Teaching Time Signature: Part II

Hi Everyone!  Continuing on with how I teach time signature to my students (especially my younger ones), I'm going to share how I teach what the bottom number of the time signature represents.  When I first started teaching piano about 10 years ago (after I taught in the public school system for 10 years as an elementary school teacher)  I have to be honest and say I dreaded teaching the bottom number of time signature to my students because they just wouldn't get it no matter how many fraction examples I gave them.

Then I decided to approach the bottom number from a different angle; one that my younger students especially could understand.  First I show my students a paper circle and ask them what shape it is.  Then I show them a laminated circle made from card stock outlined in black representing a whole note (upper left hand corner pic if you're looking at the web version of this blog).  I say, "A whole circle represents a whole note".  Then I cut the paper circle in half and then in quarters so that my students actually see the process from going from a whole circle to four quarters of a whole by the end of the activity.  Then I place the two laminated half pieces made from card stock with half notes written on each piece on top of the whole note circle (upper right hand corner pic).  I say, "I'm going to cut my paper circle in half.  Now we have 2 equal pieces.  Each piece represents a half or a half note."  I go through the same process when cutting the paper circle in 4 equal pieces and I call them quarters and refer to them as quarter note pieces (upper middle pic).

I then show my students a quarter and ask them if they know the name of the coin.  Most of them, even the really young ones, do.  I tell you what, the kiddos know their money!  Then I show them a dollar bill and I say that the whole dollar is like the whole note.  I fold the dollar bill into four equal parts and place a quarter in each space and say just as it takes four quarters to equal a dollar it takes four quarter notes to equal a whole circle or whole note.  At this point they begin to understand the relation between quarters and dollars and quarter notes and whole notes through the use of money.

Then I say, "Ok, let's recap.  A whole circle equals a whole note.  When we cut the circle in half, each half equals a half note.  It takes two half notes to equal a whole note.  When we cut the circle in four equal pieces each piece represents a quarter note.  Just like it takes four quarters to equal one whole dollar, it take four quarter notes to equal one whole circle or whole note.  Take a picture in your mind of everything you just saw.  Did you do it? OK."

Then we look at that bottom number of the time signature again and I say to them that every time they look at the bottom number of any time signature they need to ask themselves the same question inserting the bottom number when asking this question, "It takes (2,4,8) of what note to make a whole circle or whole note?"

When kids first learn about time signature it's normally 4 over 4 so the question I ask is, "It takes 4 of what note to make a whole circle?".  They think about the visual activity we just completed and they say, "A quarter note".  As an extension activity I then change the bottom number to the number two and then ask the same question, "It takes two of what note to make a whole circle?".  They answer, "The half note".  I change the number back to four and ask again, "So it takes four of what note to make a whole circle or whole note?".

Then we talk about how the bottom number "4" represents the quarter note getting the beat on the metronome.  That's all they need to know for now.  So the "4" represents the quarter note and now they have a visual to help remember why.  That's it!

I do have some students ask what exactly that means.  If I feel that they're old enough to understand a bit more then I actually use the metronome as an example sharing that each "click" of the metronome is the single beat that a quarter note gets and that this helps students play with a more steady tempo and also helps with counting out other note values in equal proportion.  I then ask the older student how many clicks of the metronome it would take to equal a half note, a whole note, etc.  For the most part, though, I simply say, "The bottom number "4" represents the quarter note.  That's all you need to know for now. "  And I end it there with a smile and we move on.  Then they do a follow up activity that I created (see picture below).

This activity from beginning to end takes about 5-10 minutes of their lesson but, in my opinion, time well spent!  By teaching the bottom number of the time signature through the use of fractions from a totally different perspective with circles and money I no longer dread teaching this because my students get it and quickly!  My kiddos grasp this approach a whole lot easier than if I were to teach straight up fractions to them.  Next time I'll share a little STEM project (thanks Melissa for letting me know that I had created a STEM project without even realizing it!) I do with my students to help them understand how important time signature is to a song;  how it is the foundation and framework of each song.  Until next time, piano blogger signing off...........

