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Listening Sheet for Young Students

joy (admin) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:24:28 +0000

As I mentioned last week, during my recent Piano Party/recital rehearsal I gave a listening sheet to my young beginners to complete as they listened to their fellow students perform. Here’s what it looked like:

I put each sheet in a plastic sheet protector and gave them a dry erase marker with a piece of felt so they could re-use the sheet for each piece they heard. It worked pretty well — my students were very attentive and really liked telling me about what they circled between pieces!

This worksheet would also work well for private lessons or group classes with beginner students to use while listening to recordings — like Carnival of the Animals, or whatever.

I do wish the sheet protector cleaned off a little better. The ones I used have kind of a matte surface…maybe I need to get some of the thicker, shiny ones? Or try laminating?

Anyway, my students really enjoyed this listening sheet! I found the clip art on some various public domain clip art sites. You could easily design your own the same way. Or if you’d like to download mine, visit the Printables > Worksheets page and scroll down to the L’s for “Listening Sheet for Young Students.”

P.S.: As requested, I added a page to the Rhythm Value Cards pdf: three beamed eighth note cards for use in compound time signatures. (Thanks for catching that, Bee!)

[Visit Listening Sheet for Young Students to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Just Added: Music Staff Paper for Stickers of all Sizes

joy (admin) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:22:07 +0000

Guess what! Tomorrow is Color In My Piano’s THREE YEAR anniversary! Woohoo! I’ve got a few fun posts and giveaways planned for later this week in honor of our anniversary. But today, I thought I’d share this new printable:

I love having my piano students compose their own music, even when they are young beginners. I try to make it easy and fun for them. That’s why I created this pdf: music staff paper for composing with stickers! I must give credit to my friend Michelle from Michigan for the idea of using stickers for composing with students (Thanks, Michelle!).

This pdf contains a variety of various sizes of staff paper for use with any stickers you might find. You can find plain, round stickers at most office supply stores or even the dollar store. Other stickers like star- or heart-shaped ones will probably work fine too, and might be a fun way to reflect whatever holiday is coming up. I would recommend using large stickers with young students, and smaller stickers with older students. On the bottom of each page in the pdf, it indicates what size stickers you’ll need with each sheet of staff paper. The various colors of the stickers can represent certain rhythm values or sections of the composition. Be creative!

(Please forgive the gray markings on the paper you can see in the photos — my printer’s toner is low!)

Here’s a couple of quick ideas for using this printable:

Send students home with a sheet of stickers and a few pieces of staff paper, and assign them to create a short composition using whatever concepts you are currently learning about. E.g., steps, skips, forte and piano, eighth notes, etc.
Composing with stickers could be a fun activity during group lessons too! It helps speed up the composing process too, because writing out notation can be a laborious activity for young beginners. Students could later be assigned to transcribe their piece into tradition notation. I plan to use this staff paper to compose with stickers during one of my summer camps: “So, You Want To Be A Composer?”.
Try doing melodic dictation with stickers!

You can download this pdf by visiting the Printables > Other Resources page and scrolling down to the S’s for Staff Paper for Composing with Stickers.

Let me know if you have requests for other staff sizes to fit whatever stickers you have. Enjoy!

[Visit Just Added: Music Staff Paper for Stickers of all Sizes to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

A Piano Valentine Variation…

joy (admin) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:03:07 +0000

Susan Johannessen shared this cute variation of the Piano Valentine idea I shared on Monday on the ColorInMyPiano facebook page…

Love this!!

If you have photos of the valentines you’d made, please send them to me at admin[AT]colorinmypiano.com. I would love see your creativity!

[Visit A Piano Valentine Variation… to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Piano Valentine Craft (Printable & Tutorial)

joy (admin) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:11:52 +0000

Today, I have a fun little printable and tutorial to share just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The ladies in my Bible Study decided to hold a Craft Night last Friday, so I decided I to find a project to make music-y valentines for my piano students. However, when I googled and checked Pinterest for music-themed Valentine ideas, I came up empty-handed. So, I decided to design my own piano valentines.

I designed the grand piano shape and keyboard in Microsoft Word, and then printed the pages out on red, pink, and white cardstock paper. After cutting everything out, I embellished the piano lids with foam stickers and felt stickers. Using a glue stick, I glued the keyboard onto the piano shape, and then glued the whole piano onto the box of Sweetheart candies.

There is even a stick to hold the piano lid open! That part is optional. To make this project a little simpler, you could skip the stick if desired.

