800 responses! That’s how many Teach Piano Today readers took time out of their busy schedules to complete our survey last week for PianoGameClub.com… which launches on November 1st.
Like many of you, I started out using piano games as a fun way to reinforce lesson concepts… something to give my students a little “brain break”.
But as I continued to dedicate more and more lesson time to piano games and “off-the-bench” activities, and as my student retention rate went through the roof, I quickly discovered that the benefits of piano games went far beyond just fun.
Now on Wednesday, I’m going to share with you how I manage to easily include piano games in every lesson, but today, let’s take a look my discoveries when I first started using piano games every… single… lesson.
Want to know exactly what I discovered?
Let’s play a little game to find out…
The video below will lead you through our “Off-The-Bench” Piano Quiz. At the end of the video quiz we’ll tell you how to get an incredible “Off-The-Bench” Piano Game that you can use with your piano students this afternoon!
Spoiler Alert: It’s quite “possible” that the quiz is “impossible” to fail 🙂
Get My Piano Game
So you passed the test! Now all you have to do is leave a comment below telling us how much time you spend every lesson performing “off-the-bench” activities and we’ll email you an exciting game that you can print off and play this afternoon.
And the best part… every single person who leaves a comment will get the game 🙂
Sheesh .. I use tons o games… A lot of them I make up on the fly since many of my students bring a toy or treasure to lessons I usually incorporate it… Put your plastic frog on a group of two…or show kitty where high is…. Or keys sit Dracuella on the piano … Plus I use your games all the time especially the wonder town board and the music mountain board… Sometimes I play by the rules… Sometimes I create a game to fit the moment… Wunderkeys card games:almost every lesson! Thank for it all!
I try to do around 5-8 minutes each lesson. doesn’t always work out but I try!
I use piano games with almost all my students, especially the younger ones, and I try to incorporate them with each lesson. It’s not always possible, however games are part of my teaching style and part of my planning. We spend about 10 minutes of a lesson when we are playing games together.
5 minutes at the end of every lesson with students under 10 y/o.
I don’t use games very often, more so during group makeup lessons when the kids are of all ages and levels. I need to use them more though.
I spend an average of 5 minutes on piano teaching games; sometimes more if the student is really excited about the game!
Ideally, I only like to spend 5-7 minutes of the lesson playing games. Often, kids ask to repeat a game and that’s when I know that: 1.) the game is really interesting or 2.) they are stalling and know they haven’t practiced. (ha ha!) Either way, I like having some sort of activity that keeps things unexpected for the kids.
I try to use one off the bench activity for everyone. I do a quick visual “check” when I see each student and make and play it by ear. If a student looks focussed—I will jump right onto the bench so to speak. Not so focussed? play a game right away to focus them. Getting wiggly about halfway through the lesson? time to move away from the keyboard!
I use games in almost every lesson – even if the students have already grasped the concepts that the games teach. They seem to enjoy the game time way more than the piano playing time, but I try to include a little time at the piano too lol!
I’ll do 5-7 minutes of games, but if the student is having an “aha!” moment, we may go longer!
Not much but I would like to do more!
I used to only use games to reinforce tricky concepts, but have gradually been introducing them more and more!
Two-three minutes as a mental and finger break during each lesson.
Anything to get a chuckle from the mum watching and the student working hard on the bench. Thanks for you enthusiasm, Andrea and Trevor!
I save the last third of my group class for games – the first thing kids ask when they arrive is “are we going to play a game?”
My kids love games! I use games to reinforce new notes, rhythms, etc. for usually 5-10 minutes.
I do find it difficult to find the lesson time for games. I would like to incorporate games and planning for them to happen first in our lesson may be the way to go. Or try for a 45 min lesson time…
I think off-the-bench games are very important for reinforcement, motivation, and ultimately, retention. Love all of these creative ideas and resources from Teach Piano Today!
I do 3-5 minutes with the little ones but often forget that the older students also enjoy games.
I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t started using piano games yet. I’m looking forward to seeing how games will change lessons.
