
Looking for more fun activities to spice up your online lessons? Today I am sharing a quick ear training game that has been a big hit with my students--and better yet, it requires no special materials and no set-up time!
Interested? Read on for more!
So, I thought--why not put these reaction buttons to good use by playing a listening game during our lessons? Here is how it works:
- I ask my student to listen carefully to the musical example I am about to play on the piano. If it sounds major, they should press the "thumbs up" button. If it sounds minor, they should press the "high five" button.
- After I play a few examples, we trade. I ask the student to play a short melody (or scale), and let me decide whether I think it is major or minor by pressing the correct reaction button.
The great thing about this game is that you can use it for reviewing a variety of musical concepts: high or low, fast or slow, steps or skips, legato or staccato....just pick any two contrasting concepts for students to distinguish between and assign each one a reaction button. By giving students a chance to play their own examples, they also get to show that they can demonstrate these concepts and improvise their own melodic patterns using them.
If you aren't using Zoom, you can play this game by asking students to distinguish between the patterns they hear a different way. For example: have them pat their head for high notes and rub their tummy for low notes. Or, how about having them give "jazz hands" for stepping notes and snap their fingers for skipping notes? The options are endless--and you can be as silly as you like!
What do you think? What games are you playing with your students to spice up your online lessons? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments!