I thought I would let you know that I created a separate page with all the links I listed in my post, Links Galore for Music Games, Quizzes and Activities! I wanted to provide an easy way for my students to access the various music games and activities during the week without having to type all the urls in by hand. It’s just a barebones page, but the layout is better than on a blog post and should be a handy reference page. Feel free to bookmark it and refer your students to it as well. And if you have suggestions for other music game or activity links that I should include on the list, please let me know!

Have you seen or used Pandora Radio? If not, you have got to check it out! My friend Olivia just mentioned it in an e-mail and I did a quick search to find out what she was talking about. The tagline is, “Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music.” When you first go to the site, you just enter the name of a favorite composition or composer and the radio station starts playing other similar pieces. This makes for great background music as I work on my computer and I’m especially loving the free part! It just may beat out iTunes for frequency of use on my computer from now on. I look forward to exploring it more in the days ahead.

I love teaching! This is my first week back to teaching after my summer break and I am loving it! I took a little more time off than usual this summer, so I was afraid my students would be pretty rusty. I have been pleasantly surprised. I think I’m rustier than most of them!

There are a couple of phrases that I’ve found myself using with students this week that have been very helpful:

“Play this like it’s the easiest thing in the world for you.” - I use this when I observe tension in a student’s hand and they are having trouble making transitions from one place to another on the keyboard (i.e. parallel 5ths). Usually this is a result of them feeling like they can’t leave the keys or they might lose their place or hit a wrong note. So I demonstrate with a really relaxed hand and arm motion, floating off the keys, looking away from the piano, etc. and then landing back down in the new key position. Inevitably they find that it’s not as hard to make the transition as they were making it on themselves.

“Drill that section until it feels easy to play.” - Instead of telling them to practice a section a certain number of times, I’ve started using this phrase that requires them to honestly evaluate their playing and progress and puts them in charge of deciding how much practice it needs. They are not focused on counting repetitions, but rather on making progress. So what if they can play it 4 times in a row perfectly? If it still doesn’t feel easy in their hand, they will probably mess it up anyway.

My focus this year is on mastery, so I’m trying not to let my students get away with barely scraping by. I want them to feel comfortable and at-ease when they are playing, not like they are walking on the edge of a cliff and could experience a disastrous slip at any moment. So, for example, if every note of their scale has me on pins and needles wondering if they are going to make it to the end (and please tell me I’m not the only one who hears scales played like this regularly…!), they don’t get to pass it and move on. They have to convince me that they’ve put in the effort and have mastered it in order to progress to the next scale. We’ll see how that plays out this year!

I’ve never taken the time to make my own note flashcards even though I have Finale notation software and really need to learn how to use it more effectively! However, while I was doing a quick search tonight for some flashcards, I came across this great site with free printable music flashcards, handouts and worksheets, so I guess I really don’t need to learn how to make my own flashcards just yet. These note flashcards are the ones I really like because they include over 5 octaves, a wider range than I’ve seen in other flashcard sets.

In the past I’ve always preferred note flashcards that include both the treble and bass clef, regardless of where the note is placed. But as I looked at these, I realized that there is some value in seeing only the clef in which the note is located since music is not always written with treble clef on the top and bass clef on the bottom. It’s helpful for students to train themselves to recognize the placement of individual notes in preparation for playing pieces where both hands are in the same clef or where individual notes have a different clef placed in front of them just for the duration of that note.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve instituted a rather informal computer lab option in my studio this semester. Students can opt to sign up for an additional 15 minutes in the computer lab either before or after their lesson time. This is a simple, generic form I created for the students to sign up on at our kick-off event for the year. You can download and use it in your studio by clicking the image below.

This year, the theme for my studio is Mastering the Mystery of Music. I was planning to develop a full-fledged computer lab for my students, but decided to start with something a little less formal and see how it goes for the first year. I’m giving each student the option of signing up for 15 minutes of computer lab time either before or after their lesson. At their lesson each week, I’ll assign them some specific music activities, games or worksheets from the list I’ve compiled below that will correspond to whatever mastery challenges they’ve decided to work toward that week. (Each week, they may choose two or more mastery challenges from lists I’ve put together in the front of their assignment books. It’s all part of this year’s incentive plan, which I hope to make available along with my other practice incentive programs early next summer.)

I’ve scoured the Internet to compile this list of specific music activities and games that relate to certain areas, but I would love to know what other sites you use with your students! (You can also click here to download this list as a clickable link pdf file.)

STAFF SCOUT
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/noteNames.html - name notes on staff
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/speedNoteNames.html - name notes on staff before they disappear!
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/pianoKeys.html - click corresponding key on piano
http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id82_en.html - name notes on staff
http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id80_en.html - name keys on piano
http://www.teoria.com/exercises/read.htm - click corresponding key on piano
http://www.pedaplus.com/flash_notes_2.0.html - advance through levels of difficulty by correctly identifying the notes on the staff
http://www.practicespot.com/theorycenter.phtml?cat=4 – worksheets to help improve note identification
http://www.musiclearningcommunity.com/Game%20pages/PageTurnerLetterNames/Treble%20spaces/PgTurnLettersTrebleSpaces-Practice.htm - identify F-A-C-E in the treble clef
http://www.musiclearningcommunity.com/Free%20Game%20Pages/FREEKeybdTrebCDEFGpractice.htm - identify C-D-E-F-G in the treble clef and play on piano

