Category Archives: by student’s level

Musical Instruments Quizzing/Sorting game

By joy (admin) | Published: 31 January 2012

My Homeschool Class and my Piano Readiness Class both recently finished their Musical Instruments Workbooks.  We usually complete just two pages each class, so it took us awhile to get through it! Now that we’ve finished it, we’ve been playing a fun little sorting/quizzing game using the deck of instrument cards that came with my [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, games, group classes, intermediate level, music camps, Preschool / Early Childhood Music | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How I Lesson Plan for Group Classes

By joy (admin) | Published: 20 January 2012

I’ve had a few requests lately from readers regarding more info about what kind of activities I do with my Homeschool Music Classes and Piano Readiness classes, so I thought it might first be a good idea to first give you a peek into how I lesson plan for group classes.  Although I don’t lesson [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, group classes, lesson plans, music camps, Preschool / Early Childhood Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wee Sing “Games, Games, Games”

By joy (admin) | Published: 12 January 2012

For Christmas, my friend and colleague Loretta gave me the Wee Sing “Games, Games, Games” book with music.  I’ve been using it with my Homeschool Music Class with great success!  We typically do a lot of sitting as we learn about composers, listen to music, and learn about the musical instruments.  So I always find [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, movement, Preschool / Early Childhood Music, reviews | Leave a comment

First Thoughts Regarding Faber’s “My First Piano Adventure”

By joy (admin) | Published: 9 January 2012

As big of a fan as I am of Nancy & Randall Faber’s materials for piano students, somehow I’ve never had a chance to try out their “My First Piano Adventure” books — until now.  After trying out this book with a new 5-year-old student last week, I am wondering why in the world didn’t [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, by student's level, Preschool / Early Childhood Music, repertoire / methods, reviews, series | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Just Added: Musical Flashcard Sorting game

By joy (admin) | Published: 16 December 2011

This is a simple game to play with groups of students that makes note-naming flashcards a bit more interesting.   It involves sorting the flashcards onto alphabet letter signs on the floor, as pictured on the right (the “A” flashcards would go in the blank space on the right side of the page). The game [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, games, group classes, music camps, music theory, other resources | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Christmas Rhythm Learning Moments

By joy (admin) | Published: 28 November 2011

As I’m sure is currently the case with many of you, my students are working on Christmas pieces along with their usual assignments.  As usual, a few of them have encountered rhythmic “simplifications” in their arrangements (Away in a Manger and Go Tell it on the Mountain come to mind).  After pointing it out the [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, intermediate level, private lessons, rhythm, seasonal / holiday | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Make Me A Rhythm! game

By joy (admin) | Published: 18 November 2011

I was recently browsing some forums online and found a description of this game by a music educator.  It sounds like a great game to use with large groups of students — perhaps for group lessons or summer camps.  I asked the music educator if I could post about the game on my blog, and [...]

Also posted in advanced level, beginners / elementary Level, composition, games, games, group classes, intermediate level, music camps, printables, rhythm | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Musical Hopscotch” game

By joy (admin) | Published: 17 November 2011

About year ago, Sheryl Welles posted on her blog about a “Twister Hopscotch” game that she modified into a wonderful music game.  Basically, all you have to do is use Avery circle stickers of some kind to make the spinner into a music spinner with rhythmic note values. Here’s how the game works: In advance, [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, games, group classes, intermediate level, movement, music camps, Preschool / Early Childhood Music, rhythm | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Just Added: Musical Leaves Matchup game

By joy (admin) | Published: 10 November 2011

This is a short music game I created as a way to reinforce the names of the piano keys with young beginners.  It only takes a few minutes to play, but my students seemed to enjoy it.  It gives them a break from the usual drill I do, where I have them find 3 different [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, games, group classes, music camps, Preschool / Early Childhood Music, printables, private lessons, seasonal / holiday | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

9 Tips for Teaching Piano To Young Ages

By joy (admin) | Published: 7 November 2011

As piano teachers, we wear many hats.  School teachers often teach only one age group, or a few age groups.  Piano teachers are usually expected to be able to teach from age 5 to 95!  But as we all know, teaching a 5-year-old is much different from teaching a 15-year-old, or a 55-year-old.  :) In [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, by student's level, improving as a teacher, motivation, Preschool / Early Childhood Music, private lessons, professional development | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Staff Paper – Large Staff for Simple Compositions

By joy (admin) | Published: 4 November 2011

With my Piano Readiness Class, we’ve been learning about staff notation.  Last week, each student composed a mini-composition on the piano and then we together notated the piece.  We used colorful markers to label the notes (A, B, C, etc) and also wrote in finger numbers, so they can continue playing their compositions at home. [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, composition, music theory, other resources | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Recent Purchases: Scale Blocks & A Technique Monkey

By joy (admin) | Published: 3 November 2011

I don’t know about you, but I’m always on the lookout for creative and inexpensive items for my teaching.  The dollar store is one of my favorite places to go! In the craft aisle at Dollar Tree right now, there are packages of foam cubes, as shown in the picture.  I’ve always wanted to make [...]

Also posted in beginners / elementary Level, games, group classes, music theory, private lessons, resources / links, settings:, technique, what I'm up to | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments
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