If you have ever had young children, then chances are you’ve spent some time on Sesame Street. And if you’ve spent some time on Sesame Street, then you know that often an episode will pay homage to one single letter.
So we wondered… if Sesame Street can do it, why can’t we?… But with a twist. That is, why can’t we base an entire piano lesson, or even a week of piano lessons, around a single note.
Something like… “This week’s piano lesson is brought to you by… Treble C.”
I’ve been testing this idea with the little ones in my studio and have found it to solidify desperately-needed note reading skills and prevent any lingering confusion.
Plus… it’s so much fun! Keep reading to see what a “Note of the Week” lesson looks like…
This Week’s Piano Lesson Is Brought To You By… Treble C
The idea behind the “Note of the Week” approach is to laser focus lesson activities on a single note. Picking just one note at a time enables you to isolate guide notes, choose notes that are frequently confused and/or not yet memorized, and eliminate any potential gaps in understanding.
This fun approach to note reading does not mean your students must only play tunes, perform technical exercises, and play games that have just one note; it simply means that special attention is given to a “special note”. It’s a simple and effective way to boost note-reading confidence and skills in young piano students.
9 Ways To Celebrate The “Note Of The Week”
Want to give the “Note of the Week” a try? It’s simple… each week, choose a note to “celebrate” and then pick 3 different activities from the list below. As the weeks go by and new notes are introduced be sure to select different activities; allowing for an activity rotation ensures you touch on all learning styles… you never know what might “click”!
- Pin it! – Draw a staff on a piece of poster paper. Draw the “Note of the Week” on the staff. Cut out several “whole note” circles. Blindfold your students and ask them to pin a “whole note” circle to its correct location on the staff. Once your students place a whole note on the staff, discuss how far (or how close) their pinned note was to the correct place using steps, skips and intervals (Look… your pinned note is on G… which is a 3rd away from our note of the week, B).
- Highlight it! – Give your students a “special pen” (highlighter, gel pen etc.) and ask them to seek out the “Note of the Week” in their current and past pieces. When they find ithe “Note of the Week” they can highlight it, circle it, or draw a star above it… anything to identify it within the context of their music. Next, have your students write the number of times the note was found on a small card and pin it somewhere in your studio. By the end of the week you’ll have a tally of the number of times it was found by all of your little students in your entire studio (a “fun fact” to share on your Facebook page etc.)
- Float it! Inflate eight to ten balloons and have a party for your “Note of the Week”. On each balloon, draw a staff with a sharpie and then add a note. Make sure at least two balloons contain the “Note of the Week”. Then, as your students arrive for their lessons have them locate a balloon with the “Note of the Week”.
- Hide it! Print out several flash cards showing the “Note of the Week” plus a variety of others. Hide the flashcards around the studio and ask your students to hunt for the cards and bring back only the ones that show the “Note of the Week”. Get your students to re-hide the cards for the students that come to lessons next.
- Eat it! Print out a blank staff and, before your students leave their lessons, ask them to place a gummy bear (or a healthy treat option) on the staff where the “Note of the Week” belongs. If they are correct, let them eat the gummy bear. If they are not correct, let them eat it anyway!
- Aim at it! Using painter’s tape, create a staff on your piano studio floor. Give your students three attempts to toss a crumpled ball of tape at the staff in an attempt to land it as close as possible to the location of “Note of the Week”.
- Riddle it! Let your piano students discover the “Note of the Week” by decoding clues. Saying things such as “Clue #1: I have a line through my middle… Clue #2 – I’m a fourth higher than C… Clue #3 – I’m found in the bass clef and my neighbour is G”.
- Snap it! Have your piano students draw the “Note of the Week” on a large staff and then snap a picture of your students with their new best friend. A sea of “Note of the Week” pictures will look fantastic as a collage on your Facebook page, is a cool addition to your Instagram account, and can be emailed home to parents. These pictures will also make a great keepsake to for piano binders or scrapbooks for your waiting area.
- Show and Tell it! Email the “Note of the Week” to your piano students in advance of their lessons and have them bring in an item from home that begins with the same letter (for example, if the “Note of the Week” is G a student could bring in a grapefruit). Have students place their item on the large staff where the “Note of the Week” is found and snap a photo. As is the case with the previous activity, these pics can be used for student binders and scrapbooks. Bringing items from home also gets Mom and Dad involved in the piano lesson process… and that’s always a good thing!
