Workshop for Teachers and Students
"I loved the "quiet skills" that Music Mind Games teaches such as character qualities needed to develop
life skills, e.g. assertiveness, faith, gentleness, goodness, honesty, joy, kindness, love, patience,
place, self control, self-esteem and understanding that I endeavor to promote in my teaching." Marthé M.
• "This has taught me how to teach in an incredibly fun and non-threatening way." Tari. R
• "I am taking home more ideas than I'll be able to use in years of group teaching and
lots of techniques to use with specific problems in private teaching." Melissa R.
 
Clinician: Michiko
Friday, February 19, 2010
Teachers: 9:30 - 5:00
Students 3:30 - 4:30
Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
58 Seventh Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
www.bqcm.org 
$115 for teachers and $20 for students
Contact Julianne Carney
Julianne.Carney@bqcm.org 
718-622-3300 ex. 25

Next month:
03-20: Workshop for Teachers in Odense, Denmark (March 20, 2010)
03-26 Unit 1 Overview in Flagstaff, Arizona (March 26-28, 2010)

There are more workshop opportunities this year than ever before. Teachers: Come learn new concepts, ideas and updates that are only available with the person-to-person atmosphere of a workshop. The hands-on experience will give you insights and tips galore. Treat yourself to a fun time! In some cases, the number of participants is limited, so early registration is encouraged.

1-29 Teacher Workshop in Frederikshavn, Denmark
1-30 Student and Teacher Workshop in Denver, Colorado
2-5 Teacher Workshop in Svendborg, Denmark
2-6 Teacher and Student Workshop in Sun Valley, Idaho
2-12 Teacher's Convention in Washington, D.C.
2-19 Teacher and Student Workshop in New York, New York
3-20 Workshop for Teachers in Odense, Denmark
3-26 Unit 1 Overview in Flagstaff, Arizona (3 days)
5-24 Unit 1 Overview in Minneapolis, Minnesota (3 days)  ** register online

 
More information is posted at Upcoming Workshops.

** This 3 day Unit 1 Overview Teacher Training Workshop has been planned to coordinate with the 2010 Suzuki Association Conference. If you're a Suzuki teacher, attend both and be a superstar!

6-14 Student Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah (June 14 - 19, 2010)
6-20 Student Institute in Orkney Springs, Virginia (5 days)
6-21 Unit 6-21 Unit 2 - Holstebro, Denmark (5 days)
7-11 Student Institute in Boulder, Colorado (5 days)
7-26 Student Institute in Honolulu, Hawaii (5 days)
8-1 Unit 1 and Student Institute in Eugene, Oregon (6 days)
8-16 Unit 1 in Kensington, Maryland (5 days)  register online

More information is posted at Upcoming Workshops.

Play: The other player than the dealer takes the first turn. If possible s/he chooses one of his/her three face up cards and discards it into either of the center piles. The card must be either one value higher or one value lower than the top card and either choice is correct*. S/he replaces the card with one from his pile so three cards are facing up. Players take turns discarding cards. If someone doesn’t have a card to play, s/he says “Pass,” and the other player can play. 
 
If both players say “Pass” in a row, each takes one card from the side piles and turns it face up onto a center pile to break the impasse. The player who said "Pass" first takes the first turn and the game continues. If the side piles should run out of cards, the two face up cards on the center piles remain, and the rest of the pile is turned face down to become a side pile. 
 
There’s no limit to how many times one player can pass. Players can help each other. The game is over when a player discards all his cards.

Variation: Since this is a Classic Game, it's possible to reinforce other skills with this game. Use with do re mi cards (use just five do cards - choose an interval and don't forget to sing the pitches as the cards go in the center piles), alphabet cards (to practice intervals or key signatures), and grand staff cards (choose an interval).

*Sequence and wraparounds: The sequence must include a dotted note between values whether the cards are notes or rests since that's what we're trying to teach. Whole notes or rests wrap around to sixteenth notes or rests and vice versa.

A group of teachers and parents from all over the world help me as volunteer proof-readers and I would like to thank them. They look over new publications, web pages and newsletters. Thanks to the magic of Internet, we do all our communication through emails. They download projects to their computers and respond with corrections and suggestions. The turnaround time is often rather quick and I'm grateful for their flexibility. Some of us have met and some have not. Some have studied with me at workshops and others only know Music Mind Games through the materials, book and website. This helps ensure understanding on many levels. Thank you everyone!

