious song lyrics about the Grand Staff "G, B, D, F top line A" that actually uses the pitches of GBD and F ascending upwards just like the notes on the staff.  For younger students the associations of beginning letter sounds may not be as solid and the time it takes for them to think of beginning sound of each mnemonic word is just too time consuming for efficient note reading.
To add to the fun and the learning we add a topsy turvy version of Head Shoulders Knees and Toes and have the students move up their body to match the letter names of the staff.
G-Toes, B-Knees, D-Waist, F-Shoulders, A- Head.
Even older beginners can benefit from the mental connections that this movement activity creates.  I have them use Susan Paradis's GBDFA song.  As they follow the written notes on the staff and sing the words the connection between ascending pitches, upward body movement and the letter name chant really solidifies the concept for them.

Tempo Piano Theory Poster

At a recent group lesson we revisited making theory posters and it was a favorite activity for several of the girls. I loved these animal tempo representations drawn by one of my students!  I cut them up for future use at lessons.  Instead of mood cards, they can also pick tempo cards and see how well they have really mastered their pieces! Its surprising how for some playing Largo can seem a real challenge. Other students made posters to represent dynamics, articulations, pitches (treble/bass) and you view some other ideas on my previous post about theory posters.

Musical Christmas Lights Pictionary

I adapted this fun Musical Christmas Lights Bingo game by Susan Paradis at our Christmas group lesson to extend the learning and suit it for multiple learning levels.

How to Play:
Divide players into 2 teams of mixed abilities
Teams take turn choosing a Christmas light card and draw the symbol on it for their team to guess. They can earn a total of 3 points each turn
1 point -for identifying the name of the symbol
1 point - for defining the meaning of the symbol
1 point - for sorting the symbol into the correct groups below

Musical Christmas Lights Sort

Notes – How long is the sound?

Rests – How long is the silence?

Dynamics – How loud or soft?

Articulation – Quality of Sound (smooth, short, loud)

Accidentals/Clefs – How high or low?

Meter/Time Signature – How are the beats grouped?

Repeat Sign – Bonus Extra Turn

Halloween Piano Group Fun

 I love the excitement of a themed group lesson. A new Pinterest find that I tried this year in addition to some of the other Halloween ideas I have posted in the past was the Addams Family Cup Passing Activity.

The A section triplets provided a nice challenge for my more advanced students and the B quarter note section made great steady beat practice for the young beginners.

Dictating with Rhythm Monsters

I'm excited to try out these new manipulatives for some rhythm dictation practice at our Halloween Group Lesson today.

I found this fun idea on pinterest at the yellowbrickroad blog and adapted it to add a greater variety of  rhythms for beginning and more advanced students.

Bug Dance: Teaching Left and Right Through Movement

Young piano students often have difficulty remembering how to distinguish Left from Right. This dance/rote piece combines the concepts of left/right, up/down, steps/skips and feeling the beat all into fun activity. When I checked out "Bug Dance"  (by Stuart J Murphy) from my local library for my preschooler this week, my piano teacher wheels started churning.  This engaging MathStart Book introduces the concept of left and right as coach caterpillar teaches his gym class of bugs a new dance with these simple steps (which you can see in the preview on amazon.com):
Two steps to the Left.
(E,             D,      C, )
(Step-        ping   Down)