How Would You Celebrate the “Note of the Week”?
We want your ideas! How would YOU celebrate the “Note of the Week” in your studio? Get creative and comment below. We’ll randomly select two people who leave a comment before 4 PM PST on March 16, 2016 to win a set of 4 note-reading focused PianoGameClub games to add to your “Note of the Week fun!
What about skip it? When they are playing their songs and come across the note, instead of playing it they say a silly word (agreed on before hand) without missing a beat.
Love this idea! I have a 6 year old who giggles every time she has a while now and I’ve had her say “hold that c note” ,(or whatever note it is), I’m sure she’d get a kick out of doing this!
* whole note (new phone, new auto correct features)
Love that Amy! Good one!
This post came at a time I needed ideas for my struggling note readers. Perfect timing! Thank you for your creativity.
Glad to hear it Monda!
When focusing on 2 or 3 notes I have the student color each a different color, or draw a circle square or triangle around each.
How about making up a silly song to sing and play? Here is one example: “There was teacher had a note and G was its name-o, G-G-G-G-G, etc) to the tune of BINGO. Sing first, then learn the simple rhythm (ta ta ti-ti ta), then student plays the note of the week in the appropriate section of the song.
Once with my students I would chose a note that was in their song and not tell them what it was…every time they played the note I would say, “That’s it!” If they guessed the note they got a skittle. Even the middle schoolers loved it…one of them even said at one point in her lesson, “Ms. Noelle, I really think I need more skittles!” (I think I may have originally read this idea on your blog!)
Good one Noelle! I think it was from our Shhh…Your Piano Teacher Thinks This is Practice book, but you’ve modified it in a great way 🙂
Great ideas! Thank you again!
Thanks for the ideas. I plan to also adapt my grand stave twister game to just use the note of the week and that note an octave higher/lower.
With Easter coming up and the inspiration to combine knowledge of basic literary learning skills with music learning, I’m going to make an activity I’ve seen for matching upper and lower case letters. Take Easter eggs and write the note on the staff on the top part, then (mixing up the colors so it’s not a color matching activity) on the bottom write the keyboard and color in the note on the keyboard. I have a student (who is a bit older but I think will still like this) who is shaky on both note reading on the staff and knowing where on the keyboard the note correlates to. So on the keyboard I draw, I’m going to indicate middle C as well. Then give them the opened eggs and they get to put them together. Time for a trip to the dollar store!
Nicely themed too Melinda! Thanks for sharing 🙂
That is brilliant! I’m trying that next week!
Thank you for your ideas Andrea. Here’s my ideas: Make up a story about that note and how it got to land at that particular place on the staff.
This would really be a great strategy Shelley – hard to forget if the story is engaging. Kids learn through story-telling (which is why so many of our resources are story-based) 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
My students enjoy tossing a black paper plate like a frisbee at a large staff on the floor to locate notes.
A paper plate frisbee is a great idea Alice! Thanks for sharing.
I draw the note of the week on two small post-its. One goes on the fallboard of the piano and the other somewhere else in the house they see everyday (bathroom mirror is a good spot). Every time they see a post-it, they have to say the note name aloud. When they sit down at the piano, they say and play it. If they do it, it really helps. In honesty, I’m only about 50% in getting to happen though. 😮
It can be hard to remember to do all of these creative things – I hear you Kristi! This is part of the reason why I started it in a more “formal” way. If I know I have Note of the Week happening then it is a major part of my lesson planning for the week (and so it gets done… usually 😉 )
I love this! I think I will also try a variation on it for my students who struggle with interval reading. I have some students who know individual notes, but struggle with intervalic reading, so I’ll do an “Interval of the week”
Great idea Jane!
Several years ago I taught a 6th grade choir and we worked a lot on intervals, I had them sing this is a second, this is a third, this is a fourth, etc with “this is a” being sung on Do and the interval jumped up, to use sol feg to ilkustrae: do do do re re, do do do mi, do do do fa etc. Then added the sol feg hand signs, but you could have them sing and tap play or sing and step on a floor staff (made with tape) or a number of other things. I only kept with major intervals, but I’m sure it could be adapted.
A game of baseball. You use the floor staff and try to toss a beanbag on the note of the week. If it lands on it you move to first base and so on.
