If you’ve been nervous to incorporate solfa (or are just unsure how to fit it into your teaching) this activity will give you a great starting spot – and beyond. Each of the five levels includes just one extra tone. This gives you and your students a gradual and logical progression towards the pentatonic scale and … Read more
Dynamic Dialogues are fantastic activities to animate dynamics at your next group class or workshop. The sample here uses The Witches Brew for a Halloween theme, but you can easily adapt the same activity using any short poem at a kid appropriate reading level. How to Play Appoint one student the performer and give them … Read more
This is a wonderful project for any Halloween themed piano party, workshop or group class. Using this project plan, students will compose their own soundtrack for a silent movie and with step-by-step plans and storyboards to help with planning. How to Play If you have 4 or more students, split them into two teams. Go … Read more
These cards provide a great jumping off point for a group improvisation. While the spooky theme is extra fun at Halloween – they really can be used at any time of the year for an awesome ensemble or band experience in a group class or workshop. How to Play Assign one student the bass pattern … Read more
Inversion Diversions is the crazy, zig-zaggy game you need to drill major chords and their inversions. Students move across the board in different patterns while identifying chords either on the staff or on the keyboard (your choice). This one is challenging but super fun – especially for those intermediate tweens and teens. How to Play Choose … Read more
Have you ever wished you had a game that mixed levels of students could play together on an equal footing? Symbol Splash is the answer. There are four levels which can be used simultaneously on the one game board – so your little beginner can play alongside the tween prepping for her grade 3 theory … Read more
In Spell-a-staff students fill in as many music words as they possibly can in the time. This is a wonderful way to practice note naming at a group lesson, without it feeling like a chore. Laminate the cards and use whiteboard/dry wipe markers so you can use the game again and again. How to Play … Read more
Drilling Italian music terms is not what most kids would call fun. But jumping around and trying to convey “Giocoso” to other students without words? Now that sounds like a hoot! How to Play Put all the cards in a hat or bag. Choose the first performer and ask them to draw a card from … Read more
This is a much more fun version of a note speller worksheet. The music words are on cards which can be drawn at random from a hat, and if you laminate the staff cards they can act as whiteboard that can be used again and again. Turn on a timer or add a competitor to … Read more
Relative Rhythm cards are one my favourite tools for students of all ages. The idea is really very simple: all the note values are represented in relative size to each other. So, a crotchet (quarter note) is half the width of a minim (half note) and double the width of a quaver (eighth note). Use … Read more