Autumn Leaves

Happy Autumn!  I love this season especially the cooler weather.  This week my students will be matching leaves scattered around my studio to leaves that I will hand them.  Yes, that's our dog in the picture chilling out on a Sunday afternoon.

I purchased a few packs of leaves created by Trend® so that I could make many different types of matching games. My students may be matching letter names to white notes, grand staff notes to keyboard locations, or musical terms to their definitions.

                     
I also made a set of melodic/harmonic interval leaves.  I purposely left off the clef signs because I want my students to focus on the intervals rather than the note names.  I love creating games for my kiddos!  They are a great way to to quickly test my students on what they should be studying in between lessons while keeping it fun.  Until next time, piano blogger signing off........................

Teaching with a Piano Mat

So I was wondering what to write about today and I came across my piano mat that I bought 5 years ago.  I had to replace the batteries and thought, "Hmm, I could write about all the wonderful uses this mat has".  I absolutely love this piano mat.  I bought mine at US Toys® in Frisco, TX for $40.  Yes, I know, $40 is a bit steep but I tell you what,  I don't regret this purchase one bit!  This is the first time in 5 years.....5 YEARS that I've had to change 4 AA batteries out and it's in perfect condition!  It's a very well made product.

I've used this mat to reinforce the teaching of white notes by holding up letters names of piano keys that my students needed to locate and play on the mat with their feet!  The kiddos can change the way the mat sounds by choosing different instruments like a horn, guitar, trumpet, banjo, xylophone, etc. They have played simple songs from their lesson books with this mat.  I've used it to teach intervals, test sharps, flats, half steps, whole steps, create major and minor scales, and even octaves.  I mean the ideas are endless and the kiddos love playing with their feet.

If you're interested in one of your own, the company is Smart Planet® and the name of the mat is "The World's Biggest Piano Mat".  LOVE IT!  Until next time, piano blogger signing off........