A great spin-off for the floor staff – thanks Phyllis! After going to the work of taping it to your floor it’s so nice to have several ideas to go with it!
This is an awesome idea! Can’t wait to try it I know just the student that needs this!
Wow! Lots of great ideas here! Thank you for sharing!
It is hard to think of any others. But, this just came to mind. Have a 3×5 card ready for each student when they arrive. Have five lines drawn on it with a Sharpie (to represent the staff.) Have them draw the Clef sign and the note of the week on its proper line or space. They keep that flashcard and at the end of the “Note of the Week” focus, they will have a complete set of flashcards to review with at home and at lessons.
Great way to create an at-home resource to use as well Rebecca – thank you!
I’ve been frustrated lately with students who don’t know landmarks, or individual notes. I LOVE the idea of them making a set of their own flashcards!!! I will use this next week, for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have them draw a picture of an animal that starts with the note letter; they draw it on a blank staff right where the note goes.
A strong visual reminder – love it! Thanks Jeanette!
Like Melinda, I also had an Easter theme in mind. With plastic eggs in a basket, I will put small staff notes inside the eggs and have the students open them. The eggs with “note of the week” will go in one basket and the others will go in a different basket.
Here’s another idea: This one could be used in connection with “Earth Day” — tell students that the chosen note is the “Best Note on Earth this week” and then have students find places on a map or globe that start with that letter. Double the learning:) Every time they find a new place they play the note on the piano. Maybe even have some sort of marker to show how many places they found (stack up pennies.) After a set amount of time, they draw that many of the “best note on earth” on a staff.
Thanks for all of the ideas.
Love the Best Note On Earth idea Barbara – very creative!
Clever! Love your ideas and creativity! Thank you!
I love the Note of the Week idea! I’ve used an individual variation, but a studio-wide celebration is awesome! I’m going to start TODAY with a keyboard scavenger hunt to find the Note of the Week!
Love your enthusiasm Debby – you’re starting right away and that’s so awesome. No time like the present! 🙂
I love this! So many of my students struggle with note reading. How about playing the note a variety of ways …. staccato, ff, p, as a whole note, quarter note, as a triplet, an octave lower than written, etc. Thanks for the ideas!
I have a blackboard wall in my waiting room for purposes of announcements. I’ve been thinking I really need to utilize it better. I’m going to draw on the board for ALL to see the notes of the week! I’ll ask my students to name them before they can enter for lessons and before they can leave the waiting room. I might also add a musical term of the week too!
Just like in Harry Potter when they need a password to enter their house’s common room!!
I’m totally starting this next week! I like the idea of matching the notes with an animal that starts with the same letter…creating a zoo of letters by the end of the “Note of the Week” series 🙂
I have a magnetic staff building aids. So the student has to construct the five lines add the treble clef with either 4/4 time or 3/4 and put magnetic notes on the note of the week and create one Measure of rhythm. They get to go to the piano and Play the rhythm on the key note of the week. Excellent for notation and location.
Location location location! I reward each students success.
Love this post and these great ideas! I teach a lot of group classes, so I think I could do a relay race where the students are in two teams. I have a huge floor staff drawn on a shower curtain. They could race to place whole notes on the Note of the week and the first team to get all of thier notes on the staff first wins! The kids love running (and burning off energy) and they love the competitive nature of relays!
That sounds so fun Beth!
Fabulous ideas! I don’t know where you come up with them, but WOW!! My studio has been so blessed through your creativity!!
every time a student gets to that note replace it with an action that starts with that letter e.g.. C = clap, B = bang (gently on your instrument), Or if that’s too hard just replace that note with any action, this also helps students practice finding their hand position quickly.
Great one Tonya!
I might highlight the note of the week and its “friends”. While only showing a flashcard with the note of the week, have them demonstrate it’s 5 finger scale, the note with it’s third and then with its I chord. You could even show a grand staff with all of the notes of the week and let intermediate kids play chord inversions and arpeggios and call out with C they are playing.
I like the note of the week idea. I only have a few kids who have note reading problems, but this is a very creative thing.
I like that first idea you posted called “Pin it!”, Andrea. Here is a spin-off that just spun out of my mind after reading it, which would be great, especially for kinaesthetic learners, because they will feel it!