Arian Johnson, Springfield, Virginia
Carol Tarr, Denver, Colorado
Cindy Dittrich, Springfield, Missouri
Donna Murray, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Elizabeth Cunha, Silver Spring, Maryland
Emily Lowe, Baltimore, Maryland
Ethel Olsen, Elkton, Maryland
Gail Matulaitis, Simi Valley, California
Jana MacKay, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Janet Harrison, North Reading, Massachusetts
Jean Carlson, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Jill Kuhn, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Kathy Coltof, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Linda J. Smith, Richmond, Minnesota
Lynne Schefke, Naperville, Illinois
Margy Barber, Hixson, Tennessee
Marie D'Andrea, Weaverville, North Carolina
Melissa S. Robol, Worthington, Ohio
Moon Teng Yap, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Naomi Kusano, Washington, D.C. 
Sue Bakshi, Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Sue Edwards, Manlilus, New York
Teri Wheeler Roosa, Lee, Massachusetts
Terry, Falmouth, Maine
Tina Raimondi, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
 

The revision of the blue jello rhythm puzzle has been in development for nearly two years. I would like to thank teachers who are helping me test the new puzzle sizes and proofread the inserts of game ideas. I'm delighted to announce that the puzzle is finally in the production phase. This means Panda Rhythm will be available in the spring. 

Alicia Derr, Salt Lake City, Utah
Alexia Luscher, Kailua, Hawaii
Anita Schultz, Cottage Grove, Wisconsin
Debbie Lowry, Antioch, Tennessee
Elizabeth Cunha, Silver Spring, Maryland
Emily Lowe, Baltimore, Maryland
Hazel Roggen, Auckland, New Zealand
Jan Lance, Gilroy, California
Judy Bohne, Hamilton, Ohio
Leslie Katz, Sherman Oaks, California
Linda J. Smith, Richmond, Minnesota
Lynne Schefke, Naperville, Illinois
Naomi Kusano, Washington, D.C.
Pat Bowen, Little Rock, Arkansas
Patti Ladpli, Madison, Wisconsin 

The melodic bingo cards (Panda Melody) and rhythm bingo cards (Panda Rhythm) have been a fun project but very labor intensive for more than two years. A big thank you to these teachers who are helping me test the cards and proofread the inserts of game ideas.

Anita Schultz, Cottage Grove, Wisconsin
Anna Kofner, North Potomac, Maryland
Carol Jiling, Denver, Colorado
Elizabeth Cunha, Silver Spring, Maryland
Emily Lowe, Baltimore, Maryland
Jessica Lackey, Bowie, Maryland
Katie Hoody, Garland, Texas
Leslie Katz, Sherman Oaks, California
Linda M. Calhoun, Bella Vista, Arkansas
Lynne Schefke, Naperville, Illinois
Moon Teng Yap, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Naomi Kusano, Washington, D.C.
Patti Ladpli, Madison, Wisconsin
Shannon Hall, Los Lunas, New Mexico
Sharie Stegeman, Potomac Falls, Virginia
Sue Bakshi, Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Sue Edwards, Manlilus, New York   

Many of you tell me that your students really like Freddie, the drawing of the singing dog who tells us if the various Music Mind Games cards are upside down or right side up. Freddie is my dog and he is saying Hello! He was a rescue dog from our local Humane Society in 1995 when he was about one year old. He was really quite wild but responded well to our training. He learned to sit, lie down, stay and come with voice and hand commands. If we put a treat on his paw and give him the sign to stay, he won't eat his treat until we tell him, "Okay, Freddie". He never liked to walk on the leash so we taught him to walk on the grass next to us. He sits down at the end of each curb and waits until he's told to cross, even if we cross ahead of him. When we get to the other side we turn around and he's looking at us with a twinkle in his eye. We call out "Cross, Freddie" and he bounds happily across the street full of pride. We've also taught him not to chase squirrels or cats since he's never been very fast and besides, it's not polite or kind.

He learned to sing on command, too. Often when my husband Cris would practice his saxophone, Freddie would begin to howl. We would say, "Good singing, Freddie," so he learned the word "sing". Soon we could say, "Sing, Freddie," and he would sing. It helped if I would howl a few notes to get him started.