To download the free pdf for making these valentines, visit the Printables > Other Resources page and scroll down to P’s for “Piano Valentine Printable.” Directions are included in the pdf. Enjoy!

[Visit Piano Valentine Craft (Printable & Tutorial) to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Just Added: Musical Flashcard Sorting game

joy (admin) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:27:42 +0000

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 is pretty flexible, because beforehand you can sort out exactly which flashcards you want to focus on with your students. This also allows you to control how long you wish the game to continue.

You can also use different flashcards. With my Homeschool Music Class this week, we used my Piano Key naming flashcards (they came with the MiniMusic set I purchased earlier this year). With my Piano Readiness Class, we’ve been doing on-staff work so we used regular staff-note-naming flashcards (I use this set from Faber & Faber, but any flashcards will do).

Another tip with this game: if you are using the note-naming flashcards, arrange the musical alphabet signs on the floor in a column, so that A is at the bottom and G is at the top. I recommend this because this arrangement resembles the staff, where the musical alphabet progresses vertically. If you are using piano-key-naming flashcards, I would arrange the signs on the floor horizontally, just like the keyboard.

Download the pdf of the alphabet signs and detailed gameplay instructions by visiting the Printables > Games page. Scroll down to the M’s for “Musical Flashcard Sorting game.”

[Visit Just Added: Musical Flashcard Sorting game to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Staff Paper – Large Staff for Simple Compositions

joy (admin) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:44:32 +0000

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. They loved the idea of being composers!

This is the sheet paper we used to notate our compositions. Young students tend to draw rather large notes :) , so I left plenty of room between the lines of the staff.

To download, visit the Printables > Other Resources page and scroll down to “Staff Paper — Large Staff for Simple Compositions.”

[Visit Staff Paper – Large Staff for Simple Compositions to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Just Added: Musical Alphabet Cards

joy (admin) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:30:27 +0000

There are others who have shared alphabet card printables similar to what I’m posting today, but I’m adding mine to the mix anyway. :) I wanted some that would work well to print onto colored cardstock paper. Since I don’t have a color printer, this is an easy way I can still get colorful things to use with my students!

I used these cards with my new weekly Homeschool Music Class (just started last week, thanks to Sheryl’s recent post at her Notable Music Studio blog) and with my Piano Readiness Class. My students LOVED making “musical alphabet snakes” in order to learn how the musical alphabet is different from the regular alphabet. Included in the pdf is a card which outlines some other possible activities to do using the cards. These activities work great in both group settings and private lessons.

Do you have some other activities to share that involve alphabet cards? Share them in the comments!

To Download: visit the Printables > Other Resources page and scroll down to the M’s for Musical Alphabet Cards.

[Visit Just Added: Musical Alphabet Cards to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Just Added: Rainy Rhythm Game

joy (admin) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:28:14 +0000

I’ve mentioned before that during grad school, I took an Early Childhood Music course. One of the things we discussed was using the “sound before sight” philosophy – where the student is exposed to and experiences the concepts before being taught the name or the written notation. I’ve been doing my best to use this philosophy of teaching music with my Piano Readiness students.

I was reminded of a raindrops & rainbows rhythm game one of my classmates created for an assignment during that course when I saw Anne Crosby’s recent post, which mentioned an activity involving finger-painting raindrops/rainbows. It immediately occurred to me that the girls in my Piano Readiness Class would LOVE a game involving rainbows, so I put together this printable. It’s nothing groundbreaking; I’m sure teachers before me have done similar things. But hopefully this printable might be as useful and convenient for some of you as it was for me!

This game is intended for 1 or more young beginners students as a first introduction to the idea of rhythmic notation. The raindrop flashcards represent the short note values and the rainbows represents the long note values. (They can be half notes and quarter notes in your mind, or quarter notes and eighth notes; it really doesn’t matter.) After the teacher claps/chants a rhythm, students clap/chant it back and then notate the rhythm on the floor using the raindrop and rainbow cards. Students may work alone, or in pairs/groups — just be sure to print enough cards for everyone!

My Piano Readiness students gasped in delight when they saw the colorful rainbow clip art on the cards! Lamentably, most of my Printables are usually black and white (partly because I don’t own a color printer, but also because I don’t have any experience with creating my own vector clip art). I’m proud to say that today, I DO have a colorful printable to share! I found the clip art on a couple of public domain clip art sites, so they are legal to use here.

