This hardly counts as a game in and of itself, but I made it up this week to use in conjunction with Skeleton, Human or Monster? Most of my students were drilling note names, but several are beyond needing that so we drilled this instead. You could use it with anything in my How to Drill Anything series.

What You Need:

• Notecards that have the keys you want to practice
  • I always start with C major, G major, D major, and F major. If they’re doing well on those, then expand to A major, E major, B-flat major, and E-flat major.
  • You can use generic note name cards, or write it out on index cards. It won’t take more than 30 seconds to create.
• Blank Die
  • These things cost 29 cents at my local teacher supply store and are invaluable.
  • On the die, use a sharpie marker to write on the six sides: I, IV, IV, V, V, and *

Setup:

• None

How to Drill:

• Student draws a card. That determines the key signature.
• Student rolls the die. That determines which chord they need to name in that key signature.
  • For example: in the key of C major, the IV is F major, in D major, the V chord is A major.
  • The asterisk can change meaning depending on the student.
    • If the student’s doing well, use it to call out another chord, such as the vi chord or the iii chord.
    •  If the student’s struggling with the concept, use it to mean roll again.