Musical Mediums for Piano Lessons: Glockenspiel, Boomwhackers, Tabletop Rubber Piano, Piano Mat

 

Glockenspiel

Hi All! I like to add other mediums to my piano program that make the lessons even more fun and engaging for my kiddos! See this glockenspiel? I have my beginner students play their Middle C and C Position songs on it.  Now we don't use the mallets as they are traditionally intended to be used and I let them know this before they begin playing.  I use this instrument for the purpose of reinforcing piano concepts.  I have my students use their right hand mallet to play treble clef notes and their left hand mallet to play bass clef notes.  This is so good for reinforcing things like note identification and location, being aware of which hand to use based on the clef sign, the dynamics, and the direction in which the notes go (either up or down). They LOVE using different musical mediums to play their songs but there's so much more you can do with them.

How about having your students play their songs or parts of their lesson songs in this flat tabletop piano? This one is made from PicassoTiles® .  I have used this rubber piano for SO MANY things.  I have taught my kiddos their white notes as well as all of their grand staff notes on this wonderful gem!  I have to say they love going to the table in my studio because they know that fun things happen there whether it be an art project, playing a game, doing an activity. or learning something on fun things like the rubber piano.

Tabletop Piano

After you teach your students about flats and sharps on the piano, you can either reinforce their understanding by holding up flatted or sharped notes as an activity while they figure out where to play it on whatever musical medium you choose OR instead of it being an activity you simply call it a game.  The moment you say "game" it changes so the whole feel of it. 

 You can reinforce the concept of intervals as well as melodic and harmonic intervals by once again holding up flashcards while they play what they see. The glockenspiel is really good for helping students gauge the distance between the notes since they'll need to use two mallets in each hand, adjusting the distance of the mallets to reach the desired interval either playing the notes together or separately.

 

How about using boomwhackers® for any of these activities?  I have a 2 octave set from low C (C3) to high C (C5) as well as the accidentals (not shown in the picture). My beginner students play their simple Middle C and C Position songs with these.  I especially like how the lower tones sound with the boomwhackers®.

 

Boomwhackers®

How about having them learn how to create major scales with a piano mat like the one below and then have them play the scale with their feet?  I don't turn the piano mat on until they've mapped out whatever major scale they are creating.  Then I turn it on and have them play the scale with their feet listening for accuracy.  You can test them on their knowledge of major and minor scales with any of these musical mediums but they especially love the idea of playing with their feet. You can see if they know the notes in each scale by using something other than the piano where they rely on their muscle memory as opposed to actually being aware of the notes in their scales.  

Smart Planet ® Piano Mat

The possibilities are endless with these musical mediums and the kiddos LOVE learning and playing with them!

If you decide to add any of these musical mediums to your piano program let me know how it goes.  I'd love to hear from you!

Piano blogger signing off...........