Below are the full instructions. It’s all explained on a card included in the printable, too, for convenience. To download this printable, visit the Printables > Games page and scroll down to the R’s to find the RAINY RHYTHM GAME. Enjoy!

Rainy Rhythm Game: a music game for 1 or more players

Assembly:

Print the Rainy Rhythm Game pdf. The second page should be printed at least 3 or 4 times.
Cut out each card on the dotted lines, leaving about a half-inch margin around each box.

Gameplay:

Clap a short rhythm to the student(s) that involves only two different kinds of note values (choices are: either quarter and half notes; or, eighth notes and quarter notes). Repeat if needed.
Note: with young students, you may wish to chant something like, “Drip, drip, rain-bow,” as you clap.
Ask the student(s) to clap it back.
Ask the student(s) to notate the rhythm they heard using the raindrop and the rainbow cards. Students may work alone or in pairs/groups, depending on how you wish to divide them up. (Just be sure to print enough cards for everyone.)
After a minute or two, check the student(s) work and correct if needed. If desired, you can make it a competition by awarding points for correct answers or for the fastest correct answer. Continue gameplay as long as desired. If desired, you can ask students to take turns being the “clapper” and come up with rhythms for the group to notate.

UPDATE: Check out my friend Loretta’s seasonal twist on this activity!

[Visit Just Added: Rainy Rhythm Game to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Beginner Piano Game: Piano Hands Hunt

joy (admin) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:55:10 +0000

I have two 5-year-old students signed up for a Piano Readiness Class, and our first class was yesterday! We had such a fun time. We sang songs, listened to music to find/walk to the beat, traced our hands to learn about RH/LH/finger numbers, and more. Best of all, we played the Piano Hands Hunt game — a simple game I invented on a whim yesterday as I was lesson planning. It was quite a hit! The girls asked to play it again next week — a request I’m happy to oblige!

Just added to the Printables > Games page:

Piano Hands Hunt – a music game for 2-6 players. This simple game is intended for use with young beginners/elementary level students to help them learn RH versus LH, and the finger numbers for piano.

Assembly:

Print the Piano Hands Hunt pdf. For extended gameplay or for large groups of students, print the document 3 or 4 times.
Cut out each card, leaving about a half-inch margin around each box.

Setup:

Before the students arrive, hide the cards around the room.

Gameplay:

Instruct students to search around the room for the Piano Hands cards. When a student finds three cards, they must come to the piano.
At the piano, the student can place the cards on the piano rack. Students must play a piano key on the piano with the correct hand and finger as each card indicates. The teacher may instruct the student to play any piano key they choose, or the teacher can use alphabet cards (or another method) to randomly choose the keys they must play. Once the student has successfully completed their three cards, they may go search for another three cards.
Continue gameplay until all the students have had a chance to play at the piano, or until all the hidden cards have been found.

The PDF includes a card with the above instructions for assembly, setup, and gameplay.

Even if you don’t currently have a group of young elementary students to play this game with, the cards themselves could be useful as flashcards to use during private lessons.

Enjoy!

[Visit Beginner Piano Game: Piano Hands Hunt to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Flashcard Prompts for Improvisation & Composition

joy (admin) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:32:10 +0000

Today I have a fun new printable to share!

Students are sometimes at a loss for topics for improvising or composing, so I like to provide prompts — similar to the way Creative Writing classes often provide prompts. :) Remember those Story Cubes? That’s one great way to provide prompts. These flashcards are another.

This 12-page document contains 96 flashcards of colorful clipart (which I found on the Microsoft Word website). At the end of a lesson, I’ll give one to a student and base an improvisation on describing that topic. Sometimes, I give the student three cards so they can choose which one they like best of the three.

There are plenty of flashcards in this set, so even when working in large groups (monthly studio classes or camps), it’s possible to have plenty of variety. In group sessions, these flashcard prompts can be used for duet improvisations with a partner, or for each student to write their own short composition. Either way, I like making a game out of it and these flashcards help provide some fun and variety.

I’d love to hear what other ideas you might have for using these flashcards! To download this printable, visit the Printables > Other Resources page and scroll down to the F’s for “Flashcard Prompts for Improvisation & Composition.”

[Visit Flashcard Prompts for Improvisation & Composition to view the original blog post at Color In My Piano.]

Color In My Piano » other resources

Listening Sheet for Young Students

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Rainy Rhythm Game: a music game for 1 or more players

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