The Treat Game (How to Drill Anything)

Treat Game (How to Drill Anything)

I don’t generally hand out candy at lessons. But for the occasional holiday I will make an exception. This year it was Valentine’s Day, since the kids around here no longer get any candy at school. But there is no reason why this has to be a Valentine’s Day game.

What You Need:

Flashcards for whatever you want to drill
- I did it with cards with the note names on them. Depending on the student’s level, they either had to find the note on the keyboard or on the staff or play a major chord based on that note or play a major scale based on that note.
A handful of extra flashcards that say “Be careful! Answer the next one right to earn a treat!”
- It is important that these cards feel the same as the original flashcards: same size, same paper weight, etc.
- If you are using pre-made, laminated flashcards, you could even use a whiteboard marker to write it on a few of the cards.
An opaque bag or box to hold your flashcards.
A bowl of small treats.

Setup:

Shuffle your flashcards (all of them) and place them in the bag or bowl.

How to Play:

The student draws a card.
If it’s a regular card, they answer the question. If it’s a treat card, keep it in hand, but draw another card and answer that one. If they get it wrong, toss the treat card back in the bag. If they get it right, set the treat card to the side.
When all the cards in the box are gone (or you run out of time), count up the number of treat cards you have on the side. Choose that many small treats out of the bowl.

Motif Game

A musical motif is a device that most of my students don’t arrive at naturally. It needs explanation, and here is a great way to do it.

What You Need:

These cards, printed and cut up
A die
Game Pieces

Setup:

Remove any cards you don’t want to use.
Starting with “Start,” lay the cards out face down on the floor like a board game. You can make loops and swirls and short cuts to make it more interesting. End with the “Finish” card.
Place your two game pieces on Start.

How to Play:

First explain the concept of a motif.
- A motif is a very short musical idea. (Two measures maximum for this game.)
- For example, the first line of “Twinkle, Twinkle,” the first measure of the “Imperial March” from Star Wars, the first four notes of Beethoven’s 5th symphony, etc.
- Our ears like repetition, but they also get bored. Composers use motifs to create melodies by modifying their motif just enough that it stays interesting, but not so much that we can’t identify it as the same motif.
Both the student and the teacher need to come up with a motif in the key of C major. Keep it simple. Make the student play their idea several times until they can remember it consistently. When he can reliably play it back, he’s ready to play.
The student rolls the die and advances his game piece that many cards forward. Then he needs to return to the piano and play his same motif, but with the modifications specified on the card (i.e., with a different key, tempo, rhythm, etc.)
- Some modifications are easier than others. You can keep score by assigning points for difficulty. Or you can ignore scores and just play to see who gets to finish first.
The teacher takes a turn with her own motif.
The first one to the finish line wins. (Or the one who collects the most difficulty points wins, if you are playing with points.)

Variations:

To make it easier, only place out the easiest cards, such as dynamic changes and changing one note.
To make it harder, remove the easier cards, such as dynamic changes and changing one note.
To make it spookier, create your motif in A minor and remove all the cards that have major key signatures.

Motif Game

Black Cat Strut (Improv)

The black cat strut is not my own activity. It comes from 88 Piano Keys. My students enjoyed it so much this year, I wanted to remember it, plus a few notes from my experience.

As she recommends, I didn’t show my students anything. It was entirely done by memory and ear.
For the youngest students, you can give them just three melody notes: C, D, E.
More advanced students can handle all the ones she mentions in the instructions.
If the student hasn’t learned dotted quarter note rhythms yet, just explain the left hand pattern as a dotted half note and a quarter note.
I don’t have iRealPro, so I didn’t use her recorded drum beat. It’s a great improv even without it.

Spider Web (How to Drill Anything)

The specific board I use for this game is created by Hatch Patch Creations. It is intended for a church lesson on honesty for kids, and I did originally use it for exactly that purpose. But I am all about repurposing, so here it is again in a different form.

What You Need:

A printable spider board game
- Basically, it just needs a spider web and some numbers going around it. See the picture below.
Die
A few plastic spiders
- Mine were rings in a previous life
Two small items to use as game markers
Flashcards for whatever you want to drill

Setup:

Place your game markers in the middle of the web. The goal is to escape it.

How to Play:

Have the student place the plastic spiders on any numbers they choose.
The student rolls the die. In order to advance, they need to correctly answer a flashcard. If they get it wrong, they stay where they are.
The teacher takes a turn. Repeat.
Whenever anyone lands on a number with a plastic spider, that is a wild space which could mean different things, such as:
- Double or nothing: move forward twice
- Teacher loses a turn
- Go back to start
- Write your own flashcard
  - I was drilling rhythms, so my spiders meant you had to write your own rhythm.
Whoever escapes the web first wins.

Variations:

To make it easier or harder, just vary your flashcards.
To make it shorter, declare whoever is ahead the winner.

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Poison Rhythm Game

The poison rhythm game is commonly done in group settings, but here is an adaptation for a private lesson.

What You Need:

Paper
Writing utensil
Drums or other percussion instruments (optional)

Setup:

None

How to Play:

Write out one measure of rhythm in 4/4 time and place it where both players can see it. This is the poison rhythm.
The teacher plays a measure in 4/4 time (not the poison rhythm). If you’re not using instruments, just clap the rhythm. The student should listen carefully and play or clap it back.
Repeat the call and response rhythms as many times as you like.
At some point, the teacher should play the poison rhythm. The student should NOT play back the poison rhythm. If they stop and do nothing, they have earned a point. If they are not paying attention and do play it back, the teacher earns a point.
Write a new poison rhythm and go again. The game ends whenever you run out of time.

Variations:

To make it easier, use only basic rhythms, count out loud, and give the student multiple chances to play back each rhythm.
To make it harder, use more complicated rhythms or make each rhythm two measures long.
To make it more creative, switch roles so that the student is generating all the rhythms.