Materials you’ll need for 1 set of game:
-blindfold
– cardboard
-12 pipe cleaners
– paper cut out of a whole note OR a round, flat piece of play dough (more can be needed to expand the game)
INSTRUCTIONS:
On a cardboard, glue 5 pipe cleaners to create a staff (or 10 for a grand staff). Then also using pipe cleaners, create a treble clef and a bass clef to stick on the staff.
Like your Pin It! game, blindfold the students.
Now stick it unto a wall, or have it on the table. The student will have to go up, FEEL the staves, which means they are probably counting the lines and the spaces they are on, and find the NOTE of the Week.
EXTRA IDEAS:
1) Have more notes. Start with the note of the week. Then add a pentascale, or an interval of a third, then make it into a triad..etc. Or you can use it to place all the guide notes.
2) If it’s at a group lesson, make teams compete to find the NOTE the fastest and correctly. Same thing, game can be used to drill a variety of single notes, group of notes.
3) Challenge: given the Note of the week, find it. Then listen to a phrase (could start with a 3-note phrase, with the note of the week being the first) and stick it on according to what they hear (steps, skips, certain intervals).
A tactile stave is a GREAT idea! It’s school holidays here (in Australia) so I’m going to make this my holiday project. My local craft store has jumbo pipe cleaners, so I think I’ll make a big one (if I can find a big enough piece of cardboard!) and keep it stuck on the back of the door.
Too many ideas popping into my head. I’ll have to make it a studio wide thing either next term or in September! 🙂
Find the note from a few clues you give them and limit the parameters to either only within treble clef, bass clef, grand staff or ledger lines..etc.
For example, testing the grand staff and if it is middle C.
Clues:
1. This note rests on a ledger line.
It is a step away from bass B or B3 (Key numbering).
It is an interval of 5 below treble G or G4 (key numbering).
This can be done individually or in a group. Probably more exciting in a group. Cause you can put a “That Was Easy” button in the middle of two or three teams, then the first one to figure it out can draw it out, play it on the piano and then press the button!
Title for the previous game can be called “Find the Mystery Note”.
We do the note of the week along with the dynamic and composer of the week. We have standard music games and I have a different student to choose the activity/or game associated. They can choose a favorite or choose for me to introduce a new one. A favorite is to draw the note at different times in it’s treble and bass position on a staff white board and play darts with the note being the bullseye.
I would do a don’t eat Pete version Let them find the note by trying to eat the skittles(m and m’s, etc) before they eat the note of the week.
That’s cute Jessica!
The letter names we use as ‘landmarks’ are those which relate to the student. It is amazing how many first, middle or last names, or the name of the town, or a pet, or whatever, begins with one of the music alphabet. My special note is G (for Gail) so students like it when we ‘share’ a note. Everyone else has two special notes, mine and theirs. Then everything becomes relative to those notes (a skip below, etc).
One of my favorite ideas!
“Spell” the musical alphabet starting with that note. If the note is D, the student would write DEFGABC. While it isn’t specifically note-reading, I find this is a concept my beginners need reinforcement on regularly.
You could make and play a game of “slap jack”. Make a deck of cards using notes on a staff and the letter of the week could be the cards that you slap. The rules are online for those who don’t know how to play.
These are great ideas! I started note of the week for the first time today and my students loved it. I can’t wait to introduce this to the rest of the students this week! Thanks so much!
That’s so great to hear Miranda! Kudos to you for starting right away 🙂
How about having them play their pieces without the note of the week. Focus on missing that note.
Thanks for the great ideas! I started note of the week yesterday for the first time and the kids loved it!
I love these ideas. Thanks for sharing. Another idea for throwing is to use small bean bags.
Have the student choose a piece in one of their music books. They circle the note each time they find it. I do the same thing with a different book, see who finds the most. Repeat as many times as interested. They want to sneak a look before starting and that’s actually wonderful! Make it competitive for the student who likes to compete. Add your scores together for the student who doesn’t enjoy competition. Keep a paper mounted where visible to all, announcing the World’s Record so far. It entices more interest to try and beat it. And the more they get to preview a piece before starting… yeah! all the better! (using current, recent or pieces they will be learning soon is even more helpful)
Make an interesting rhythm with that note only.
Find notes(friends) that sound good with that note.
Give clues and have them solve the note of the week mystery