I include at least one off the bench activity/game in every lesson. The amount of time I spend depends on the student, the other activities of the lesson, the game itself and the amount of interest the student has in the game.
Seldom, but with your help and inspiration I am going to improve
I haven’t done a lot of off the bench time yet but for one of my students I think it’s going to be a life saver!
I used piano games pretty regularly in the past, but I don’t use them as much any more. Time to rebute the games!
I have one student that wouldn’t even be hardly interested in piano lessons if it weren’t for the piano games. He asked for them each lesson.
With my young WunderKeys students, we are “off the bench” for at least half the lesson! Older students typically have one off the bench activity.
I haven’t found any games that I would use.
I haven’t spent much time on theory games away from the piano, although I used to. This is a compelling video for them!!
Depends on the student — 3 to 5 year olds spends about half the time in games especially rhythm techniques and later note identification. 6 thru 8 year olds usually in high and low note identification and Levels 1 and 2 theory id
I use iPad games mainly with the little ones or those who clearly are having a bad day or having a lot of trouble “connecting the dots”, and not at every lesson. The older kids don’t seem to get into them; they prefer to use their 5 – 10 minute break to tell me about their lives (especially the two teenage girls who currently have crushes)
Regardless of age or level they all love the opportunity to play Garage Band on my iPad. Even the youngest ones have their own composition projects going that they work on for a few minutes each week.
I have some students that “require” a game. Usually 5-10 minutes. It really helps with my younger students.
Anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the day and the student.
Depends on the lesson and age of the student. I would love to incorporate more games and off-the-bench activities, so I am very excited about the game club! I have printed off and laminated several of the games you have posted previously, and I keep them organized in a binder so I can grab one if I need a last minute game. In minutes, I would say I spend 0-10.
I already do off the bench activities and games with students regularly. Am always open to new ideas. Thanks.
I spend 5- 10 minutes, but I don’t do it every time, so I will be changing that.
I use games 5-10 minutes every lesson…unless we are prepping for a recital or performance of some kind. my students love it!
I have just started using games this past year. The kids enjoy them, and I have fun as well. I usually only use games with my younger students, towards the end of the lesson.
I love games! I really appreciate your site and all of the games you have added to my repertoire! Thank you!
I try to follow your Piano Hands book schedule so definitely third and possibly week 4 of the month as you suggest for games. White board activities on week 2 since we do composing and I can’t seem to fit a game and composing in one 30 minute lesson. Is anyone else able to do that?
Not much. I would like to do more.
About 5-10 minutes, but usually 1-2 times per month!
Average time spent with games per lesson is probably 5 minutes. I need some more challenging games for intermediate age though, any suggestions?
I love games and need to work to incorporate them more often!
Sometimes it depends on the age of the student (most of my adults would not be interested in games). But, with my younger beginners , I usually spend 5-8 minutes dong OTB activities/games. The time I spend on a particular activity is also dependent on the student’s interest level and learning styles. Inspiring and helping to spark enthusiasm and interest in musical concepts, while simultaneously helping students’ learn, is my goal with OTB activities.
I’m trying to incorporate more games into my lessons. Am looking forward to the next post!
I love using them, but don’t always make the time. I also need more ideas!
Loved the video. I’ve been trying to incorporate games and off the bench activities into every lesson and you two make it easy to do. Thanks for all you do!!
Yay!
I spend at least a couple of minutes on off-bench activities at each lesson, and frequently longer.
I love integrating piano games into my lessons. It wasn’t something I did at the beginning of my teaching career. I began 14 years ago teaching as I was taught back in 19??. But through trails and many, many teaching mistakes, I discovered how fun and productive each lesson became and how much my students enjoyed their lessons with the wonderful piano activities and games I acquired online or through other resources. For them, this is the best part of their lesson. For me, it makes teaching rewarding to see the light in their eyes when they mastered a new or old concept! Simply put, Happy Students = Happy Parents = Happy Teacher. 🙂
I use piano games every week. I love it! It makes lessons fun for me too when I can see a connection made off the bench that helps reinforce on the bench skills! Thanks for all your great ideas!!