Last Thursday evening we held our fifth Olympic Event of the year (The Olympic Events are part of my practice incentive this year, which is titled “Go For the Gold.” After the year is over, I’ll compile all the materials and add it to my selection of practice incentive programs available for purchase.). My objective for this event was to help students learn the definitions of basic musical terms that it seems like I’m always having to remind them of during their lessons. As in…student has played their piece and I ask them what the tempo of the piece should be. Invariably I get a glazed-over look as if to say, “I have no idea what you’re talking about…I’ve never heard that word before…” So I remind them for the 47th time what the word tempo means. I was determined that after Thursday night I would never have to remind any of the attending students again what any of these terms mean (Realistic? I doubt it…but I’ve never been known for being a particularly realistic person. Idealism suits me much better… ). The six terms I chose for the night were: Tempo, Dynamics, Articulation, Mood, Key Signature, and Key, but the following activities could be adapted to any terms of your choosing.

Here’s the outline for the evening detailed descriptions of each of the activities:
* Terms That Stretch My Brain Object Lesson
I got this idea from a children’s conference I attended years ago and I just love it! (My students loved it too and kept asking, “How are you doing that? Are you magic?”) Here are step-by-step instructions for how to conduct this activity:

1. Print out the Terms That Stretch My Brain cards and display sign on cardstock paper. Cut along the dashed lines.

2. Introduce each term one at a time to the group of students. Have a student volunteer come to the front of the room and hold the term card in one hand and the definition card in the other hand. Say the term and definition once and then have all the students repeat it together after you (e.g. “Tempo means rate of speed”, “Key Signature means the sharps or flats notated at the beginning of the piece.”) Continue this process with each of the terms and definitions, having a new student volunteer come to the front and hold each pair. After adding each new term, review all the previous terms by having the students recite them together as you point to each student volunteer.

3. Collect the pairs from each student, placing the cards face down and making two separate stacks with all the terms in one stack and all the definitions in the other stack. Be sure that the location of the cards in the stack corresponds to the matching card in the other stack. Once all the cards are stacked, place one stack on top of the other. Shuffle the cards by placing the top card on the bottom until the students give the signal for you to stop. Count out six cards off the top and place them one at a time face down in a stack. Place the remaining six cards beside it without counting the cards off the top.

4. Refer to your Terms That Stretch My Brain display sign and tell the students that you will place the top card of either stack on the bottom of that stack for each letter of the word “Terms.” At any time one of the students can yell switch and you must switch to the other stack, placing the top card on the bottom. Once you move the card for the last letter of the word, flip over the top card on one of the stacks. Show it to the students and ask them if they can correctly recite either the matching term or definition (depending on which one is on the card you already showed them). Once they do so, flip over the card on the top of the other pile to see if they are correct. The top of the other card will be the match for the first card. If they are correct, let that student hold the matching pair. Continue the same process with each of the words on the display sign. Amazingly, the top cards on each pile will be a matching pair every time!

* Making Musical Term Posters

I divided the students into four groups and assigned each group a term (Tempo, Dynamics, Articulation, Mood). Their job was to design a poster for that term, including the term name and definition that we learned and all the symbols or other terms that would be included in that category. (e.g. Dynamics would include crescendo and diminuendo marks, forte and piano symbols, etc.) I had a stack of music dictionaries available for reference and the students had fun looking things up and learning new words (ever heard of Allegrissimo?). I also provided each group with a sheet of posterboard and lots of markers, crayons, colored pencils and stickers. After the allotted time was up, I had each group stand at the front of the room and show their poster to the other students and explain the symbols and terms they included on it.

* Performances
For the performance time, the students took their turns according to their term groupings. All the students from the Tempo group went first. As each of them played, the observing students were instructed to listen specifically for musical sounds they heard that related to Tempo. After each performance, we shared what things we heard, reinforcing the vocabulary of terms they learned while designing their posters. We followed the same procedure for each of the other three term categories.