Freddie is half German Shepherd and half Chow. He weighs about 62 pounds and is a happy dog. He is more than 15 years old which is old for a dog his size. His fur has turned grey around his eyes and he can't bark or sit any more. He takes medicine for arthritis, has had lyme disease two times and has an inner ear problem so he's a bit wobbly. He eats twice a day and enjoys his daily walks in the neighborhood. He loves when it snows and can't wait to go out and play (like me). He loves to eat snow. We have never fed him table scraps or people food except for a few raw vegetables he gets when we're cooking. His favorites are green peppers, cucumbers, the spines of romaine lettuce and the ends of brocolli and asparagus. He also likes to eat grass. As I write this, he's sleeping upside down with his feet in the air, right by the front door and a heating vent. This is his favorite spot and he's proud of what a good watch dog he is. He doesn't know that he's old enough to retire.

He used to come downstairs into my teaching studio to listen to lessons and lie in the middle of Music Mind Games classes and workshops. Sometimes we'd have to make our cards go around him or he'd roll over the top of our staff slates so our magic notes would slide around. Now his legs aren't strong enough to take him up or down a flight of stairs.

Freddie has an excellent memory. He acts differently and makes special sounds when friends or family arrive at our door. Several times someone has visited us after more than five years. We could tell Freddie remembered them because he made his special sounds. He has very expressive eyes and will blink at me when he understands. Just like people, our pets are often smarter than we think if we only go out of our way to recognize it. If you have a favorite pet whom you love, you will know what I mean.

As a thank you to all of you Music Mind Games enthusiasts, I am sending some holiday cheer in the form of 10% off all our items. That means 10% off Puppy Packets, Panda 1 Packs, Musopoly, the Music Mind Games book, blue jello word cards and all the individual items like grand staff cards, rhythm playing cards and blue jello cards. This special will last for one week only: December 15 - 20, 2009* so teachers, put your favorite items on your wish list, give a nudge to your Secret Santa or simply reward yourself with a well-deserved gift. Tell your parents about this opportunity to enrich their children's lives with a Puppy Packet or Musopoly game that will last for years and be entertaining as well.  

We are usually able to provide same day shipping depending on the time of day your order is received. Once your order leaves us, it's up to the carrier to get it to you in a timely manner. Of course, we always provide you with tracking numbers so you can trace your order. Please note that this offer does not apply to orders placed prior to December 15th or purchase orders.

*Specifically: December 15 at 5:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time) through December 21 at 5:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time)

As a thank you to all of you Music Mind Games enthusiasts, I am sending some holiday cheer in the form of 10% off all our items. That means 10% off Puppy Packets, Panda 1 Packs, Musopoly, the Music Mind Games book, blue jello word cards and all the individual items like grand staff cards, rhythm playing cards and blue jello cards. This special will last for one week only: December 15 - 20, 2009* so teachers, put your favorite items on your wish list, give a nudge to your Secret Santa or simply reward yourself with a well-deserved gift. Tell your parents about this opportunity to enrich their children's lives with a Puppy Packet or Musopoly game that will last for years and be entertaining as well.  

We are usually able to provide same day shipping depending on the time of day your order is received. Once your order leaves us, it's up to the carrier to get it to you in a timely manner. Of course, we always provide you with tracking numbers so you can trace your order. Please note that this offer does not apply to orders placed prior to December 15th or purchase orders.

*Specifically: December 15 at 5:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time) through December 21 at 5:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time)

January 30: Student Workshop - Denver, Colorado
March 26-28: Unit 1 Overview - Flagstaff, Arizona
June 21-25: Unit 2 - Holstebro, Denmark
July 7-16: International Music Mind Games Teacher Trainer Retreat
July 26-30: Student Workshop - Honolulu, Hawaii

Details are available at Upcoming Workshops. There are more workshops in the planning stages. Information will be posted when available.

My tip this month is to learn "Daily Do" and teach it to your students if you haven't done so already. "Daily Do" (Handbook page 29) helps students sing triads, scales and intervals on pitch, sight-sing their pieces in solfege, learn the sequence of the keyboard, understand the relationship of major and minor scales and prepare for scale and key signature studies. A teacher in Prince Georges County, Maryland, who has just completed Unit 1, told me that all the students in her combined school choirs have learned "Daily Do". As a warm-up at a concert this month, 545 students sang "Daily Do" together. Wow!

Here's my response to a teacher in New York who emailed me asking about the choice of the do re mi colors.

