Most of my kids pick up on the concept of things like diminuendo and ritardando pretty quickly. Getting them to actually play a diminuendo or a ritardando is something else again. A lot of them just can’t do it, so here’s a very simple activity to review it.
What You Need:
- A set of cards or signs with various musicality terms. I used the following: adagio, andante, allegro, presto, accelerando, ritardando, forte, piano, crescendo, diminuendo, and fermata.
- Two blank cards or signs to use as wilds (optional)
- Some kind of game piece to move along the cards. I’m doing this shortly before Christmas, so I used a nutcracker.
- Dice
Setup:
- Lay out your cards face down in a path of any shape
How to Play:
- The student should first choose a review song or phrase. They should be totally confident of the notes in the section chosen.
- Roll the dice and move the game piece along that many spaces.
- Flip the card and play the review song using that musicality term. If they get a wild card, they can choose whatever musicality term they would like to use.
- Go again.
- If you get to the end and there is still time, turn around and make your way back again.
Lori Davis Studio 