Celebrating Musical Milestones

Achievements are a big deal for children, and its fun to celebrate their successes along the way.  When students complete a lesson book level we celebrate with a "party" and mini-recital.  After finishing the last song in a book, they choose a few of their favorite previously learned songs review for their practice assignment and then do a mini performance for me at their lesson.  We spend the rest of the time playing games and top it off with a little treat.

And milestones like perfectly clapping and counting festival rhythms deserve recognition too!
I like how several of the apps and games used during piano lab also have built in reinforcement as they earn a new title by leveling up on Piano Maestro, become a "Rhythm Boss" on Rhythm Swing, or receive a standing ovation on Music Ace when they beat their own High score on a game.

Music Staff Monkeys

For young children, I find that concepts are more memorable when formulated into a fun game.  I incorporate games into nearly every lesson that relate specifically to concepts in their pieces.  For example  I improvised a quick game as a fun lesson starter for my 5 year old piano student who is using the My First Piano Adventures Books.  Since she's already adept at remembering the music alphabet and letter names, I upped the challenge by making a connection with the grand staff.  I had my giant staff set up on the floor when she arrived.  After she "found" the bass clef buttons that had popped off onto the wrong place on the staff and placed them above and below the Bass F line, I introduced the concept of letters on the staff by singing and pointing to the music alphabet lined up on the bottom of the bass clef starting with bass A.  The bottom line is the "Ground" (G) and then the letters step up in order (space-line-space-line-space-line, etc.).

Staff Monkey Game
1. Scramble 3 sets of monkey alphabet cards face down.
2. Take turns picking monkey card "ABCs" to place on the correct line or space by singing up the music alphabet as you point to space-line-space-line on the staff.
3.  The first player to get the all of their monkeys in a column on the staff wins.
Time flies when your having fun!

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.