The colors are simply the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, red. It's good to use the do re mi cards to play games so students can experience the colors. Once the students have learned to sing "Daily Do" and are ready to relate the pitches to the keyboard it's time to use magic notes to write out the do re mi rainbow colors. Each student has a handful of magic notes and a paper piano (Panda 1 Pack). Classroom students can easily share materials. Rather than merely telling them the colors, I ask them these questions so they can discover the color sequence themselves and thus remember it more easily. The first time we use a C major scale. Try this with your materials and you'll see how logical it is.

1.   Q: What are the primary colors? A: Red, yellow, blue. We place red, yellow, and blue magic notes on the major triad keys, C E G.

2.   Let's figure out the color for D. Q: What color is formed by combining red and yellow? The students hold up the red and yellow magic notes to see for themselves. A: Orange. We put an orange magic note on D.

3.   Let's figure out the color for F. Q: What color is formed by combining yellow and blue? The students hold up the yellow and blue magic notes to see for themselves. A: Green. We put a green magic note on F.

4.   We put another red magic note on high C.

5.   Q: What color is formed by combining blue and red? The students hold up the two magic notes to see for themselves. A: Purple (violet). We put a purple magic note on B.

6.   Q: What color is formed by combining blue and purple? The students hold up the blue and purple magic notes to see for themselves. A: Indigo (I may need to help them with this color name). Since the magic notes don’t come in indigo we stack two magic notes together (blue on top of purple, or two blues, or blue on top of pink) to create the color indigo on A.

7.   Ta da! The major scale in do re mi rainbow colors.

The above photo shows my student singing “Daily Do” and pointing to the magic notes. The magic notes on her paper piano show the eight tones of the major scale. When she sings the minor section she will push up the lower LA and TI that are waiting in the margin and pull the upper TI and DO into the margin. Her magic notes will then form the minor scale. 

The workshop teachers photographed in the preceding article are using do re mi rainbow colors to take melodic dictation on staff slates. They are using do re mi cards as a reference.

I'm happy to say that I’ve finally learned the color sequence for rainbows which are now even more beautiful to me. 

From an earlier newsletter:

If you want to relate "Daily Do" to the staff, that's easy! Here's what students of Patty Ladpli in Wisconsin did:
 

David, Naomi, and Sofia (ages 5 and 6) had such fun writing "Daily Do" on seven staff slates which turned out to be, "the longest song we've ever written."  They even ran out of carpet before getting to the end. They have been regularly singing the "Daily Do" at the beginning of group class since September and just recently got to the end. All I did was start the first few notes, and AWAY THEY WENT! With very little parent or teacher help, they were able to sing and write the entire song in small sections.

Patty Ladpli teaches Suzuki piano, cello and theory in her home studio in Madison, Wisconsin and took Unit 1 in 2006 and Unit 2 in 2007. (Note: This photo was taken before I got the idea to use magic notes in do re mi rainbow colors when writing on staff slates.)

I am delighted to announce that I have created a Facebook group for Music Mind Games where teachers, parents and students can share ideas, photos, videos, and ask questions related to Music Mind Games. I would like to invite each of you newsletter subscribers to join! Teachers who have taken teacher training workshops can ask each other questions like "Can someone remind me how many rhythm playing cards to deal for Tokyo Draw?"*. Or a teacher or parent may write, "I watched the Five Hiding video with rhythm playing cards. Has anyone adapted it to practice naming notes using grand staff cards? If so, please tell."*

I've met many creative teachers who have great ideas for using Music Mind Games. This is your chance to share with others on a broad scope. We can also post details on upcoming workshops, teachers can find other teachers who are using Music Mind Games in their area and ... well, you get the idea. I'm a new member to Facebook myself so if you haven't joined and are thinking about it, here's your nudge. Search: Music Mind Games

*Answers: 5; choose a scale, e.g. G major: all G's are worth 1 magic note, A's are worth 2 magic notes, and so on with low score being best.

I have recently uploaded a slightly different version of the blue jello word cards. My students said, "Can you make the mouse look more like he's really resting?" I've added beach towels and umbrellas. For example, for the whole rest there are four mice resting (four beat rest) on one towel (one symbol). The umbrellas and towels use the rhythm rainbow colors used in the Handbook which will help make it easier to recognize the different values the drawings represent. The half size mouse (eighth rest) and quarter size mouse (sixteenth rest) help all ages of students understand the proportional values. I have also updated the note graphics of "berrygoose". The new cards are: cover card, #1, #5, #6, #7, #8, #17, #31, #32, #35, and #38.

