Tuesday evening, we held our fifth Private Eye Workshop of the year. Our theme for this one was Folk Songs from Around the World. Here are some picture highlights from the event: In keeping with our Key Signature theme for the month, we started out with a game. One at a time, I had each […]
Free Pre-Reading Arrangement of Come Christians, Join to Sing
If you’re not already a regular reader of Susan Paradis’ Teacher Resources blog, you really should be! She has all sorts of wonderful worksheets and game ideas. Check out this great little pre-reading arrangement she just posted of Come Christians, Join to Sing. I’m always looking for more good music options for those pre-reading students. […]
Key Signature Game with Mr. Whacker!
As I mentioned Friday, I’m doing a “Simon Says” game this week to reinforce our key signature theme of the month. I wasn’t quite sure how to adapt the idea to a private lesson, but after a bit of brainstorming, this is what I came up with. I have the student spread out two sets […]
Monday Mailbag – Teaching Pentascales
When do you introduce the five finger pentascale to a student? Any information regarding pentascales would be greatly appreciated. I usually introduce pentascales as soon as the student has learned the names of all the white keys and understands half steps and whole steps. We start with the C-Major pentascale, and I teach them the […]
Fresh and Fun! Idea for Key Signatures
Steve, over at Music Ed Lounge, is the one who first suggested a theme of key signatures for this month (thanks, Steve!). Next week, I’m planning to use his Fresh and Fun! idea of “Simon Says” with my students. If you have a Fresh and Fun! idea you’d like to contribute for focusing on Key […]
Major Minor Scale Matchup Free Worksheet
Since my students have been doing well with the Key Signature – Scale Matchup worksheets, I thought it might be helpful to use a similar format to help them understand the relationship between relative keys. In the Major-Minor Scale Matchup worksheet, students are supposed to draw a line connecting each scale in the left hand […]