Teaching Time Signature: Part I

Hello!  Wow, what a month this has been so far.  My kiddos had an awesome spring recital, we visited New York (which I absolutely LOVED), and my son graduated from high school!  Things are finally starting to settle down but the summer months tend to go at a more relaxed pace than the rest of the year, don't you think?  I hope that you have amazing things planned for the next few months; picnics, pool outings, concerts in the park, hikes, etc.

Okay, so I have decided to do a series on how I teach time signature to my students, especially my younger ones.  I'm not sure yet just how many parts there will be to this so I'm adding "Part 1, Part 2,....." so I can easily refer back to certain entries if needed.

The first thing I do when introducing time signature is I have my students look at the numbers stacked above and below each other at the very beginning of their songs.  I share with them that this is a HUGE concept in music.  That it's the foundation/framework from which all songs are built upon and that we will be spending a few lessons on understanding what it all means.  I'll share with you in later installments the activities I use to bring home the idea of time signature being the foundation/structure of all musical pieces.

I have found that associating hand gestures with certain musical terms helps my students remember the names.  Here is a short video of how I help my students remember time signature.

After we go through the hand gesture a few times, we are ready to talk about the top number and what it means.  I introduce the numbers of the time signature separately during different lessons, not all at once.  This helps reinforce the numbers better.  So I tell the student that we will be focusing on the top number this time around.  I ask them what the top number is.  They say "4".  I tell that that this means there are four beats not notes in each measure.  We head on over to a table where I have a rhythm sequence laid out for them like the picture at the top of this entry.  I then show them what they'll be using as "beats" to prove that there are actually four beats in each measure.

I bought these plastic gems at the Dollar Tree a while back!  We used them as our "beats".  I then have my students look at the notes in the first measure and place the number of beats each note receives underneath the given note.  We then count the number of beats total for the first measure.  My students quickly see how the top number of the time signature relates to the combination of note values in each measure.  I then have them add the beats to the rest of the measures like the picture below.

I was working on this activity with one of my students, Mateo, who just turned five.  What a personality and might I add sharp as a whip!  He quickly understood the relation between the top number of the time signature and the combination of note values in each measure.  I gave him an activity bag filled with quarter, half, dotted half (accidentally added them in, Oops!), and whole notes as well as the blue gems, and bar lines (purple popsicle sticks) to take home with him so that he could work on this during the week.  I added a "3" and "2" as well to allow him the opportunity to change the amount of beats he wanted in each of his measures.  

Next lesson comes and we're reviewing the top number at the table.  I then change the number of beats per measure to a "3" what happened next blew me away!  In my 20+ years of teaching children of all ages I observed that most 4 year and young 5 year old children need to completely reset an activity from square 1 in order to complete the next task.  Not Mateo!  So I change the "4" to a "3" and instead of doing what most kiddos his age do, he simply took out what he didn't need from each of the measures and added the note values that he wanted.  On top of that, I had accidentally left some dotted half notes in the take home bag.  Mind you, I hadn't formally introduced this note to him but his parents said that instead of ignoring it, he was fascinated by it.  So much so, that he even drew one on his own and added it to his rhythm sequence.  What?!

I say this to my piano parents all the time,  I LOVE teaching piano because of their kiddos.  Mateo and all of my students inspire me to be the best teacher I can be for them.  They certainly keep me on my toes!  Until next time when I share how I teach the bottom number of the time signature, piano blogger signing off.......................

Update on Twisted "Twister"!

Hi Folks!  As promised I'm giving an update on the Twisted "Twister" piano game my sibling students played this past week.  If you'd like more details on how I made this work for piano lessons, please read the post "Twisted Twister" prior to this one.  That's Mabry and Chase in the photo above! With the feedback I got from my students these are the improvements I made:
-I enlarged the pieces so that they could see them better
-I went back to using the "Twister" spinner but simply helped it along if it ended up landing on the same body part too many times in a row
-Instead of checking items off of a sheet, I simply called items out from the mat.  This made everything SO much easier.  I'd spin the spinner, call out the body part and color, and simply looked at the terms I adhered to the mat for that color, and called out one of the terms.
-I set the timer for about 6 minutes.  Ten minutes seemed to take too long.  Six to Seven minutes seemed like to magic window of time.

The kiddos who played the game enjoyed it!

Until next time, piano blogger signing off....................

