SweetandSimple Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 DS9 has been taking piano lessons for about a year. He is progressing through his piano books (just finishing Alfred All-in-One Course, Level 2), but I can tell that he is "getting by" by memorizing the pieces. He loves to play pieces that he has memorized, but he hates learning new songs. I can tell that he doesn't really know what the notes are on the grand staff-- he depends heavily on the "finger numbers" that are sprinkled throughout his lesson songs, and then counts up and down from there. Is there a fun product or curriculum that can help us learn the names of the notes so that he recognizes them instantly? I've thought of making my own flashcards, but I was hoping for something more fun. Any ideas? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zillymom Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Wendy Stevens at ComposeCreate.com probably has some ideas. Definitely worth searching through her site. She has a printable grand staff and suggests using Hershey kisses or other candy/toys to manipulate notes. You may be able to make a game out of that. The "Web Rewards" section on her site has some games and worksheets in the early levels (A and 1). My own students seem to like the worksheets at Making Music Fun, too. (The "Name That Tune" one is most popular in my studio!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Middle Girl used Crazy Eighths, which basically is the usual kids' card games with a deck made of notes on the staff. It only took a week of playing card games for a little while each day for her to get them all down. It helped that she was trouncing Mommy by the end of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadianmumof5 Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Our middle 2 kids are going through the Music for Young Children program here. http://www.myc.com/ They have a really cute way of introducing the notes to kids - starting with C is a Creepy Crawly Critter (snake), D is a dancing Dinosaur, etc. There are catchy little one-liners to go with each note of the staff and the kids learn by placing pictures on the critter's line or space. I probably didn't explain it well but maybe their website would help. I know they do have an on-line store where you can get most of their materials. For our son, who didn't do the program since he started when he was 9 - it was just basic flashcards daily. And we didn't move on to Bass Clef until he knew the treble clef. You do know the "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" saying to help them memorize the line notes in treble clef and then the spaces are FACE????? For bass clef, it is "Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always" for the line notes. (don't tell our music teacher about those - she hates when parents use these but it was how i was taught..... :D) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetandSimple Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 (edited) Thanks for the suggestions! Those look great. Edited to add: I just ordered the Crazy 8ths game. I think my son will love that one! Edited August 29, 2012 by SweetandSimple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyK Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Thanks. Crazy 8ths looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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