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 Game: Chance Match
Goals: To practice matching the note and rest pairs
Materials: rhythm playing cards, magic notes
Play: Students play side-by-side, each with their own set of cards. Each student has five notes and five rests, no dotted notes
Sorting the cards: (Very Important Step) Spread out one deck of rhythm playing cards face up between four students and ask them to each take one of the five notes and rests they have learned, leaving the dotted notes in the center on the rug. Each student will end up with five different notes and five different rests. Refrain from helping them unless necessary. Instead, encourage them to help each other. This in itself is an important exercise to help them better learn the shapes of notes and rests. Play the following levels in several sessions.
Main game: Students place their top row of note cards in order left to right: whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note. Rest cards are shuffled and held in the hand with cards faces facing down. The first rest card is placed below the left most note card. If it’s a match (whole rest), the student puts a magic note on the rest card. The next rest card in the student's hand is placed below the half note card. This is repeated for each card with magic notes added if the two cards match. The cards without magic notes (that don’t match) are picked up, shuffled and the sequence is repeated until all the cards match. This student was most happy when all his cards matched. Students usually spontaneously repeat the steps without being told to do so.
Variation 1: The top row is rest cards and the note cards are shuffled.
Variation 2: The top row is note cards, but they are out of order.
Variation 3: The top row is rest cards, but they are out of order.
Teaching Tip: It is important that students check for matches one card at a time instead of laying out all five cards and then checking for matches. With only one thing to focus on every student has more chances for seeing the match.
Large group or only a few decks of cards: Students can play together in small teams with 10 cards.
Question: Why not just have students match the second row of cards to the top row? Wouldn't it be faster?
Answer: Matching that way is a test. Playing Chance Match is a game. Yes, it takes longer, but there's more time to learn, notice the differences in the shapes of the notes and rests and to let the memory develop naturally. Tests can be stressful and games are fun. We like fun.
Repetitions: For about 10 minutes in a session.
Chance Match is a Classic Game: Classic Games are versatile games that can be played using different materials to practice many different subject areas. A complete list with instructions are in the Handbook (August 2011 edition). Chance Match can be played to study notes on the staff, tempos, dynamics, scales and key signatures.
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Recently, I have made lots of posts to the Music Mind Games Facebook page and plan to continue doing so. It's much easier than preparing and sending out newsletters. 
From Akiko Takahashi: Thank YOU, Michiko. I was so inspired at the Edinburgh Unit 1 and 2 workshops in May. It gave me a real push and I was so glad I did it as the children showed (and continue to do so) me amazing things through Music Mind Games.From September, I'm extending almost all my piano lessons for 15 minutes to specifically accommodate Music Mind Games.
From Marian Robertson: This morning I have just had a breakthrough with a dyslexic adult on sight reading for an upcoming AB exam ... she reads the notes well but rhythms are a real problem at sight. A moment of sudden inspiration came to me (having just returned from the workshop in Edinburgh)..." this exersise starts with a huckleberry and further along the line is a purple, I thought!. So I quickly taught her the words to all the rhythms on the page and she is now going to try and apply this to more pieces at home. I think it will help her very much to hear the words in relation to her printed music.