We had a really great time and went over our scheduled hour and a half by almost 20 minutes. I told the students that I’ll keep their posters in the studio and if they come across new terms in their pieces or by doing their own research we can add them to the posters. I even agreed to give them extra points if they came up with new terms that aren’t already on the posters. And maybe, just maybe, in addition to having fun they’ll even start to become fluent in this often elusive language of music.

Last night we had a group class in the studio. Our focus for the evening was on “listening,” to correspond with the previous five-week session of our incentive program this year. In between performances we played listening-related games - Team Rhythmic Dictation, Team Melodic Dictation and Interval BINGO in pairs.

GAME #1: Team Rhythmic Dictation

Here’s part of the group that attended the class. I forgot to take pictures of the team rhythmic dictation, but it’s pretty easy to figure out. Here’s a basic run-down of the rules:
1. Split the students into two teams.
2. Give each team a set of note and rest value cards (just print these and cut them out; for better durability, I recommend laminating them and then cutting them out).
3. Specify the time signature and number of measures (we just used pencils as bar lines).
4. Give a count-in and then play a rhythm pattern on the piano.
5. Each team places the note and rest value cards in front of them to accurately reflect the rhythm pattern that you played.
6. Play three times to give them time to check their pattern for accuracy.
7. Correct any inaccuracies and then have everyone clap and count the pattern together.

GAME #2: Team Melodic Dictation

1. Split the students into two teams.
2. Give each team 5 bean bags and a giant-sized grand staff (this is one that I got from a retiring teacher several years ago that is drawn onto a large piece of vinyl - you can also purchase a giant-sized grand staff floor mat)
3. Specify the starting note for the melodic pattern and have them place the first bean bag in place (I used the smiley face ball for that purpose!)
4. Play a melodic 5-note pattern and have the students place the remaining bean bags in the correct places on the staff. I started out only playing only 2nds for the first couple of patterns, then I incorporated 3rds as well.
5. Switch teams and repeat the process for the second team. Alternate back and forth, with each team accumulating one point for correctly notating the pattern.

GAME #3: Interval BINGO

1. Group the students into pairs.
2. Give each pair a magnetic dry erase board, marker and handful of magnets.
3. Have them section the board as shown in the picture above.
4. Instruct each pair to randomly place intervals in each of the squares as follows: 2-2nds, 2-3rds, 2-4ths, 2-5ths, 2-6ths, 1-7th and 1-8ve.
5. Play an interval on the piano for the students to identify by ear.
6. Instruct students to place a magnet (or magnets) on the interval that you played. Once they have 4-in-a-row down, 3-in-a-row across or 3-in-a-row diagonally they should yell, “Interval!”
7. Check to see if the intervals marked on their board with the magnets match the intervals that you played. If so, that teams wins!

All of these games seemed to be a hit with the students and I was able to adapt the dictation ones on the spot to match the levels of the students. I’ve been trying to work with my students more on listening to their playing as well. It was exciting to hear several of them actually hold out the last note of their pieces for the full value (even with fermatas!) and not hop off the bench and run back to their seat as soon as they hit the last note. Ah, the little signs of progress that thrill a teacher’s heart!

Have you seen D’Net’s new website? It is loaded with all sorts of free downloadable worksheets and game ideas and now that she has her new site up, everything is categorized and easy to find. You must check it out!

We just finished up a 5-week session focusing on rhythm and sight-reading in my studio, so at our group event last Thursday I decided to play a game related to rhythm. I grabbed my rhythm chart, cut slips of paper into squares with numbers 1-9 written on each card (I wrote each number on four different slips so that there were four complete sets of numbers), and packed up three dry erase boards and markers.

Here’s how the game worked:
1. Students were divided into three teams.
2. The first team selected a representative to go to the piano and play the rhythm patterns.
3. The team representative selected the slips of paper from a bag (the team determined together how many slips they wanted the representative to draw).
4. As they drew the slips, they lined them up in order on the music rack.
5. The representative could take a few minutes to look over the chart and prepare, then he/she counted in and played the rhythm patterns in succession while their team listened and tried to determine which blocks they played and in which order. (I held the chart up so that it was visible to both the representative playing the rhythm at the piano and the rest of the team trying to determine what was played.)
6. The team wrote the rhythm block numbers on the dry erase board in the order they thought each was played and was given three chances to listen to the rhythm before showing their final answer.
7. The other teams also listened and tried to determine the correct rhythm blocks.
8. After the third playing of the rhythm, the team displayed their answer. If they were correct, they received 10 points times the number of slips of paper drawn. If they were incorrect, the other teams could show their answers and receive 5 points times the number of slips of paper drawn if they were correct.