It is very easy to acquire the new blue jello word cards if you have already purchased a previous edition. Free updates of downloadable products are always available on the Music Mind Games website.

• Log into your account at musicmindgames.com
• Click on the “My Account” link on the left
• Click on the “Files” tab
• There should be a link to the .zip file that you originally purchased
• If you simply re-download the .zip file, you will have the new files

 If you don't have your set yet, blue jello word cards are available in letter and A4 size for only $4.99.

John is 6 1/2 and has been my student since he was 22 months. He has grown up playing Music Mind Games. Soon after the family got a new dog, his mom wrote me this email:

John found Bailey resting on the floor, with her head between her paws and commented, "Look, she's doing cucumber!"  Another theory story: I was working on a logic exercise with John that read "Naomi is the mother of Lois and Nora is the mother of Naomi. What is the relationship betweem Nora and Lois?" Without missing a beat, John called out, "A third!"

I have now been using Music Mind Games for about 2 years and it works like a dream for me. The kids love it and I love it too!! It is so great to actually have fun teaching, so you can go home feeling fulfilled and happy about your wor

k. I use it with kids of all ages, though most of my teaching is with little kids, ages 2-8. It is such a great tool for them and they really love learning this way; holding the materials and learning while playing.

I have also done a small experiment lately. For a couple of years I have

been teaching 3 nuns the bassoon (I am a bassoonist) and I had been having some trouble figuring out how to teach them all the theory stuff. One of them only spoke Spanish and I speak only Danish and English, so even teaching the bassoon was a challenge. Anyway, for some reason I had a set of rhythm playing cards in my bag one day, so I thought, “Well, it can´t do any harm”, so I tried teaching her the rhythms using the cards. We played War and within 20 minutes she had the whole idea of what note is long and what note is short.

What happened next was that one of the older (which means one that had been in the monastary longer) arrived. Her eyes became big as teacups, because nuns are not supposed to play cards!!!! BUT she saw what the younger nun had learned, and a couple of days later I got a phone-call (yes, they use cell-phones!) asking if I wanted to teach all the novices (the younger nuns) music theory. I said yes, but only if I can use Music Mind Games. So now, once a month, I teach 12 nuns music theory using Music Mind Games, and you will not believe how much fun we have; I will leave it up to you to create the pictures in your own minds! The nuns are aged 19-27, so this just goes to show how great this system works, even with adults. There are no limitations, only possibilities!!

Have fun and enjoy!! Annemette from Denmark (shown here with Anders at their Unit 1 training in Holstebro in June 2009)

We have a new computer game called Fine on our website. Right now it's only for notes, but we plan to add rests. If you would like to help test it, please feel free to log on and play. It's only accessible through this link: http://www.musicmindgames.com/finegame. Feel free to forward the link to your students to try, too. Please send me your feedback! 

• Clinician: Michiko
• Group: St. Louis Missouri Music Teachers Association in affiliation with MTNA
• Date: Friday, October 23, 2009
• Time: 10 am - noon
• Location: United Methodist Church of Green Trails
  14237 Ladue Road
  Chesterfield, Missouri 63017
• Fee: n/c
• Contact: Jennifer Spohr jennifer@spohrpiano.com,
  home phone 636.230.9884, cell 314.307.0161
• Reservations: If you are not a member of this group, please contact Jennifer.
  Nonmembers are welcome!
• Materials: If you own a Puppy Packet, please bring it. 
  A limited number of materials will be available for sale at a 10% discount.
• Participants should wear comfortable, sit-on-the-floor type clothes.
  Tables and chairs will also be available.
• Hope you can attend if you are in the area.

Many Music Mind Games games can be adapted for other study areas. Recently two of my students and their moms played Game 18-8: Suspense - Rhythm (page 309 of Music Mind Games) using grand staff cards in place of rhythm playing cards. Since these girls are strong readers and know their notes well, they decided to also identify each card with the do re mi name as well as the letter name. We chose the G major scale and using "moveable do", G was do, A was re, B was mi and so on. We also used the terms "tonic, subdominant and dominant" to identify do, fa and so notes. We found ourselves really thinking as we moved through all the octaves of the grand staff. Scoring was one magic note for do, two for re, and so on which related to the steps of the scale. We had such fun expanding our minds. See a short video of this game.

