We just enjoyed a week of group piano lessons. I love to come up with games that the kids can play together, sometimes in teams and sometimes every-man-for-himself! Note-reading is a basic skill that all students can practice, no matter their skill level, so I always try to include a note-reading game among our activities.
Best in Pass involves not only note-reading but also fine motor skills which makes it fun for students of all ages (including very young students). Although I played it during a group lesson, it is also adaptable to private lessons or buddy lessons.
To play, you will need:
- Ping-pong balls with the letters of the musical alphabet written on them (you should have a ping pong ball for every note you are drilling in the game)
- Plastic spoons with notes on them
- A bowl to hold the ping pong balls (they are an unwieldy bunch!)
- A container to place all the plastic spoons
- 1 scooper spoon (a spoon without a note on it) per player
If you’d like to see how to prep the materials for the game, jump down here.
Game Set-up:
Place all the ping-pong balls in a large bowl.
Place all the spoons that have notes on them in a container. Each player draws 5 spoons and names the notes that are written on them. Each player places the spoons in a row in front of them.
Each player gets their own scooper spoon (a spoon without a note on it). They will use this spoon to scoop the ping-pong balls out of the bowl and transfer them to their row of spoons.
How to Play:
The objective of the game is to be the first to fill up all your note spoons with their corresponding ping-pong balls (for example, a spoon with Middle C written on it should be paired with a ping-pong ball with the letter C). But… there’s a catch! Each ping-pong ball must be passed from spoon to spoon before being placed on its matching spoon.
Let’s say when a student laid out his/her spoons in a row, the spoon that ended up all the way at the end of the row on the right was a Middle C.
When the game starts, the student would search for a ping-pong ball with the letter C on it and scoop it out of the bowl with his/her scooper spoon. The student CANNOT place the ball directly on the spoon with the middle C. Instead, the ping-pong ball must be placed on the spoon at the beginning of the row all the way to the left.
The student then picks up this first spoon of the row and moves the ball to the next spoon. Then the student will pick up the second spoon and pass the ball to the third spoon. Then the ball is passed from the third spoon to the fourth spoon. And finally the ball is passed from the fourth spoon to the final spoon, the one with Middle C written on it. That spoon is now completed and out of play.
The student then moves on to filling the fourth spoon in the row using the same procedure.
The only rule is that you cannot touch the ping-pong balls with your hands! Only spoons can touch the balls. A student can use two spoons to try to catch a runaway ball.
Whoever fills up all their spoons first is the Best in Pass and the winner of the game!
We had so much fun playing this at our group lessons! It was a great game to get the energy up and our brains and bodies engaged.
Let me know if you try it with your students!
For other games that can be used in both private and group lessons, check out:
- Snowball Rhythm Game
Who will be able to make the longest rhythm train before the dreaded “Busted!” stick is revealed?! Kids will practice their rhythms while also practicing their aim in this fun toss game. - Chord Snowblast
Build chords and collect points while trying to avoid the snow blast! Kids will test their knowledge of building chords AND they will actually be hoping to get all the sharps and flats chords!! - Two Sides of the Same Coin
A game about enharmonics that can be played in several different ways! Students will try to collect the most enharmonic pairs and hope that their coins don’t get stolen by another player.
Preparing the Materials:
To prepare the game materials for Best in Pass you will need:
- Ping–pong balls (the number will depend on how many notes you would like drill in the game)
- Sharpie or another brand of permanent marker
- Plastic spoons (one spoon for every note you would like to drill)
- Avery Printable Matte White Round Labels ¾” diameter
Using the permanent marker, write one letter of the musical alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) on each ping-pong ball. Once all the ping-pong balls are labeled, place them in a bowl.
If you are using the suggested Avery labels, Avery provides a template at their website here. Configure the printable labels on the computer so that each circle label has one note in it. Then print the labels.
Gather all the plastic spoons you will need. There should be one plastic spoon for each label you printed.
Stick each label to the concave side of a spoon’s bowl.
Once all the spoons are labeled, place them in a container.
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