This proved to be a very engaging game that required students both to accurately play and identify rhythm patterns. It also proved to be more challenging for the students than they first expected. One team attempted a six block pattern, but missed one. Four blocks at a time ended up being the most popular choice. It turned out to be a lot of fun!

Just the other day I had a student who was struggling to understand the concept of the dotted quarter note. These NoteBlocks would have been an incredible help! I just finished watching the demo and can see lots of ways that these would be useful in both individual and group lessons.

Thanks to Tanya for directing me to this great teaching tool!

We just concluded our first week of piano camps here at the studio. With my older group, I decided to try a new project - writing and filming a documentary of the great hymn writer Isaac Watts. Each of the six students in this group are church musicians, so I thought it would be a fun way for them to learn some history and work together. We alternated between time spent working on this project, working on an ensemble piece, learning theory concepts and playing a few games. It was a ton of fun and I’m impressed with the quality of work they produced for a first effort.

Here’s a brief outline of how we put this project together:

1. Research - I provided books and printed pages from Internet resources and gave a section to each student, along with a hi-lighter. They were to read the information and hi-light any information that they thought was interesting and could be included in the script. Once they had finished reading their sections, I had everyone share the things they hi-lighted with everyone else.

2. Compile - We discussed the specific quotes that could be used in the script and began to brainstorm filming ideas.

3. Storyboard - I reviewed the example of this storyboard and printed out multiple copies of the free downloadable template. The students began drafting visual images of what they wanted to film for each scene and a general idea of what should be included in the narration.

4. Scripting - Each student took home one of the scenes and was assigned to write the script for that scene. The following day they read what they had written to the rest of the group. Several of the scenes overlapped so they opted to combine three of them into one scene, reducing the 8-scene outline to 6 scenes.

5. Film - One of the students was assigned to be the prop manager and collected the necessary props to set the scenes. The cameraman, actors and props manager started filming while the three other students worked on editing and typing the script.

6. Record - We tested each of the students reading the first couple lines of narration and then they voted on which one sounded best. The narrator moved into another room and began recording the narration while the other students worked on editing.

7. Edit - I gave the students a brief overview of how to use the editing software I purchased for the project and then let them take over and layout and format the scenes.

8. Finishing Touches - Once the recording and editing were complete I imported the narration into the software program and recorded the soundtrack. (Ideally I would have had one or more students do this part as well, but we ran out of time.) I did a little bit of tweaking to make sure the narration lined up with the filmed scenes and then rendered it and saved it as an MPG, uploaded it to Google Video and posted it here!

Here’s a list of the equipment we used for this project:
1. Canon Elura 100 MiniDV Camcorder - After doing quite a bit of research, reading reviews, getting advice from friends in the film industry and comparing prices, I decided to purchase this Canon camcorder. This had all the features I really wanted - MiniDV format, external mic jack, and SD memory card slot for expanded memory. I’ve been very pleased with it so far!

2. Adobe Premiere Elements - I ended up buying this bundled version that included Photoshop Elements because I’ve been wanting to get that software for a while, too, and it was a great deal to get them both in this bundled package.

3. Firewire Cable (4-pin - 4-pin) - This had to be purchased separately and was necessary in order to transfer video from the camera to the computer. Ebay yielded quite a few options for well below retail price.

4. Laptop Computer - I was a little worried that the software would be too cumbersome to run on my laptop, but it worked just fine.

5. Computer Mic - Used to record the narration.

6. Audacity Audio Recording Software - Open Source (i.e. Free) and very intuitive.

7. Clavinova CLP 220 - This is what I used to record the soundtrack.

8. 6 ft. Shielded Cable, 1/4″ plug to 1/8″ plug - I plugged this cable into the headphone jack of the Clavinova and into the mic jack of the laptop, using it as my line-in source for recording the soundtrack.

