Paper Pianos
Paper pianos are used independently and with staff slates to relate information to the keyboard when learning notes, intervals, key signatures, scales, triads, chords, and when taking dictation and sight-singing. Students can arrange colorful magic notes on a paper piano without having to crowd around a piano. Paper pianos are designed to overlap one another so a long keyboard can be made. Game Ideas include solfege and Curwen hand signs chart, photos and 6 entertaining games.
The cards: There are twelve identical cards measuring 7.25” x 16” with different colored borders. Each piano has one small Music Mind Games kid.
Magic notes and wand: Magic notes are used as notes and/or markers in games. The tones of the scale can be written with the colorful magic notes using a system of do re mi rainbow colors: do = red, re = orange, mi = yellow, fa = green, so = blue, la = indigo, ti = purple, and do = red. The magic wand makes clean-up fun and quick.
Paper Pianos Game Ideas:
Teachers may use their own ideas with the cards, but games are included for guidance and to spark the imagination:
Game 1: Wiggling Black Keys
Students place magic notes in color groups to learn the pattern of black keys on the piano keyboard
Game 2: Daily Do (solfege)
Singing Daily Do each day helps students learn to sing with solfege and use Curwen hand signs. Students internalize pitch relationships, sing major and minor triads and scales, the intervals of the major scale and understand the relationship of major and minor scales.
Game 3: Daily Do with Magic Notes
Students use magic notes to write major and minor scales on paper pianos and sing Daily Do
Game 4: Ho Ho Laugh
After learning half and whole steps, students figure out the whole and half step arrangement of the major scale and write it on the paper pianos using magic notes.
Game 5: Writing Scales
After learning Ho Ho Laugh, students write other major scales
Game 6: Four Kinds of Triads
Students learn major, minor, diminished and augmented triads. Also uses alphabet cards.
Includes:
12 cards (coated with an environmentally-friendly aqueous coating for durability)
Game Ideas insert with 6 games and variations and Curwen hand signs chart
100 magic notes
1 magic wand