Happy Halloween!
Students of mine completed their 5 Halloween Piano Challenges in order to earn their piece of candy. Here were the challenges.
1. Play a scale with right and left hand.
-This one is open ended so that the teacher can choose exactly what they need to complete according to their skill level. Young beginners may be asked to play only a pentascale. Advanced students may be asked to play an A Major scale using two octaves.
2. Name the notes in 30 seconds or less.
-I set a timer on my phone and the students try to get through the stack of flashcards naming the notes correctly before the timer beeps. I usually do about 10 flashcards for most of my students (bass F through treble G plus a bass C). I will add a few more for advanced students or take some out if a beginner student has not learned all the notes yet.
-If a student has just started lessons and does not know notes on the staff yet, I point to a key on the piano and they tell me the letter of that key.
3. Perform a song you played over a month ago with less than 3 mistakes.
4. Define 5 musical terms.
-I give them 7 index cards with words/symbols so that there are 2 "freebies" they can skip if they don't know.
-Beginners set: treble clef, bass clef, repeat sign, double bar line, quarter note, half note, duet
-Intermediate set: forte, piano, step, skip, octave, dynamics, tie
-Advanced set: dynamics, tempo, 8va, chord, staccato, 4/4, ritardando
5. Name the music alphabet for 2 octaves using only skips in less than 10 seconds.
-I set 10 seconds on the timer on my phone, and students start on middle C, and then name the letters of the keys going in skips (C, E, G, B, D, F, A, C). They don't need to play the keys, but they can if they want to.
Once the student completes all 5 Halloween challenges, they've earned their piece of candy!
