Have you been sitting at your computer thinking… “Hmmm… Teach Piano Today hasn’t given away a free game lately!”? If so, then you’ll be happy you opened your email today!
Yes, we’ve been busy with the release of our newest PianoBookClub book, but I had a bit of a graphic design itch last night and just had to create this game in time to share it with you today!
How To Improve Bass Clef Note Reading
Sly as a Fox is simple and cute. Print out the game board and the card set. Laminate both. Cut out the cards. Here’s how it’s played:
Tell your student this story:
One sunny morning a chicken accidentally wandered too close to the forest. Quick as a whip a sly fox cornered her outside his den. “Please!” she begged… “Don’t eat me! I have barnyards to scratch! I have eggs to warm! I have worms to chase!” The fox (whose stomach was larger than his heart) was just about to toss her into his cooking pot when he remembered something. You see, this fox played the piano and he had some theory homework to hand in the next day. Naming bass clef notes had always been his weakness and this week’s assignment had been a bass clef doozy. “Do you read music?” He asked the bewildered chicken. “Of course!” She clucked, “I used to sing in the Barnyard Chorus!” “I’ll make you a deal” said the fox. “If you can correct my theory homework, I’ll let you go.” The chicken stared wide-eyed at the fox, “Okay! I’ll do anything!” The fox licked his lips as he put his paw around the chicken’s quivering back. “But if my theory homework comes back too many mistakes… you’ll be tomorrow’s soup!”
Game Play
Put the cards face down in a stack. Put the game board in front of both of you. Your student is the chicken. Have her flip over cards one at a time and decide whether the named note on the card is “true” or “false” as fast as she can. The teacher keeps track of her correct incorrect answers by placing the card on the “correct” or the “uh oh!” game board. Tally her results once the card pack is finished. Do the correct cards outnumber the “uh oh’s?”…Is she free… or is she soup?
Have fun 🙂
It’s that simple!
Leia says
May 2, 2014 at 4:31 amLove it! Can’t wait to try it with my students… why does bass clef stump so many of them?!
Susan says
May 2, 2014 at 4:40 amGreat! Will help with this challenge for sure. Thanks!
L. Warren says
May 2, 2014 at 5:58 amHahaha! Love it! But I think I might need to come up with a line to save the chicken just in case, because a number of my students might cry if the chicken isn’t saved!
Diane Densmore says
May 4, 2014 at 7:33 pm🙂
Jenny Ballinger says
May 2, 2014 at 6:11 amSounds great fun! And I can think of quite a few I need to try this with. Thank you!!
Miriam Higginson says
May 2, 2014 at 6:22 amReally cute! I’m actually more concerned with my students being able to connect the staff note with the correct key on the piano than the note name…..would it be possible to make some cards with just the staff notes? (I could just use flash cards, I know, but these that you made are so cute to go along with the theme of the game)!
Andrea says
May 2, 2014 at 5:34 pmHi Miriam! That concept wouldn’t work with this game as “the chicken” is trying to identify the fox’s mistakes…so they need to be note naming flash cards for it to work. You could extend this by having your student also play the note pictures as they go through their stack.
Natalia Huang says
May 2, 2014 at 7:07 amGreat idea! Will definitely have to try this 🙂
anna says
May 2, 2014 at 8:18 amI was just sitting at my computer this morning thinking, “Hmm TEACH PIANO TODAY hasn’t given us a free games lately,” when, to my surprise, Voila!…….Just kidding 🙂 I just wanted to say thank you. I was actually desperately waiting for April to end so I could get the next book from PIANOBOOKCLUB, which I got, and am very excited to use; but this cool Sly As A Fox game is the cherry on top. Thank you so much.
Robbin says
May 2, 2014 at 12:49 pmI just played this with two different students. They loved it! Such a little thing makes such a big step toward an enjoyable lesson. Keep those ideas flowing!
Tasha says
May 2, 2014 at 5:13 pmSuper cute, can’t wait to print… not exactly sure I understand the story line (the chicken is correcting the fox’s homework, so the fox wants the chicken to find the mistakes, but when the chicken finds the mistakes the fox gets mad and eats the chicken anyway?), either it’ll hit me later or I’ll just make up my own 🙂
Andrea says
May 2, 2014 at 5:32 pmThe fox knows he’s made mistakes in his note naming…the chicken has to correctly identify his mistakes (by saying true or false). If the chicken doesn’t identify the mistakes (answered true when it’s actually false or vice versa) then the stack of “uh ohs” risk out-numbering the “correct”…and then it’s into the soup 🙂
anna says
May 2, 2014 at 7:27 pmThe confusing part for me was that there were pictures of “chickens” on the cards along with the foxes. It took me a moment to realize the pictures of the animals have nothing to do with it the game. At first I thought all the cards should just have pictures of foxes…but I understand now. It’s all about the notes.
Tasha says
May 2, 2014 at 9:03 pmDing! There it is! 🙂 I’m sure I was overthinking it WAY more than my kids ever would.
Anna Fagan says
May 3, 2014 at 8:48 amLove it! I copied the story and Game Play directions on the back of the game board — then laminated.
Diane Densmore says
May 4, 2014 at 7:40 pmWe raise chickens and so do several of my studio families, so we already use lots of chicken references in my studio. (For example, “keep your chickens by the fence” means keep your fingers close to the black keys). So I know my students will love this game!
Colleen Branson says
May 5, 2014 at 11:43 amLove it. I really appreciate all the colourful and inventive printables some of you share with those of us who are more computer graphically challenged (so to speak). It is so much faster when you can get your printer to do the coloring!
I teach piano and theory, so I am starting to share the History helpers I create on some of the wonderful sites I am discovering on the web for studying, such as Quizlet and QuizGlobal.
Thanks again.
Sherri says
May 8, 2014 at 9:50 pmI printed out the game, put it on cardstock and my students loved it!!
Sherri says
May 8, 2014 at 9:50 pmI do have a question, have you put the same game out for treble cleff??
Andrea says
May 12, 2014 at 10:57 pmHi Sherri – no we haven’t 🙂 Another game at another time for sure!
Mary Vandersteen says
June 19, 2014 at 5:51 pmSometime back in my 65 years of teaching I started teaching the bass staff from Middle C down 1st line=A (1st letter of alphabet) – middle line in middle of 2 black keys = D – Last line at bottom = Last letter of Alphabet = G – Bass F skip down from 1st line – line 4 is Below the the middle line = B – also”A Footbal Doesn’t Bounce Good” it works!
Tanya Brooks says
September 9, 2014 at 5:04 pmI’ve tried it when you posted this awhile ago. The kids loved it! I still use it.
Amy says
November 15, 2015 at 2:09 pmPlayed this game with someone today – and we noticed that one of the cards only has four lines on the staff! LOL. We called it the “trick” card. So, a student has to know where F is, based on the bass clef, and take it down from there…