If you have school-aged children you are probably aware of the debate in math education that rages over the drilling of math facts. Some people believe that drilling math facts is essential for success, while others believe it kills motivation.
A similar debate could take place in music education. Some people may argue that drilling notes is required for competency in note reading while others may argue that it, again, kills motivation.
In both math and music, I don’t think the argument needs to take place. I agree with both sides. But since we’re a piano blog, let’s narrow our focus.
If a piano student wants to grow creatively, she must first be able to read the notes on her page; otherwise, creativity will be swamped by note-reading struggles. When a piano student’s mental power is released from the need to read notes it can be redirected to the creative component of making music.
However, I also agree with the camp that believes drilling notes is a real motivation buster. But, then again, it doesn’t have to be! Torturous flashcard practice or tedious theory sheets do not need to represent note-reading drills.
With a few simple tweaks and a little creative thinking, note-reading drills can be turned into fun theory activities… like the three that we are sharing below in today’s post.
A Dot-To-Dot Note Reading Adventure
Today’s note-reading collection is inspired by classic dot-to-dot mazes. To play, your students will help characters reach their final destinations by drawing lines that connect music notes in a specified order (ie. from Bass C to Middle C).
Our note-reading printables, as well as many additional fun theory activities, can be downloaded by visiting Teach Piano Today’s Homework Pages (click the pink button after the image below).
Click below to access today’s homework pages.
Thank you! I plan to laminate these for either siblings while waiting, or for a quick off-bench activity as the need arises. Dry-erase markers are fun for kids!
Yes, dry-erase works great and then you only need one copy 🙂 You can also use them on an iPad if you save them as an image and then use the “mark up” option as the pen.