These were my older beginner piano students over the age of 12 (all girls in my group). They were a VERY happy lively giggly bunch of girls and we had a lot of fun.
This is what I did with them:-
Game: Interval Slap (found here: Interval Slap from Susan Paradis’ website)
Game: Beat Bingo (which some had played before, loved by all) found here: Samantha Coates’ Beat Bingo and other games You’ll have to go down to the second download. We used the beginner version where you write in your own semibreves, minims and crotchets.
Game: Four Corners. I chose 4 different rhythms and copied them out twice. One copy I stuck somewhere on the 4 corners of my studio. The others I held and shuffled behind my back. The girls had to choose a corner (sometimes they were all in a different one and at other times they decided to share – led to lots of laughter and a few groans). I randomly slapped the rhythms down on the table in front of me and they had to identify it and see if anyone was out.
Composition: Our theme has been “The Great Music Dig” so I couldn’t let this group go without doing something theme related. We did this:-
– I laid some theme cards down on a table (found here: The Great Music Dig composition help cards).
– I put some rhythm cards on the table
– I handed each students some manuscript paper with a very large staff.
– I put a box of pencils and erasers in the middle.
Each student needed to compose an 8 bar composition using all or some of tools above (the manuscript was a must, of course).
Feel free to make up your own composition help cards. Mine are very general and I doubt I would use them for younger students. The aim was to get these particular students using their imaginations. E.g. “Hot Sunny Days” – how would you feel? Would you move around a lot, or rest? Would your movements be faster or slower? How do those days sound in terms of high and low?
Performance: Perform your composition for the other students.
