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Free Spooky Rhythm Activity Sheets!

9/30/2017

One of my favorite ways to work on rhythm with my students is to use rhythm words. Chanting words to rhythm notes is a good way to help students develop rhythmic fluency and learn to spot rhythmic patterns.

You've probably seen other examples of activities using rhythm words such as fruit, candy bars, or animals. With October almost here, I decided to create a rhythm activity for my students with a Halloween theme. This activity helps students to learn to recognize and count eighth note and sixteenth note patterns.

To use this activity, print out the rhythm chart and rhythm flashcards, making as many copies as you need to create multiple rhythmic patterns. Then try a few of the following ideas to practice these rhythms with your students:

1. Copycat rhythms: Clap a rhythm while saying the rhythm words from the chart, then have the student repeat. After a few repetitions, clap the rhythm without saying the words and have the student clap it back while saying the correct rhythm words.

2. Identify the rhythm: Clap a rhythm and have students use the rhythm cards to build the correct pattern.

3. Build a new rhythm: Give students a time signature and ask them to build one measure of their own rhythm using the cards, then clap it back.

4. Spot the mistake: create a rhythm using the rhythm cards and clap the rhythm with one beat clapped incorrectly. Ask students to spot the mistake and swap the rhythm card out for the correct one.

Click HERE to download your free spooky rhythm chart and flashcards.

What do you think? How else might you use this spooky rhythm activity with your students? Please share in the comments!

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Thoughts on Teaching Young Beginners

9/21/2017

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A "young beginner" is defined in the piano pedagogy world as a student age 6 years old or younger. Although they aren't the largest demographic in my studio, I have worked with quite a few young beginners, ages 3 to 6, in my studio.

Teaching young beginners can be both challenging and rewarding. There are many, many method books aimed at the young beginner--more than I could possibly cover in a short blog post! So instead of focusing on the books I use in my lessons, I would like to share some tips on how I structure my lessons (and my expectations) to make lessons with young students an enjoyable experience for all!

Focus on skill building. I have found the best way to work with my youngest students is to focus on helping them to build the skills necessary to play the piano. Only a small part of our lesson might be spent playing the piano; I spend much more time with my young students working on things like keeping a steady beat, exploring keyboard geography, developing fine motor skills and freedom of movement, training their ears to hear high and low sounds...and the list goes on! These are all important skills that young students need to master in order to excel at the piano.

Learn through play. Young beginners learn the best through creative activities that allow them to use their imaginations. I like to incorporate stuffed animals, puzzle erasers (pictured above), and other manipulatives into our lessons to make learning more fun and memorable. A few of my favorite activities:

Bounce the mouse: we bounce a toy mouse on the piano keys to practice freedom of arm movement and develop a nice non-legato touch. First, the student bounces the mouse as I play each finger; then we trade and I bounce the mouse as the student plays.
Make a house: we practice "making a house" (creating a nice round hand shape) for one of our puzzle erasers.
Float the balloon: we imagine a balloon is attached to our wrist, causing our hand to float loosely up in the air. When the balloon pops, we drop our arm down into our lap. This is great for developing a flexible wrist and introducing the concept of arm weight.
Last Mouse Lost: this finger dexterity game contains little bubbles that students must press down with firm fingertips. (Just google the title for buying options in your area.)
iPad apps: a couple of my favorites for young beginners are the Music for Little Mozarts app, which has nice ear training activities as well as naming notes on the staff and keys on the piano; and Rhythm Swing, an app that teaches rhythm and helps students keep a steady beat.

Review, review, review! When working with young beginners, I make sure that every lesson contains lots of review of concepts covered in previous lessons. Vocabulary, note names, technical concepts--all of these should be reviewed at each lesson. I also help my young students to develop and maintain a little repertoire list of piano pieces that have been mastered in previous lessons. This not only helps to ensure that young students don't forget any important ideas, it also helps to build their confidence!

Rotate activities frequently, but have a routine. As I am sure you know, young beginners have short attention spans! This can be one of the most challenging aspects of working with young students--keeping them engaged throughout an entire piano lesson. I try to have several short activities planned, including on-the-bench and off-the-bench activities, so that when I see a student's attention beginning to wane I can switch things up. I also find it helps to have a consistent routine that we can follow in our lesson. For example, we always start by playing a review piece, followed by doing a technique game. Then I introduce new material close to the beginning of the lesson, while a student is the most attentive. I always end the lesson with iPad games and writing out our practice "homework," which gives me a chance to ask review questions about the material we have covered in that lesson. I find that young students are more likely to stay focused if they know how many tasks are left before the lesson is done.

Make assignments clear and simple. Developing a daily practice routine that involves both parent and child is important for young beginners. I send each student home with a clear assignment sheet for the parent to use at home, and I try to limit assignments to 3 or 4 short tasks that can be completed in five minutes or less, total. Students might also enjoy teaching their parents or siblings a song, or playing a "mini-recital" of favorite pieces for their family--these activities will help get the whole family involved in practice time so that it doesn't feel like an isolated activity for the student.

What do you think? Do you teach young beginners? Do you have a teaching tip or favorite activity that you like to use? Please share in the comments!

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New rock collection for beginners!

9/12/2017

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I am excited to share my newest collection from the Composers Community at Piano Pronto Publishing! "Ready to Rock!" is a prequel to my popular "Rock On!" series and features original rock and pop-style music at the elementary level with optional teacher duets.

This supplemental collection is designed for students that want to play rock and pop tunes but still need practice with basic pedagogical concepts. This book will have your beginners reading notes across the entire staff, playing simple syncopated rhythms, maneuvering easy position shifts, stretching and crossing over the thumb, crossing hands--and more!

Each piece can be performed as a solo, or along with the included teacher duet part for an even bigger sound. Click HERE or on the cover above to see and hear the music from this collection!

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Halloween Freebies: Music for Beginners

9/2/2017

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This year I have quite a few new beginner students, so I thought it would be a perfect time to put together a few easy Halloween pieces to share!

Feel free to download the three pieces below and use them with your students this fall.

The Halloween Song (beginner): this is the silly song that most kids learn in grade school ("trick or treat, smell my feet..."). This version uses only quarter notes and half notes on the black keys and is easy enough to be taught by rote. This would be a great piece for a first lesson! Click HERE.

Trick or Treat (primer): this is an original composition with an optional teacher duet. It is written on the staff using only A and B in the left hand and C, D, E, F, G in the right hand. This would make a great piece for a Halloween recital! Click HERE.

In the Hall of the Mountain King (elementary): a student favorite, this easy version of Grieg's classic piece uses the D minor five-finger scale and has a simple hand crossing and position shift that is marked in the score for ease of reading. Click HERE.

Enjoy! If you use any of these pieces with your students, please leave a comment and let me know. I would love to hear from you!

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Free Spooky Rhythm Activity Sheets!

Thoughts on Teaching Young Beginners

New rock collection for beginners!

Halloween Freebies: Music for Beginners

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