This game also works well for string students to identify open strings. Use two sets of grand staff cards, e.g. blue for violinists and green for cellists. Play game normally with the goal is to get open string note cards. Scoring is 0 magic note for open strings, 1 for first finger notes and so on. Thanks to Music Mind Games teacher, Sue Bakshi in Philadelphia for this great idea.

The Panda Pack comes in a stylish 100% cotton totebag with two big pockets. Click on the links to see animations and how the materials are used.

• 12 double-sided staff slates
• 12 sets of transparent clef accessories
  (clefs, accidentals, ledger lines)
• 12 double-sided melodic bingo cards
• 12 paper pianos
• Music Mind Games Handbook
• 3 Game Ideas inserts with 15 up-to-date game ideas
• Teacher's Guide for melodic bingo cards
• 600 magic notes
• 3 magic wands

The Panda Pack is a set of three popular materials used for teaching students (ages preK - adult) in a variety of group settings. They are used for beginning, intermediate and advanced games. Panda materials can be used individually, in combination with each other or with the Puppy Packet. They will hold the attention of young children, provide a support system for all ages of music students, and offer teachers many clever ideas for teaching useful music reading and theory skills.   $149.00 $135.50 (materials also sold separately)

Hello from Michiko!

In fall of 2008, I formed a Music Mind Games Council of 18 teachers who are trained in Music Mind Games to advise and help me develop various programs to assist teachers interested in Music Mind Games. Several committees have been formed and I'd like to introduce you to Elizabeth, Cunha, chair of the Music Mind Games in the Classroom Committee. Elizabeth is a gifted, insightful and enthusiastic teacher who has her own new blog on the website with several excellent posts. There is space for adding your comments and questions so please check it out and share your feedback. Feel free to use her email if you have ideas, questions or would like to help Elizabeth.

Introducing Elizabeth Cunha, Chair of the Music Mind Games in the Classroom Committee

"I am thrilled and excited to kick start the Music Mind Games in the Classroom Committee. Currently I teach general/vocal and instrumental music to middle and upper school students at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland. I have been overwhelmed with the outcome of placing Music Mind Games into the school's music curriculum and found it to be especially complementary with recorder, Orff ensemble, chorus, and world drumming lessons. I am also the director of the Suzuki Violin Program at Musical Expressions, in Bethesda, Maryland where I use Music Mind Games as the primary method of teaching theory and music literacy in group classes with both students and parents.

"I took Music Mind Games Unit 1 in 2005 and 2006, Unit 2 in 2007 and assisted with teacher training in both Units 1 and 2 in 2008. During the 2008-09 school year I was pleased to assist Michiko with the training of music educators in Prince George's County, Maryland. This was the first Unit 1 offered in the United States with the sole purpose of helping public school teachers implement Music Mind Games into the classroom. Michiko and I are continuing the course this fall. In September, I led a successful 2-day teacher training workshop in Ft. Lauderdale through the Suzuki Association of South Florida. 

"In the last five years I have turned away from using paper and pencil to teach and assess music theory and literacy. Although this pedagogy may currently be the road less traveled I do believe it to be a journey that is more effective, positive, and fun for both teachers and students. Therefore, I want to be active in making Music Mind Games more available in music education classrooms, where it has the potential to reach so many students. As head of this committee I am committed to developing and sharing information that will assist teachers with the organization, application, and management of Music Mind Games in a variety of music educational settings.

"I invite music educators to email me with any questions, problems, or concerns, and to share success stories as well. I am confident that by sharing stories, lessons, and ideas teachers will find Music Mind Games to be a valuable tool in the field of music education. I look forward to working with you towards making Music Mind Games more prevalent in music education."

"My students take general music class once a week.  Often we will play one or two games during class time, but I also look for opportunities to integrate games with other elements of the curriculum: Recorder, Drumming, Orff Ensemble, Guided Listening, etc. Students really enjoy using Music Mind Games materials and often enter the classroom with requests to play games from previous lessons. Along with the curriculum of games provided in the Music Mind Games book and through training, we use the Blue Jello rhythm language when learning new repertoire, as well as with improvisation and composition lessons.

"I love the way Music Mind Games creates an open and safe learning environment. Students are encouraged to share information and learn from each other. Furthermore, the guide cards seem to inspire self-motivated learning. In one particular class a student expressed that she felt guilty using the guide cards to find an answer, as if she were cheating, and another quickly responded 'there's no such thing as cheating in Music Mind Games.' I was thrilled and proud to see that they were getting it. They were really getting it! 

