Keyboard awareness activities should make up a big chunk of early piano lessons. It is important that your piano students know their way around the keyboard before they’re launched into the world of on-the-staff note reading.
But unfortunately, for many young piano students, on-the-staff note reading arrives before they can confidently name the keys on the piano. When this happens, it’s a great time to turn to an off-the-bench activity clear up any confusion and ward off potential future frustration.
So, today we’re sharing an exciting, submarine-themed game that will have your young piano students bubbling with glee.
An Early Keyboard Awareness Piano Lesson Printable
The next time you have a pre-reading piano student on your bench who is just learning to name keys on the piano, or if you have a student who could benefit from some extra keyboard awareness practice, download today’s printable (see download instructions below) and have a blast. Here’s how it works:
- Have your student place a coin over each letter on the sub.
- Show your student a card (included in the printable) containing a keyboard with a marked key. Instruct her to determine the name of the marked key and then remove one coin from the sub.
- If the letter revealed by the coin matches the name of the marked key, have your student place the coin and the card to the side. If a match is not found, have her place the coin back on the sub and the card back in the deck.
- Keep playing until your student has removed three coins.
If your students occasionally need assistance in naming a key or keys, use language that guides them to the answer such as “You knew that this key was D, the marked key is one step lower than D. What comes before D in the musical alphabet” or “You just named this key here, the marked key is two steps higher which would make it….?” These verbal cues will help your students build mental strategies needed to reach the answers independently.
Find Today’s Printable Here
As you know from previous posts, to make our printables easier to find, and to correlate them with our new WunderKeys Primer and Level 1 books that we’ll be releasing later this year, we’ll be putting them up on WunderKeys.com.
Today’s resource has been added to the Primer Section of the WunderKeys Resource Page.
Click here or on the activity title page below to visit the WunderKeys Resource Page, and then scroll down to the Primer Section to find the downloadable pdf. And, while you’re there, be sure to check out our completely revamped 2nd edition WunderKeys Preschool Piano books!
Elaine says
I’m loving these printables – thank you so much. I also have to say that I can’t wait for you to release your primer method book… have a lovely weekend x
Andrea says
Thank you Elaine! We’re really excited with how it’s turning out! 🙂