SCALE SLEUTH
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/scales.html - arrange notes to construct the specified scale in the treble clef
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/scalesBass.html - arrange notes to construct the specified scale in the bass clef
http://www.teoria.com/exercises/sc.htm - arrange notes to construct the specified scale
http://www.teoria.com/exercises/si.htm - identify the scale you see on the staff
http://www.practicespot.com/theorycenter.phtml?cat=10 – worksheets to help improve scale knowledge

CHORD COMMANDER
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/chords.html - build the specified scale in the treble clef
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/chordsBass.html - build the specified scale in the bass clef
http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id85_en.html - identify the quality of the chord you see
http://www.practicespot.com/theorycenter.phtml?cat=6 – worksheets to help improve chord knowledge

RHYTHM RECON
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/rhythmPerf.html - click the mouse in time with the metronome to “play” the rhythm pattern that is displayed
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/rhythmDict.html - listen to a rhythm pattern and then arrange the note values in the correct order
http://sites.google.com/a/wendyspianostudio.com/wendys-piano-studio/teaching-resources/music-progression-rhythms - practice rhythm drills according to the Music Progressions levels

TERMINOLOGY TRAINER
http://www.ptg.org/hangman/hangman.php - a fun hangman game with familiar music terms
http://www.ptg.org/justForFun-concentrationNotes.php - a fun concentration/memory game with musical symbols
http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/ - multimedia music dictionary with audio pronunciation guide

LISTENING LIEUTENANT
http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id90_en.html - identify intervals by ear
http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id91_en.html - identify scales by ear
http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id92_en.html - identify chords by ear
http://www.teoria.com/exercises/ritmo-ear.htm - rhythmic dictation
http://www.teoria.com/exercises/ie.htm - identify intervals by ear
http://www.teoria.com/exercises/se.htm - identify scales by ear
http://www.teoria.com/exercises/c3e.htm - identify chords by ear
http://www.pedaplus.com/flash/2_note_practice.html - play back the two notes your hear – PRACTICE
http://www.pedaplus.com/flash/2_intervals.html - play back the two notes you hear – GAME!
http://www.pedaplus.com/flash/3_note_practice.html - play back the three notes you hear – PRACTICE
http://www.pedaplus.com/flash/3_intervals.html - Play back the three notes you hear – GAME!
http://www.pedaplus.com/flash/tutorials/sound_card_template.html - identify harmonic intervals
http://www.musiclearningcommunity.com/Free%20Game%20Pages/FREESongBirdsDR-Practice.htm - click on song birds to play back a melodic pattern
http://www.musiclearningcommunity.com/Free%20Game%20Pages/FREETumbleTriadsMaMiPractice.htm - identify chords as Major or minor
http://www.ossmann.com/bigears/ - identify intervals by ear

KEY SIGNATURE SPECIALIST
http://www.emusictheory.com/practice/keySignatures.html - identify the key signature you see
http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id83_en.html - identify the key signature you see
http://www.teoria.com/exercises/kc.htm - add sharps or flats to form the correct key signature
http://www.teoria.com/exercises/ki.htm - identify the key signature you see
http://www.practicespot.com/theorycenter.phtml?cat=8 – worksheets to help drill key signatures
http://musicmattersblog.com/2006/07/31/circle-of-5ths-worksheets/ - circle of 5ths worksheets to print out

COMPOSERS
http://classicsforkids.com/shows/thisweek.asp - short on-line radio programs about different composers with accompanying worksheets that can be printed out
http://www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/greatcomposers/ - timeline, pictures and biographies of some of the great composers
http://www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/activitiesgames/games/popNameComposer.html - a short quiz to test your knowledge of different composers

INSTRUMENTS
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/takomaparkms/academics/cs/grade8projects/learnaboutmusic/sections.html - learn about different instruments in the symphony orchestra
http://www.sfskids.org/templates/instorchframe.asp?pageid=3 – fun, interactive way to learn about the instruments of the symphony orchestra
http://www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/instrumentlab/ - view and listen to virtual instruments
http://www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/activitiesgames/games/popNameInstrument.html - a short quiz to test how well you recognize the sound of different instruments
http://www.swentelomania.be/ancient/framese.html - fascinating information about ancient instruments

FUN EXTRAS
http://www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/activitiesgames/games/popComposeMusic.html - drag and drop notes on the staff to form a short, simple composition

Have you taken a little tour through the Adventure World of Little Amadeus yet? The site design is absolutely beautiful and I couldn’t help but explore all the options available to the visitor! In the Teacher’s Room of the Music School you will find a fun lesson plan, an illustrated Music Lexicon and a speedy game to test your knowledge of composition types! The Classroom of the Music School has some fun interactive learning activities and quizzes that are sure to engage students. If you visit the Mozart House, you can meet the family members and friends of Little Amadeus and stroll through the Adventure World to play a variety of games. Lastly, be sure to stop by the Post Office to sign up for the newsletter and leave a note in the Guestbook!

Apparently while I’ve been out of town, the download company I use reached the maximum level of downloads allowed under my account, so several people who tried to purchase items and download them were unsuccessful. Sorry about that! I’ve upgraded my account now so that it should work properly. Head on over to the Music Matters Blog store to find Practice Incentive Programs, a Recital Program Cover, or a beautiful Music Manuscript Book.

Feel free to contact me if you experience any difficulties. Thanks!

(By the way, I’ll be back in town later this week and hope to be back on my semi-regular posting schedule. Look for pictures from my Fall Kick-Off after Thursday. )