We teach theory to our piano students so they can master repertoire quickly, gain a deeper understanding of their pieces, and improve fluency. These three goals become more apparent as your students transition from elementary repertoire into intermediate repertoire (and therefore from elementary music theory to intermediate music theory).
This transition ushers in a deep dive into key signatures. And with this deep dive comes an exploration of relative keys.
An understanding of these closely-related keys will assist your teens as they venture into improvisation and composition, and explore the structure of the music they play (often pieces will change key to the relative major or minor, or will use substituted chords from each). If a teen piano student can instantly name the key of a piece (and identify its relative major or minor) they will have a deeper understanding of the overall structure of their piece and will have improved fluency as they recall the fingering patterns and hand shapes inherent to the key.
A fun way to commit relative keys to memory is through game-based learning… and so today, we’re sharing a printable game for your teens that will help them memorize the relative minor keys of six major keys.
Let’s Reinforce Relative Keys With Game Play!
Today’s game is easy to set up and fun to play. It exercises those “memorization muscles” and provides enough repetition for your piano students to drill their knowledge of relative keys without being the slightest bit boring. All you need is the printable shared below, and some coins or game markers.
This teen piano resource can be used as a standalone activity or in coordination with our WunderKeys Intermediate Pop Studies series (available on Amazon).
These books are jam-packed with scale practice piano solos, lead sheet triad training, chord-focused sight reading, lap tap clap rhythm training, and left-hand pattern improv practice. You can learn more about WunderKeys Intermediate Pop Studie For Piano 1 here and WunderKeys Intermediate Pop Studies For Piano 2 here.
Click on the image below to download today’s game.
I love to turn to these home work pages when I need a quick idea for private or group class. Please keep those creative ideas flowing for intermediate levels as well as more sheets for teens. Thank you for sharing all of your awesome ideas and creativity!
I’m so glad you like using them! Yes, we’re always adding more!