I need ideas for teaching note names of piano keys ...

[Heart_Mom]

Do you have any creative ideas or games I could use to teach the note names of the piano keys to my 6th, 4th, and 1st graders? I'm not talking about reading music yet, just that this note is a C and that on is a G#, etc. I am a musician myself, but I'm just plum out of ideas for teaching this!

 

Thanks! :)

[Arcadia]

For young kids, sometimes the piano tutor would stick the letter names onto the piano keyboard just for the plain note. The sharps and flats came later. My kids learnt the Do Re Mi sequence from the song "Do a deer, a female deer" from Sound of Music. Than they learn to "match" Do to C, Re to D and so on until Ti to B.

If you don't mind mess, a fun silly thing we did was to draw an octave of the piano keyboard using sidewalk chalk and have fun jumping from note to note.

[Dmmetler]

There are a bunch of blogs and websites that have printable activities. I'm teaching at piano camp in a couple of weeks, so I've been collecting such links on the pinterest page I keep for my homeschool group.

 

http://pinterest.com/homememphis/music/

 

Here's a few that I have put aside for my primer class:

 

http://colorinmypiano.com/2012/11/20/printable-black-key-group-sorting-cards/

http://www.susanparadis.com/catalog.php?ID=SP235

 

There are a lot more on both these sites.

 

 

 

[Mom0012]

My dd likes this website http://www.emusictheory.com/practice.html .  It has drills both for recognizing the notes when reading music and for identifying them on the keyboard.

[Heart_Mom]

Thank you for the great ideas! :) 

 

 

[mathnerd]

My son's piano teacher used the "story" of a piano street with 2 kinds of houses - with 2 black keys and 3 black keys. The lady of the house with 2 black keys had a cat who liked to sit on the bench outside the house - called "C", she had a dog who liked to sit near the doorstep always (that note is a "D") and then an elephant tried to visit one day and got stuck in the door - that note is called an "E". And she has a whole storyline of all these notes as animals and she pulls out small toy animals and puts them on the appropriate places on the staff to tell the story. She also does one new note every few weeks and uses some really basic piano textbooks to play musical patterns with just a couple of notes until they can be understood well. She is a highly qualified piano teacher from a top music college and has taught the 3-6 year old set for over 35 years. She says that the only way to make the notes stick in the child's memory is by making fun stories for kids and playing games with these characters and simple songs with these keys. This could be an approach you can take along with a basic elementary piano course - like Little Mozart's, Alfred's or Faber. Since you are a musician yourself, I believe that it would be very easy for you to teach your kids basic piano. Good luck.

[Heart_Mom]

My son's piano teacher used the "story" of a piano street with 2 kinds of houses - with 2 black keys and 3 black keys. The lady of the house with 2 black keys had a cat who liked to sit on the bench outside the house - called "C", she had a dog who liked to sit near the doorstep always (that note is a "D") and then an elephant tried to visit one day and got stuck in the door - that note is called an "E". And she has a whole storyline of all these notes as animals and she pulls out small toy animals and puts them on the appropriate places on the staff to tell the story. She also does one new note every few weeks and uses some really basic piano textbooks to play musical patterns with just a couple of notes until they can be understood well. She is a highly qualified piano teacher from a top music college and has taught the 3-6 year old set for over 35 years. She says that the only way to make the notes stick in the child's memory is by making fun stories for kids and playing games with these characters and simple songs with these keys. This could be an approach you can take along with a basic elementary piano course - like Little Mozart's, Alfred's or Faber. Since you are a musician yourself, I believe that it would be very easy for you to teach your kids basic piano. Good luck.

I love this idea! Right up my children's alley. And I bet they will remember too! :) Thanks so much for taking the time to tell me about it.

[SanDiegoMom]

When you do get to teaching notes on a staff, I used flash cards and my kids got a jellybean every time they got one right, they lost one if they got one wrong, and after the whole stack was gone through we did the "lightning round". They loved this, and it only lasted a few weeks max til they knew all their notes.

[Heart_Mom]

When you do get to teaching notes on a staff, I used flash cards and my kids got a jellybean every time they got one right, they lost one if they got one wrong, and after the whole stack was gone through we did the "lightning round". They loved this, and it only lasted a few weeks max til they knew all their notes.

 

Oh, my children would enjoy this! I know I have some flash cards around here somewhere ... :)

[Lawana]

Music for Little Mozarts teaches D first. There is a little ditty that goes, "D, D, Play with ease, in between the two black keys." Then the other notes are added sequentially.

[Heart_Mom]

Music for Little Mozarts teaches D first. There is a little ditty that goes, "D, D, Play with ease, in between the two black keys." Then the other notes are added sequentially.

Thanks! I'll check that out. :)

 

Is that in book one? http://www.amazon.com/Music-Little-Mozarts-Lesson-Book/dp/0882849662/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373132689&sr=1-3&keywords=music+for+little+mozarts+lesson+book+1

[klmama]

Tape on the keys with letter names written on tape.

 

Practice at www.musictheory.net in the exercises section using the keyboard note identification game.  You can customize it for only the notes they've already learned by clicking the three lined image at the top right.  There are many other exercises for learning to read notes on the staff, key signatures, etc.

[Lawana]

Thanks! I'll check that out. :)

 

Is that in book one? http://www.amazon.com/Music-Little-Mozarts-Lesson-Book/dp/0882849662/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373132689&sr=1-3&keywords=music+for+little+mozarts+lesson+book+1

Yes. The series is geared for 4-6yos, which would probably not work for all your kids, but works very well for the younger set.

