While on a ferry trip to the mainland this past weekend I started chatting with the woman sitting next to me. As we chatted, she was organizing her weekly schedule in a planner; she had three kids, each with multiple sports activities, music lessons and dance classes. By the time she was done, her week ended up looking like something from a top secret military strategy book.
It was a good reminder that our piano students’ weeks are often a seven-day marathon. And for your youngest students, their piano lessons can be a moment filled with peace and solitude and undivided, positive attention.
…Which is why it’s great to include off-the-bench activities in every lesson. These moments of out-of-the-box teaching do so much more than simply reinforce important theory or ear training concepts. They also give your students the chance to sit across from a smiling adult who has nothing else to do but play with them. And that is a truly glorious thing to a small child.
Getting into the routine of including off-the-bench games and activities helps to strengthen your students’ connection to their piano lessons (and to you!)… which helps to improve motivation to practice, and ultimately, your studio’s retention rate.
To make sure you have a never-ending supply of off-the-bench activities, we’re sharing another fun activity that you can print and play this afternoon. It helps to solidify recognition of steps on the treble staff. Print it, grab a piano student who needs a moment of one-on-one fun and enjoy!
Stepping Into Piano Lesson Fun
Today’s game (see download instructions below) requires hardly any preparation and will be an activity your students will ask for again and again. It will help your students remember the “line to a space” or “a space to a line” rule when searching for steps on the staff. Here’s how to play:
- To begin, players use pennies to cover all of the note images on the game board (one penny per note).
- Next, Player 1 removes two pennies from the game board. If the revealed notes represent a step, Player 1 keeps the pennies and plays again. If the revealed notes represent a skip, a leap, or a repeat, the pennies are returned to the game board and Player 1’s turn is over.
- Player 2 performs Step 2. Players continue alternating turns until one player collects six coins and wins the game.
Find Today’s Printable Here
You can find today’s activity by clicking the Note Reading Tab in the Printables section ofย WunderKeys.com.
And while you’re there, be sure to check out our “recently released” WunderKeys Primer Piano Book 1. It is the first of three books to be released in our WunderKeys Primer Method Book Series with Books 2 and 3 to follow in late November and January.
When we created our WunderKeys approach to method books, we did so with one goal in mind: to produce method books that would be as beloved as a favorite bedtime story. We knew that if piano students loved their books, the benefits would extend into home practice and student retention and therefore into word-of-mouth and studio success.
This is why our WunderKeys method books are like nothing you’ve ever seen on the music store shelf. Our loveable characters and story-based design create an instant connection with your students that extends beyond lesson time into home practice time. Visit WunderKeys.com to learn more.
Monica says
Hi! I’m loving your resources and excited to get back into teaching after taking time off to have a baby. During my teaching break I’ve been thinking about changing up the materials I use and LOVE the WunderKeys program! I look forward to getting Book 1 in the mail from Amazon to see what’s inside (there’s no way to view any sample pages to get an idea of what the books are like – not that I could find anyway?)
So naturally my next question is, what method books do y’all use in your studio for elementary age students? I was looking in Piano Book Club and online but didn’t see anything. I need something fresh and would love to know what your resources are to go along with all of your theme based books and game books, and of course to use after my students have completed the WunderKeys series!
Looking forward to hearing back and exploring all that you have to offer. Thank you for sharing your success and ideas with the piano teaching world!!! It’s a breath of fresh air and simply revolutionary when it comes to pedagogy and the same old books that have been around for decades. Your materials are truly made with students in mind and will keep them engaged like nothing else can. Keep up the GREAT work!!
Andrea says
Hi Monica – you can view a “flip through” on Amazon by clicking on the book cover image ๐ We also have a video where I flip through the whole book on the blog – just search “Primer”. We are working on WunderKeys Primer Books 2 and 3 which will come out in the next few motnhs and then there will be a WunderKeys Level 1 – so if you begin with that series it would be a seamless transition from preschool right through elementary-age (and beyond as we continue to put out books). PianoBookClub is supplementary repertoire and so you can use this to supplement whatever method book series you choose to use. Each book is concept-focused which makes it easy to match with the scope and sequence of any method book. Thanks so much for your kind words ๐ Glad you are exited about teaching!
Barbara says
I just thought of another way to use these types of printables…which I LOVE! The teacher can play one of the notes and the student can point to the one on the “board” that is being played. And, of course, you can turn it around with teacher pointing/student playing. I’m sure the kids will love the soccer theme! Thanks for co-mingling their activities:) BTW I found a rubber “pointing finger” that goes on top of a pencil (at Party City in U.S.) that makes “pointing” a lot more fun for the kids! As always, thanks for a great resource!!
Andrea says
Hi Barbara – yes, great idea! Lots of ways you can use them ๐ Thanks for sharing!
Milla says
Love that as well as the other printables using pennies! Could you make one in the bass clef? I know, the principle is the same, but we could involve naming notes as well. Thanks!
Andrea says
Hi Milla – yes, lots more to come ๐ We add these freebies weekly so there will eventually be something for everything you’d be looking for!
Amy Kahn says
Hi Andrea–
Cute concept. How are you defining a skip vs. a leap?
A skip is not a leap but a leap is a skip of a lot of notes. How many notes? When does a skip become a leap? This could be a difficult concept for kids if it is not quantified.
Why not call anything other than a step, “a skip”…until you quantify by interval names?
Andrea says
Hi Amy – in Primer-level method books, a skip is typically referred to as being from one space note to the very next space note or a line note to the very next line note (as in a 3rd). Most students following a main-stream primer will have this definition “in their ears” already and are used to comparing skips and steps in this way. In that same vein, a leap therefore anything more than a 3rd. These free printables are teaching aids meaning you can use them in your own way as an assistant to how you personally like to teach these kinds of concepts. They’re not meant to replace the teacher, but rather provide a bit of fun ๐
Amy Kahn says
There is a “punishment factor” in this game. If you get anything other than a “step”, you “lose”. Negative association with musical intervals may not be what you want your kids to experience. Why not re-design the game to “win” by answering correctly?
Andrea says
Hi Amy – Creating negative associations with musical intervals is something that could be avoided in the way in which you approach this game together. If you’re laughing along with your student and using it in the light-hearted way in which it is intended then I don’t think that this would be a consequence of using this activity. The nature of game play means that there is always a way to “lose”; this game is fun for students in that their win or loss is not dependent on their knowledge, but rather luck and strategy. Their knowledge is used to help them play the game, not to win or lose. This is helpful when exploring a new concept as students are not “put on the spot” when first making those connections.
Elaine says
Thank you so much for yet another fabulous free printable – my students love them.
Andrea says
Thrilled to hear it, Elaine ๐
cheryl edwards says
My students enjoy this printable. I use buttons instead of coins (it’s what you do when you inherit grandma’s button jar). When we get 2 notes alike there’s excitement “It’s a 1 ! ” then we say “It’s a unison !”. Then my beginners play their pieces and say “I just saw that note !” it’s just another plus for note recall. Thank you for another fun activity !
Andrea says
So happy to hear it, Cheryl! I love button collections and I know kids do too! ๐ Thanks for sharing.