Check out Karen’s latest post on how she helped a group of students learn the basics of composition in 11 easy-to-understand steps. This can be such a challenging area for some students, so Karen’s list will be a wonderful tool to help them get started!

For our Mid-Winter Ball, the theme was “an evening of serious music - experience the masterpieces of yesteryear composed by world famous musicians.” Each student played a classical piece and shared a biographical sketch of their composer. The games centered around the composers represented in the performances. Here’s a game that was a favorite!

Composer Trading Game
1. Print and cut out out 8 copies of the Composer Trading Cards
2. Separate each of the composers into his own stack. (There are 20 different composers.)
3. Select as many composers as you have students playing the game and mix them into one deck. (e.g. If you have 10 students, select 10 of the composers and include all 8 cards with that composer in the final deck of cards.)
4. Pass out 8 cards to each player or pair. (I paired students up at the beginning of the evening and they played this game in pairs.)
5. When you give the signal to begin, every player has to try to trade cards with the other players in an effort to collect all of the same composer. This is accomplished by holding out the cards they desire to trade face down and calling out the number of cards they are trading. (If you’re familiar with the game, Pit, that’s what this is patterned after.) Only cards picturing the same composer may be traded in a single trade. (e.g. A player may hold out a set of 3 cards with Schubert, but not 3 cards with Schubert, Grieg and Mozart.)
6. Players may change the number of cards they are trading at any time in order to complete a trade with another player.
7. Once a player has collected all 8 cards for one composer, they must ding a bell (or, I had them run to the piano and play the middle C).
8. Check to be sure they have collected all 8 cards!

Here’s a video of the Composer Trading Game in action!

Throughout the year this year I’m holding six musical balls for my students. It’s part of our studio incentive program for the year, Let’s Have A Ball! (After the year is over, I’m hoping to package it up like I did the Climbing the Ladder to Success incentive program.) At each of the balls, I hold a drawing and give out a prize to the three students whose names are drawn. The theme of the Spring Ball is original compositions and arrangements, so I thought it would be fitting if the prize was a music dictionary. I absolutely love this music dictionary from FJH:

The FJH Classic Music Dictionary By Edwin Mclean. The FJH Piano Teaching Library. Features: Handy reference charts, and index of musical symbols, a table of common chords, reference for electronic music, guide to orchestral instruments and more. Reference. Level: All levels. Book. Published by The FJH Music Company, Inc. (FF1149) See more info…

Not only did I get a 10% discount for ordering more than one copy, I was also able to track down the following coupon code to receive an additional $1.50 off the order. (This coupon code is good on any order from Sheet Music Plus.)

Coupon Code: s07-5dd-m53
Expiration Date: March 9, 2007

Looking for a fun game to play with a group of students that will also help them work on note identification? Try having a spelling bee! Here’s how it works:

1. Divide the students into two or more groups.
2. Give each group a set of flashcards with notes on the staff (make sure the answer isn’t on the back! Click on these links for a perfectly suited set you can print and use: Page One, Page Two, Page Three. These are a wonderful creation designed by Flo of Pianimals.)
3. Directions to students: when a word is called from the list, they must arrange the flashcards in the correct order to spell the word and stand facing you so that you can “read” the word from left to right. Once they are arranged in the correct order, they must ding a bell or give some other signal to indicate that they are done.
4. Call out one of the words. (Below is a list of words that can be spelled using only the letters in the musical alphabet.)
5. Each team that arranges the notes correctly gets one point. The team to spell the word first gets one additional point. The team with the most points at the end wins!
6. Have fun!

Musical Alphabet Words
(click here to download a printable version of this list.)

A

ace

adage

age

aged

B

babe

bad

bade

badge

bag

baggage

bead

bed

bee

beef

beg

C

cab

cabbage

cad

cafe

cage

D

dab

dabbed

dad

dead

deaf

decade

E

edge

egg

F

façade

face

fad

fade

fed

feed

G

gab

gag

gage