Games and activities for faster learning

Before we play any note in a piece of piano music, our brains may have 5 concepts to synthesise: a note, a key, a letter, a number and a finger. This is a complex process! It links our muscles, our instrument, our background knowledge, and what we see on the page, all while processing rhythm, sound, emotion and more. As teachers we would like our students to be conversant in all these elements so that nothing will hold them back in their musical journey.

With beginners, I find it helpful to use lots of note reading games in lessons, to reinforce the connections between these 5 elements, as well as lots of rhythm games. By practicing these games, a student is building neural connections in the brain, so that eventually all the elements will flow together intuitively. allowing them to focus on the more interesting nuances of musicality. Keeping the games simple means that lesson time is used as efficiently as possible. 

Below are a set of 10 quick and efficient games to practice note reading, and 10 quick and efficient games to practice rhythmic skills. Both pdfs contain the printable flash cards you need to play the games. Enjoy!

Note reading games

Rhythm games