Inspired by this Bag O’ Blocks and several others like it that I’ve seen, I decided to try making my own scale blocks. I could have just bought this wonderful set from Music Educator’s Marketplace, but I wanted to have several octave sets and couldn’t afford to buy more than one.
So, I began my creative endeavor with the following supplies:
60 one-inch wooden blocks, matte finish craft paint, 4 one-inch paint sponges, small paint brush, a can of clear acrylic sealer (also matte finish)
Step 1:
Make sure I know what I’m doing. I drew up this little diagram so that I would know which blocks needed to be painted white-black-white-black and which ones needed to be painted white-white-white-black.
Step 2:
Start painting! I painted white first that way if there was overlap, the black would cover it up.
Step 4:
Keep painting! Since there were two sides that didn’t need key names, I decided to paint them in my studio colors: red and yellow. The longest part of this project was painting all the key names. It would have probably worked (and definitely been faster!) to use a paint pen, rather than a brush, but I didn’t have any on hand and didn’t feel like making a run to the store.
Step 5:
The paint dried very fast, so as soon as I finished the last key name I took them outside and sprayed them with the acrylic sealer. I left them out to dry for about 10 minutes, then turned them over and sprayed the other side. After about another 10-15 minutes, they were done. (I definitely advise using a sealer. It was amazing how much better the blocks looked and felt after they were sprayed with it. I can tell they will last longer this way!)
Step 6:
Bag them up, with two complete octaves per set, and think of lots of ways to use them! I’ve already used the scale blocks at least 5 times this week and hope to post some specific ideas in the future. They are such a blast!
Dear Natalie,
Your ingenious and creative ideas always inspire me. I am tempted to do the same!
Lydia
Thanks for your kind words, Lydia! You should go for it – it’s a lot of fun!
~Natalie
I made 5 sets of the two octaves!I teach group piano and these are going to be so handy for game time. Thank you so much for the pictures and instructions–they really helped. I bought the blocks online from caseyswood.com for 10 cents a piece. I made all five sets for about 28.00 total.
My 12 year old and 7 year old helped with the painting. It was fun and they look great!
Thanks again!
That’s great, Cindy! Thanks for the great on-line resource for the wood blocks, too!
~Natalie
HI Natalie,
I just finished making the scale blocks . It was so much fun. Can you please tell me from where you got the bags to store them?
Thanks for the great ideas.
Savithri
That’s great, Savithri! I got the bags at our local teacher resource center. It’s primarily for the public school teachers, but is also open to other teachers in the area. I bet there is a place you can order them on-line, though. Perhaps a teacher supply website.
I love the idea, but I am having a hard time visualizing the sides of the block that I can’t see. How many sides will not have a letter name?
Stephanie~
Two of the sides will not have a letter name. I painted one of those red, and one yellow. Then two opposite sides have the same letter name (C) and the in between sides have either C-sharp or C-flat. Does that help?
ah.. I think I get it. So for every letter of the scale it will follow the same patter. such as D, D# D Db; E, E#, E, Eb. .etc.
love your blog!
I just received my order from caseyswood.com, fast service! I have a set of the BagOBlocks but I, too, wanted to have multiple sets. This is one of my summer projects! Thanks for sharing your instructions!
Oh, and I also got some game pieces from caseys I’m going to paint to use for various board games (I’ve been using bingo chips).
Jann
I’m sure this is one of those “duh” moments, but why are some #’s and b’s black and others are white? Why aren’t they all black (or white, for that matter?)
Hi Joy!
The colors are to correspond to the color of the key on the piano.
I told you I would feel dumb . . . I feel like I just asked why all the keys on the piano weren’t the same color!
I had the same question for a few moments until I realized it corresponded to black and white notes!! I hope to find/make these blocks at some point – I’m always on the lookout for more games! Thanks for this site! I initially found you through the Faber teacher forum.
Would you mind also explaining your step 1 – why you needed 12 of the first block and only 8 of the next ones? I’m sure there is a very simple explanation, but at this moment it is eluding me!! Thanks for your help, as I am quite interested in making these and want to make sure I totally understand it!
Never mind … upon looking closely once more at the photo – I realized that you have 4 sets of blocks, 2 octaves each, necessitating 3 C’s in each set (beginning and ending note).
I made my own scale blocks just yesterday, and am so eager to use them! Thanks for sharing this great idea!
Hi Natalie! I’m finally going to make my scale blocks (spring break project!), and it seems I’m having trouble understanding the sides of the blocks.
So, since there are 6 sides to the block, they would be like this for C, for example?: C-flat, C, C#, another C, then 2 sides of the color(s) of my choice? Is this right?
Yes, that’s right Lisa! Have fun!
Hi Natalie, I made your blocks last summer and it is simply the best idea! I use them all the time when I am teaching. They have been especially helpful with building minor scales and they have helped my younger students better understand triads and inversions. You have an amazing blog! Great job!