Music Dice Game and a Fun Chart

This week I've been sick.  Moms aren't supposed to get sick.  It makes mom-hood really hard.  All was bearable until I had to teach lessons this week on top of everything else.  After smiling and acting happy through my morning lessons I threw in the towel and canceled all my afternoon lessons, took a hot bath, took a long nap, and then just sat at my computer and vegged until my husband got home and cooked me dinner.  With all of this spare time on my computer, I was able to tinker with some games I've had in the back of my mind for a while now.

I should come up with a good name for this game, but I don't have one.  Basically, I used 4 two-eighth-note dice and my daughter and I took turns rolling rhythms.  We'd count up the number of beats, clap and count, and then move our game piece that many counts.  She loved it!  It wasn't very hard for her, but it gave her good practice clapping and counting the various rhythms.

Roll the dice

Count the number of beats

Clap the rhythm

Move the game piece the number of squares as the number of beats in the rhythm rolled.

 I used the two-eighth-note dice because nothing is less than one beat so the rhythms don't get too complicated (and it's easier to move the game pieces.)  Sometimes if we had a nice round number like 8 or 9 or 12 beats, we'd break it up into measures so she could count 1-2-3-4 or 1-2-3.  Otherwise, it would just be the number of beats of the note (4 for whole, 3 for dotted half, etc.)  Since the game board was pretty long (192 squares is what my daughter counted - I haven't verified) the game took over 15 minutes.  So, I made two smaller boards for younger kids, or if you wanted a shorter game.

I love these game boards.  I definitely think I will laminate these ones to have on hand.  Not only are they good for this particular game, but I was thinking that I could use them to help guide the practice.  For instance, my daughter could roll a die (a 24 or 30-sided dice would be great for the long board) and whatever they land on is what they play.  We'd determine what the different symbols would mean before playing the game.  One idea would be the heart would be her choice, the star would be my choice, and the note would be note reading.  You could make up your own rules.  That's the great thing about this chart.  There are no set rules - just make them up to suit your individual needs.

By the way - the long chart has pretty small squares.  We were using my gorilla erasers for game pieces.  I was thinking a small die would also work.  It would be hard to use anything much bigger than a centimeter.  Keep that in mind when planning this game for your kids!

I'd love to hear if you have any other ideas for this game board!

A Little Game of War

At group lesson last week we played a fun game with my beginning to intermediate students with the musical notes dice with sixteenth notes on it.  This die has six different notes ranging from sixteenth note to whole note.  Each note has a different value.  I paired the kids up by ability level and they would each roll a dice.  We had colored chips in the middle (although pennies, jewels, rocks, beads would work.)  Whoever got the higher value of dice would get one of the chips.  If they got the same value then they would roll until someone won and that person would get however many chips it took to roll the winning dice.  They always had to say what kind of note and how many beats (ex: "quarter note, one beat." "sixteenth note, one-fourth beat."    What I really liked about this was that even the beginning 4 year old knew the note names values of the dice after only about 2 minutes.  This was a fun way to really drill this concept in a short amount of time.

You can buy these fun dice HERE at The Practice Shoppe!

Play or Dare

Play or Dare is a game I've played a few times during group classes.  I played it at our Book 1-2 group today and wanted to post it in case this might help someone with practicing.  This would be a great practicing game if you took the time to prepare fun "Dares" for the child.

Here is a picture of some of the "Dares" we did in our group class today.

I put the "Play" cards (different pieces that we needed to work on) 

and the "Dare" cards on my {cool 70's} fireplace.

Here are some other "Dare" ideas I've used: 

* Pick a "play" card and practice leading that piece.

* Show us your favorite dance move.

* Tell us something you like about your violin teacher.

* Sing the next "play" card. (OR whistle or hum)

* Choose a funny way to sit or stand and play the next piece that way.

* Do ten jumping jacks and then turn around in a circle five times.

Halloween Bingo

Halloween is almost here and perhaps I'm posting this a little late, but this may be helpful for future Halloweens.  Bingo seems to be part of every class Halloween party and I decided to incorporate it into my most recent group class.  I printed out a blank Halloween bingo card for each of my students and cut out all the pieces we needed to go over during the lesson (which ironically was all Christmas music.)  I glued them on randomly before group class and had another set of pieces in my witch's cauldron.  The kids took turns picking the pieces - then we'd mark the chart - then work on the piece.  The kids really enjoyed the game part of the class between the playing part.  Anyone who got BINGO got Halloween candy.  Everyone got bingo at least once before the end of the lesson.

I'm going to be doing this week with my daughter practicing as well.  We have TONS of Christmas music to review in addition to all the other stuff we need to practice.  Bingo is a great practicing game with there is lots and lots to practice.

Hope you enjoy.  You can download it on The Practice Shoppe HERE.

Practicing Cards

I use practicing cards a lot with my own children as well as my students during their lessons and group lessons. Basically, the practicing cards are cards with the names of all the stuff you're practicing on them. I love to use these adorable cards from Meredith Strings for the Suzuki pieces, but I've also found that I need to make my own set of cards that include the Suzuki pieces, extra pieces, and scales, exercises, etc. I just make them on index cards and get an index card box to store them in. The Meredith Strings cards fit well in a Really Useful Box (really, that's the name) found at any office supply shop.

There are lots of ways to use these cards during practice.

• The parent or teacher lays out the things that need to be accomplished during a practice session so that the child can see everything and take turns choosing what to do and then take that card away. When the cards are gone - practicing is done! I like to take turns because if the child chooses all the time the hard stuff will be left to the end when they are getting restless. If I had to choose all the time the child might think it's not fair or fun.
• Today I practiced with my daughter by pulling out the things she absolutely needed to do, which were her new piece, last three songs, and scale. I put the rest of the cards in a stack and told her to separate them into two piles. One stack today, one stack tomorrow. I shuffled all the cards up and she picked the top one up and did it. This way it was a mystery to both of us what she would play next, but everything got done.
• In a group lesson setting, I put all the cards that I'm willing to play in the group, but since there is no way I will get to them all I let the kids take turns choosing the cards and we play those pieces.
• Combine these cards with other practicing cards that may have a posture point or a particular way to play. Cards could include Keeping Eyes on the Highway, Straight Bow, Bent Thumb, and Straight Head. It could also include fun things such as Standing on One Foot, Bow Upside Down, and Play with Eyes Closed. Pick a piece card and an action card and combine the two. This would be most effective with review in a practice or group lesson setting.

What are some other ways you can think of to use these practice cards?