Am I still cool? I hate that I have to ask myself this question… but as a parent of a pre-teen it’s a reality that I am facing; I may be losing my “coolness”.
But I’m going down swinging.
Having kids and teaching piano are two things that help me keep my finger on what is current. “Keeping up with cool” is a research project that I consider to be an important part of my job; I need to know what’s new and happenin’ (does anyone even say that anymore?… Oh dear).
And while I may not fully understand Snapchat, I do know that improv is something that always gets a thumbs up with piano students (do kids still give thumbs up?!… Sigh). Today we’re sharing a snowboarding improv activity that will help you “keep your cool” over the holiday season or hit the ground running in January!
Keep It Cool With This Snowboarding Improv Duet
Even if you’ve never taught improv before, you’ll be able to grab this activity and begin improvising with your piano students in just a few minutes. All you need is the printable we’re sharing today!
Here’s how it works:
- Print the Snowboarding Improv Package found here.
- Cut out the improv cards.
- Practice “clapping and saying” the rhythms on the improv cards. These “snowboarding lingo” phrases provide the rhythms your students will be using in the improv duet. We have included three blank cards for students who want to create their own rhythms.
- Ask your student to choose two of his favorite improv cards.
- Have your student place his hands in the C Minor 5-Finger Scale and experiment with various melodies (using only C, D, Eb, F, and G) to match the two improv cards he selected in Step 4 until he finds a combination that he likes (remember the combinations!)
- Start playing the teacher duet accompaniment. When your student is ready, he can begin playing (in an octave that doesn’t interfere with your part). Start by having him repeat just one of his combinations over and over. When he is comfortable he can then alternate between the two combinations.
- Encourage flexibility! Once your student has the hang of improvising, he can add more rhythm/melody combinations, create his own little riffs, add harmonic intervals, add extra notes, change the rhythms… the sky’s the limit! Simply repeat your duet part over and over as he experiments.
Note: As with any improv there will be some choices that “sound better” than others. And… experimenting with improv is a great way to lead into discussions of *why* certain melodies will sound better than others!
More Improvising Activities To Keep You Cool
Adding improv to your teaching is not only cool… it’s important! Improvisation opens the door to creativity and experimentation on the piano, and when you have piano students who create and experiment on the piano you end up with motivated and enthusiastic students who practice! Click on the images below to check out some more of our printable improv activities below:
Michelle Miller says
I’m just finishing up for the break today BUT this will be SO perfect for January when we kick off our 6 weeks of Piano Olympics! Definitely making this one of the “challenges” to complete! Fun!!!
Andrea says
Hi Michelle – perfect! This is why we put this out before the holiday – in the hopes that it can alleviate some of the “what can I do during that first week back?” planning for teachers 🙂 Happy holidays – hope you get a chance to really relax 🙂
Nina DeKock says
Hi Michelle, great idea! I’d like to hear more about your Olympics, please. Do your students know about it yet, or finding out about it at their 1st lesson in January? Thanks!
Megan Gilles says
Hi-I love all of your ideas for this improv idea but sometimes I don’t always get everything done…If you are to update this file at some point could you add all of your wonderful directions to file so that we have that? Love this, love this. I have so many students working on pentascales right now and this will be perfect!
Diane says
This looks fun! I don’t know much about snowboarding. What does “Three sixty yard sale” mean?
Andrea says
It’s snowboarding slang – it means a 360 degree spin. A “yard sale” is a “wipe out” or a fall that causes the person to lose all of their gear 🙂