Score Study Stickies; A Piano Game You Can Play With Your… Forehead

Teaching score study skills isn’t just a “nice extra”… it’s a game-changer for home practice.

Because when piano students know how to look at their music (and not just play through it), everything improves. Practice becomes more focused, progress comes faster, and suddenly students feel confident sitting down at their piano on their own.

And when that happens?
Lessons run smoother, parents notice the difference, and your studio starts to hum along beautifully.

So today we’re sharing a fun, hands-on piano game that helps students dig into their music, spot important details, and practice more efficiently at home.

Keep reading to learn how to play “Score Study Stickies.”

How To Play Score Study Stickies

Because teaching piano already comes with a boatload of prep, I have a soft spot for activities that are quick and easy to pull together. Score Study Stickies takes just a few minutes to set up and requires nothing more than a pen and a stack of sticky notes.

This game works best at the very beginning of a lesson and can be prepped while your student is unpacking or playing through warm-ups. To get started, grab your sticky notes, a pen, a timer, and your student’s current piece.

While your student isn’t looking, draw 10 simple images—one per sticky note—that represent elements you’d like to reinforce in their music. Think things like a quarter rest, a slur, an accent, a skip, primary chords, tempo markings, a key signature, or a crescendo.

Simple to prep… but incredibly effective once the game begins.

When you’re ready to begin, follow these steps:

1. Sit on the floor across from your student. Have her place her current piano piece on the ground in front of her and hold the stack of sticky notes face down.
2. Explain that this is a race—speed matters!
3. Set a timer for two minutes. When you say “go,” your student sticks the first sticky note to her forehead.
4. Give clues to help her identify the image. For example: “It tells you to play softly,” or “It’s a line that connects two notes.”
5. Once she guesses correctly, she must find that element in her music. After locating it, she removes the sticky note and replaces it with a new one. If she can’t guess after two clues, discard the note and move on.
6. Continue until the timer runs out. Then count how many images she correctly identified to see her final score.
7. Four More Off-The-Bench Activities

In the coming weeks, your students will be deep in winter recital preparation. And while that focus is important, it’s just as important to remind them that piano lessons aren’t meant to feel like “all work and no play.”

One of the easiest ways to keep motivation high is to carve out a few minutes in each lesson for off-the-bench fun.

If you’re looking for activities that are both educational and laugh-out-loud engaging, take a peek at our Very Useful Piano Board Game Set for Late Primer students. Designed to reinforce essential concepts through play, these games are just as fun for teachers as they are for students—and they’re the perfect way to balance the intensity of recital prep.

👉 Explore our late primer set here: https://wunderkeys.com/piano-book/piano-games-for-late-primer-vu-level-i-k/