Twisted "Twister"

Before I jump into the game I have to brag on my child a little!  My son is graduating high school with honors; summa cum laude!  We just attended the ceremony and it was incredible.  Who knew that my crazy kid who used to scream off the top of his lungs in supermarkets and try to run away from me in department stores would grow up to be such a responsible, talented, super smart young man.  I'm so proud of him!  What a tough year it's been for me, though, as a mom knowing that my chickadee is ready to leave the nest......sniffle.  I'm grateful, though, that he chose to attend college in state!

Okay, this week my sibling students will be playing "Twister" with a twist.  I adhered musical terms, notes, and Melodic/Harmonic Intervals to the mat with velcro dots; two items per circle.  By adhering two items per circle I can accommodate each sibling's level of instruction.  I then typed out the terms for each color to keep track of what I call out for each student.  Not sure why the picture came out crooked.  No matter how many times I straightened out the paper and adjusted the camaera it came out crooked so there you have it.

I have decided not to use the spinner because that will take WAY too long waiting for the arrow to land on a certain spot so I just typed out Left and Right Hands and Feet, laminated it, and will keep tallies of which body part I call out for each student.  This, I think, will actually provide more variety since the spinner could end up on the same body part four times in a row.  I'm going to set the timer for 10 minutes and see what happens!  I'm hoping the game turns out to be one of my students' favorites.  I'll keep you posted!  Until next time piano blogger signing off!

Piano Parking Lot

My younger kiddos up to 2nd (even 3rd) grade absolutely loved playing this game!  Both boys and girls enjoyed it.  I got the initial idea from Pinterest and embellished it to make it even more piano related.  I bought this mat from Amazon. Sometimes I will splurge and get things like this mat for games I make up.  Can't always do this but I find that the more 3-dimensional the games the more exciting they are for my kiddos.  The games keep terms, techniques, and notes fresh in their minds but in a fun way.  Their enthusiasm to come to their lessons is what inspires me! I already had toy cars in my studio and velcro dots.  I always have a huge supply of velcro dots.  The dots allow me to change out game pieces quickly between lessons based on whatever terms/notes my students are learning.  I made this game two-fold for students who either knew their white notes or staff notes.

If the kiddos were learning about white note letter names then their parking lot was a simple modified keyboard (I just drew this).  The cars were parked on certain keys.  I'd call out a letter name and they'd roll the correct car from the parking lot into town (the floormat), drive the roadways until they found the parking space that matched the term on the car.

For the kiddos who knew their grand staff notes, their parking lot was the actual grand staff.  I made this with two pieces of poster paper taped together.  I need to laminate it.  I haven't done that yet.

Say "Hi" to my dog.  He wouldn't budge so I decided to leave him in the picture.  Every time I'm working in the studio that's when he brings ALL of his toys in for me to play with him.  Every afternoon before the kiddos come for lessons I have to clean out the studio of all of his toys......sigh!  Cute little booger, though, don't you think?  Except when he decides to roll around in doodoo outside.  Then not so cute.

Ok, back to the piano parking lot........I cut a paper keyboard down to size (this one is made from the Alfred company.  You can purchase these at most music stores) and placed a marble on the key that I wanted them to identify and locate on the grand staff.  They'd then roll that particular car out of the space or line of the grand staff based on the location of the note on the paper keyboard, roll the car onto the town mat, and drive it to its correct parking space based on the term adhered to the car and the answer found in one of the parking spaces on the mat.  I didn't adhere velcro dots to the rug itself.  I simply placed the small pieces of cardstock with the answers with where I wanted them to go.

  I gave my students 4 minutes to complete this game if their game included the keyboard or grand staff parking lot at the beginning and 2 minutes if my kiddos were simply driving cars to matching parking spaces which was more than enough time for the kiddos who had been studying their notes and/or terms between lessons.  Games are a great way to motivate my students to practice and study what they need to between lessons.  For the kiddos who have not learned notes yet I simply had them drive the cars around town and park them in the matching spaces without the keyboard or grand staff parking lot at the beginning.

Until next time, piano blogger signing off........

