A Year of MMG: Music Symbol Cards

Every once in awhile, I run into a skeptic -- someone who just isn't sure about all this fun we're having at piano lessons:  "Isn't reading music supposed to be hard work?  And how do you know those Blue Jello words are really helping them learn rhythms?  You know, real rhythms like you see in real printed music?"

When I hear comments like these, I try not to get too ruffled, and as soon as I can, I bring out the Music Symbol Cards.  No other set of cards is more obviously effective in teaching the basics of music theory.

I group the Music Symbol Cards into a few different areas.  The first is dynamics.  Michiko's game for learning the dynamics, which can be found in Chapter 11 of the book, is brilliant: students go from curled up on the floor, whispering "pianissimo," to leaping in the air, crying, "FORTISSIMO!" and return, in stages, to the curled-up position (an important caveat for any teacher who wants to retain control of her class . . . )  Similarly, I teach crescendo and decrescendo by sitting cross-legged, curling up and then slowly stretching out my arms and neck as far as they'll go as my voice rises: crreeeeeeeSCEEEEENDOOOOOOO! 

Another group is the notes and rests.  This is a snap for students who have played Puzzle Notes and Rests, a game I won't go into for now since the Blue Jello Puzzle isn't available yet.  (But it will be very soon, and I promise you will LOVE it!)  The only difference here is that they're shown on the staff, so students get a sense of scale and placement.

The third group is cards that can be learned through the Grand Staff song: everything from clefs to lines and spaces.  The students are VERY interested in the alto and tenor clefs, too (a sure sign you're teaching Music Mind Games properly: students want to do the "hard" things first!)

Finally, I teach the odds and ends that are left over: ritardando, measure and a few others.  There are some great hints in the book for these, too.

Once the student knows a fair number of the cards (it's even more fun if they don't know them all) we play a game I call Foursquare: I arrange the cards face down in a 6 by 6 grid and we take turns turning over cards and identifying the symbols.  If the student doesn't know an answer, the card is turned back over to be chosen another time.  Cards that have been turned face up remain there until someone completes a block of four, at which point he gets to keep all four cards.  I usually try to let the student be the first to do this, and I don't explain the rule until we're at that point in the game, since I want to start as simply as possible.  After they learn this, strategy becomes an important element in the game!

The cards are perfectly numbered for this game, but if we're short on time I may only do a grid of 16, possibly only including cards the student knows.  And I'm not very strict about rules; sometimes I'll prompt the student to help her remember.  (Which is, after all, the whole point of the game.)

Music Symbol Cards convert even the most hardened skeptics.  They show clearly that all teaching methods are not created equal; given a relaxed atmosphere, challenging and fun games, and positive reinforcement, students learn more quickly and take more joy in their learning.