[Heart_Mom]

Yes. The series is geared for 4-6yos, which would probably not work for all your kids, but works very well for the younger set.

Thank you!

 

I might buy the book so I can use the rhyme. :)

[DragonFaerie]

One silly thing that I learned many (many!) years ago was for remembering sharps and flats.  My piano teacher told me that if you sit on a tack, it is SHARP and you would jump UP.  If you let the air out of a balloon, it goes FLAT and lays DOWN. :-)

[zoo_keeper]

We bought stickers like these.

[Heart_Mom]

One silly thing that I learned many (many!) years ago was for remembering sharps and flats.  My piano teacher told me that if you sit on a tack, it is SHARP and you would jump UP.  If you let the air out of a balloon, it goes FLAT and lays DOWN. :-)

 

Love this! Thanks! :)

We bought stickers like these.

Neat! I'll keep this idea in my back pocket in case they don't pick up the note names quickly. 

[Arcadia]

Is that in book one? http://www.amazon.com/Music-Little-Mozarts-Lesson-Book/dp/0882849662/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373132689&sr=1-3&keywords=music+for+little+mozarts+lesson+book+1

My boys self taught piano using Music for Little Mozart. They like teddy bears so the attraction is there. I bought all four of the books for them. They read the storyline for fun.

[duckens]

A couple of ideas:

1) Piano Keyboard Story

 

Piano Keyboard Story

Teach this story at the keyboard.  Show the page to the kids afterwards.

 

Point out a set of two black keys.  “This is the Dog house.  A Dog lives here.â€

Play key D.  “This is where the Dog sits – right inside his house!â€

 

“The dog has two friends:  Cat and Elephant.† Play C and E appropriately for Cat and Elephant.

 

Point out the adjacent set of three black keys.  “This is the big house.  Some people live here, but they are out right now.â€

 

“One day, the Dog, the Cat, and the Elephant decide to go into the big house.  They go in the Front door.† Play F. 

 

“When they get inside, they see some Grapes on the table.† Play G.  “So they eat them all up!† Make gobbling sounds.

 

“When the grapes were done, the Dog, the Cat, and the Elephant were still hungry, so they saw some Apples.† Play A.  “So they ate them all up, too!† Make gobbling sounds.

 

“When all the Apples were done, the Dog, the Cat, and the Elephant went out the Back door.† Play B.

 

Repeat story, but have child play the notes.  Ask child what they would think if they came home and a Dog, Cat, and Elephant were sitting in their house eating Grapes and Apples.  Give child random notes to find on the keyboard using this strategy.

2) Race to Middle C

Purchase poker chips and label them with the musical alphabet.  Have at least 3 or 4 octaves.  Put them in a bag.  (We use a ziplock).

 

While sitting at the keyboard, take turns drawing chips blindly from the bag.

 

Example:

Person 1:  Chooses a C, and puts it on the first C at the high end of the keyboard.

Person 2: Chooses an F, and puts it on the first F at the low end of the keyboard.

Person 1: Chooses an E, and puts the chip on the next E of the keyboard (moving toward Middle C).

Person 2: Chooses an A, and puts the chip on the next A of the keyboard (moving toward Middle C).

Continue until someone crosses Middle C (or the center of the keyboard).

 

 

[duckens]

 

I (duckens) said:

Teach this story at the keyboard.  Show the page to the kids afterwards.

 

Somewhere on my computer I have a file of a keyboard with clipart for each reminder word on it: dog, cat, elephant, front door, etc. 

 

If anyone is dying for this, PM me, and I will look for it.

[Heart_Mom]

A couple of ideas:

1) Piano Keyboard Story

 

Piano Keyboard Story

Teach this story at the keyboard.  Show the page to the kids afterwards.

 

Point out a set of two black keys.  “This is the Dog house.  A Dog lives here.â€

Play key D.  “This is where the Dog sits – right inside his house!â€

 

“The dog has two friends:  Cat and Elephant.† Play C and E appropriately for Cat and Elephant.

 

Point out the adjacent set of three black keys.  “This is the big house.  Some people live here, but they are out right now.â€

 

“One day, the Dog, the Cat, and the Elephant decide to go into the big house.  They go in the Front door.† Play F. 

 

“When they get inside, they see some Grapes on the table.† Play G.  “So they eat them all up!† Make gobbling sounds.

 

“When the grapes were done, the Dog, the Cat, and the Elephant were still hungry, so they saw some Apples.† Play A.  “So they ate them all up, too!† Make gobbling sounds.

 

“When all the Apples were done, the Dog, the Cat, and the Elephant went out the Back door.† Play B.

 

Repeat story, but have child play the notes.  Ask child what they would think if they came home and a Dog, Cat, and Elephant were sitting in their house eating Grapes and Apples.  Give child random notes to find on the keyboard using this strategy.

2) Race to Middle C

Purchase poker chips and label them with the musical alphabet.  Have at least 3 or 4 octaves.  Put them in a bag.  (We use a ziplock).

 

While sitting at the keyboard, take turns drawing chips blindly from the bag.

 

Example:

Person 1:  Chooses a C, and puts it on the first C at the high end of the keyboard.

Person 2: Chooses an F, and puts it on the first F at the low end of the keyboard.

Person 1: Chooses an E, and puts the chip on the next E of the keyboard (moving toward Middle C).

Person 2: Chooses an A, and puts the chip on the next A of the keyboard (moving toward Middle C).

Continue until someone crosses Middle C (or the center of the keyboard).

This is great! I think the story format will really help my children. Thank you so much for posting. :)