"Another student who studies piano privately was anxious to tell me she had started to use the Blue Jello words to work on pieces at home without telling her teacher, as if it were her own little secret weapon. One parent emailed that when her daughter was asked about her new music class she responded 'Mom it's great! I'm really learning a lot!' All and all I am thrilled with how students enjoy and progress using Music Mind Games in the classroom. In the end I want my students to leave with a positive musical experience and understanding that musical intelligence and ability is not only within their reach but a whole lot of fun!"

Elizabeth can be reached at elizabethcunha@musicmindgames.com

Hello from Aalborg, Denmark where I'm in the middle of my second Unit 1 course in two weeks. I'm staying in one of the oldest hotels in the city with big keys that I turn in at the desk as I go out. I’m across from the train station in the center of town where I can walk to shops and cafes along cobblestone streets between tall European style buildings. One street hosts a row of cute, tiny houses that date back to the 1400s, yet the traffic lights are the most modern I’ve ever seen.

There were 20 teachers last week and 23 teachers this week who are eagerly learning every twist, tip and turn of Music Mind Games. Here’s a cute photo that shows their interest. Second from the right is Joyce Bennett of Arlington, VA who came to assist me as a teacher trainer apprentice. Also assisting was Annemette Juul Petersen, a Danish teacher trainer apprentice. Yesterday I taught a group of ten little public school students who have Music Mind Games once each week. They were so eager, confident and impressive. There are now 15 schools here in Aalborg using Music Mind Games. That number is growing around all of Denmark.

This is one of my favorite games since it accomplishes so much so easily. Students learn left to right direction of notes, the difference between lines and spaces, intervals, how notes are spaced on the staff and practice sight-singing with solfege and Curwen hand signs. I tell students that this game is based on stories of a young Johann Sebastian Bach. “Loving music and learning from his musical family, he copied music, even in the moonlight on the roof outside his window. We can learn from copying music, too."

A complete explanation of the game comes with the melodic bingo cards. The game also uses staff slates. Both materials are included the Panda 1 Pack which was just released in July. A new idea I've used in the workshops here in Aalborg is to place the do re mi cards alongside the other materials and to use the do re mi rainbow colors to write the patterns with magic notes. This makes the intervals and scale tones easier to identify and it's so much more fun for the students.

This game is ideal for pre-readers as well as those who are already reading music.

The Panda 1 Pack comes in a stylish 100% totebag with two pockets and contains:

• 12 double-sided staff slates
• 12 sets of transparent clef accessories (clefs, accidentals, ledger lines)
• 12 double-sided melodic bingo cards
• 12 paper pianos
• Music Mind Games Handbook
• 3 Game Ideas inserts with 15 games
• Teacher's Guide for melodic bingo cards
• 600 magic notes
• 3 magic wands

The Panda 1 Pack is a set of three popular materials used for teaching students (ages preK - adult) in a variety of group settings. They are used for beginning, intermediate and advanced games. Panda 1 materials can be used individually, in combination with each other or with the Puppy Packet. They will hold the attention of young children, provide a support system for all ages of music students, and offer teachers many clever ideas for teaching useful music reading and theory skills.   $149.00 $135.50 (materials also sold separately)

The Panda 1 Pack is a set of three popular materials used for teaching students (ages preK - adult) in a variety of group settings. They are used for beginning, intermediate and advanced games. Panda 1 materials can be used individually, in combination with each other or with the Puppy Packet. They will hold the attention of young children, provide a support system for all ages of music students, and offer teachers many clever ideas for teaching useful music reading and theory skills.   $149.00 $135.50 (materials also sold separately)

The Panda 1 Pack comes in a stylish totebag and contains:

• 12 double-sided staff slates
• 12 sets of transparent clef accessories (clefs, accidentals, ledger lines)
• 12 double-sided melodic bingo cards
• 12 paper pianos
• Music Mind Games Handbook
• 3 Game Ideas inserts with 15 games
• Teacher's Guide for melodic bingo cards
• 600 magic notes
• 3 magic wands

Thank you to the dozens of teachers, parents and students from around the world who have helped me test the materials and game ideas, edit my writings and advised me on the details of this project. Music Mind Games has become so much larger than just my ideas and for that I am grateful. Each time a game is played, we honor the brilliance and spirit of children who desire to learn to read music and enrich all of us with their music making.