Today we’re introducing a new feature around here… Piano Teaching Game Day! Once a week, we will be posting some fantastically creative and fun piano teaching games you can use to liven up your piano lessons.
Today’s Piano Teaching Game… Stampin’ up the Scale
Learning Objective
Stampin’ up the Scale will improve your piano students’ abilities to visualize a one octave scale in any given key.
Game Materials
To teach Stampin’ up the Scale to your piano students, you will need to print a two-octave piano key diagram. I would suggest blowing up (8 ½ x 17) one of the two printables found on this page.
You will also need a bingo dabber or stamp.
Playing Stampin’ up the Scale
1. Piano teacher names a scale… major, natural minor, harmonic, melodic… your choice.
2. At “Get set, go!” your Piano student uses the “dabber” to leave a colored mark on the correct ascending pattern of white and black keys to complete one octave of the named piano scale.
3. At the same time, the piano teacher attempts to play the named piano scale three times (or more… or less) before the piano student completes the “dabbing” (this is the “timer” for the game as they try to beat you, but also gives the students the chance to process the scale aurally. Set your “timer”/number of times you play the scale based on your students’ abilities.
And Don’t Forget…
As mentioned, piano games will be coming fast and furious each week. Make sure you don’t miss a game by subscribing to TeachPianoToday.com (click here). Subscribers get 7 FREE chapters from our Piano Teachers Guide as well… so that’s cool too 🙂
Barbara Bricknell says
Great idea! I will definately be using this…thx heaps! 🙂
Trevor says
Hi Barbara,
Hope it’s a hit at your studio! 🙂
Li-San says
Thanks! I love using games in lessons. Anything to make scales more fun for students is great 🙂
Trevor says
Hi Li-San,
Thanks for the comment – hopefully this will take the “blah” out of scales for your students!
Joyce says
1. Instead of the bingo “dabber”, I put this in a sheet protector – then use dry/erase marker 🙂
2. The only problem is seeing a “mark” on the black keys – any solutions – or maybe a printable keyboard with the “black” keys not black