Minute to Win It: Rhythm Sticks

I've said it before but I'll say it again and again.......I LOVE "Pinterest"! I get so many wonderful ideas for piano on that site.  Not to mention amazing cooking recipes as well.  I don't have the gift that my husband and mother have of slapping together whatever ingredients they find in the kitchen and creating some culinary masterpiece.   But I'm really good at following recipes and "Pinterest" has a ton of them!

This game came directly from "Pinterest" I simply added onto it.   All you need are craft sticks (sold in craft stores), a sharpie, a mug to hold the sticks in, and a timer (sometimes the dollar store sells these). I made up rhythm patterns that fit the levels of my students.  I had beginner sticks with 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures and simple note values like quarter, half, and whole notes.  The more advanced students would clap rhythm sticks with different rest values, eighth notes, dotted quarter notes, etc.

The kiddos had one minute to correctly clap as many sticks as they could.  They could clap fast or slow.  I left that up to them.  I would keep track of their scores and at the end of each day I would write down the names of the students who earned the highest scores on one of the wipe off boards I have in my studio.

This picture was taken at the beginning of the week.  By the end of the week the top three scores with the children who earned them will be written for everyone to see.  A little healthy competition, in my opinion, is a good thing.  It motivates my kiddos to do their very best with these types of activities.

Until next time, piano blogger signing off.......

Treasure Wheel

Happy New Year!  It's been a bit cold here where I live but the sun is shining today so all is well!  My son says that the reason why I can relate to and understand kids so well is because I'm a kid at heart.  He may be right.  As an adult, if I had to choose between a class I was required to sit through for 60 minutes versus a class where I could play games, do hands-on activities, and move around, I know which class I'd pick!  That's just the way my brain works.  I soak in and retain a lot more information when it's presented to me in a variety of ways and this method of teaching seems to work really well with kids too.  Check out this individual, Dr. Howard Gardner and his work on multiple intelligences!  I learned about him when I was getting my bachelors degree in education.  Some of his theories has made a huge impact on the way I teach.

The "Treasure Wheel"!  My students LOVED playing this game.  It's very much like "Wheel of Fortune" just adapted to piano.  Almost all of my students who got to play it asked if we could play it again at their next lesson.  My younger students will get to play this game when they get a little older and have a better understanding of how letters, words, and spelling of words work.

To make the board, I used thick foam board, made an alphabet strip at the bottom with the vowels in red, adhered green index cards in two rows, added some clip art to the top, "laminated" the board by using long strips of clear packing tape, and added small clear plastic hooks to the top of each index card.

Then I created the musical terms used for the game by putting one letter on each of the white index cards and hole punching them.  As the student spun the wheel they would guess a letter, not a vowel, and if the letter was on the board they'd win the amount of money they landed on. If the letter was not a part of the puzzle then I'd cross it off on the alphabet strip to keep track of what was already called.  They didn't lose anything by calling out incorrect letters so I told them to spin and guess a letter ANY LETTER as quickly as they could.  Eventually, they'd hit on something.  I'd also keep track of their money earned/money spent and we would quickly tabulate their total at the end of the game.  I added a few extra items on the wheel like Note ID where they'd have to quickly identify and locate a staff note on one of my flat rubber pianos to win $500.  I also added a "Vowel" option where if they landed on this I would give them a vowel from the puzzle.  The "Vowel" and Note ID option could only be used once when solving each "puzzle".  The kiddos loved landing on Double $ because then meant that they could spin again and possibly win double the amount of money they landed on if they guessed a letter correctly.

Vowels could be bought for $200 once they earned enough money to buy them.  They had 2 minutes to spin and guess letters from the puzzle.  Since they weren't competing with anyone I told them to hold off solving the puzzles, if they got them early on, to accumulate as much money as possible by spinning and guessing as many consonants within the time limit they had.

So exciting!  I have to say that some of the parents got involved in the game as well.  It was pretty funny.  At the end of 2 minutes if they guessed the puzzle correctly they'd win an extra $500 but if they weren't able to figure out the puzzle then I'd give them a hint and they had 5 seconds to guess what it was.

 If they were able to guess it with my hint then they'd earn $200.  If they weren't able to guess it even with the extra generous hint I gave then they lost $500.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if this were real money being earned but alas the money earned translated into piano bucks and stickers.  Can you guess the puzzle?

Until next time, piano blogger signing off.........