Creative Kids Summer Class: Piano Play 2017

We just finished our first session of Creative Kids Summer Class, with our focus topic of the piano. Piano Play is one of my favorite classes to teach, and in the past I've spread out the lessons over 8 (1-hour) class sessions. This year, I condensed and combined many of the topics to fit into 3 (2-hour) class sessions. So it was a little different, but still a lot of fun to spend more time together exploring some basic musical skills and concepts. Here are some of the ways we played with the piano this week!

Exploring Sound

We explored and tried out different kinds of instruments, and made some sound-makers of our own. 

We used water glasses on the light table to explore the sound of different pitches, and created tambourine shakers out of paper plates. 

High and Low Sounds on the Piano

After we spent some time exploring all different kinds of sound, we started talking about differentiating sounds in music and on the piano. We began with listening to and creating high and low sounds. First we tried making them with our voices, and then we discovered how to play higher and lower notes on the piano, using the classic story of the Three Little Bears

We also looked at what high and low looks like on the musical staff as we listened to "The Aquarium" from Carnival of the Animals. In that song, you can hear the notes moving up and down the piano, like fish swimming up and down in the ocean, so we used fish stickers to think about that movement in the music.

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Fast and Slow, Loud and Quiet Sounds

We also thought about how music can sound fast, slow, loud, and quiet. A favorite activity during this topic is painting slow or fast depending on the sounds of the music. 

 We also popped some popcorn for a snack, and paid attention to the sounds of the kernels popping. They start slow and more quiet, and then crescendo into fast, loud popping sounds.

Patterns on the Piano Keyboard

We explored the pattern of the piano keyboard, and tried to find certain notes using that pattern.

 We used the felt piano, and a paper collage activity to try to recreate that pattern as well.

The Musical Alphabet

I like to use a silly story about Grandma's house and a doghouse to teach the names of the piano keys. We played a few games to explore the musical alphabet using the giant floor piano.

Musical Notes

We played with long and short sounding notes on the piano, created our own songs, and built some notes out of our snack food (cheese and carrot sticks).

 Musical Books

This class is full of dancing, singing, and instrument playing, but we also spend time reading fun stories that help us to further explore the concepts we are talking about. 

One of our favorite silly books from the session inspired this piano at the beach sensory bin.

Piano Play Summer Class

This month has been a whirlwind of fun, hands-on classes and we finished things off with a session all about the piano.

The Keys on the Piano

We learned about the keys on the piano, and the pattern that they make. 

This inspired some black-and-white piano art.

We also played some games on a large sidewalk chalk piano outside to learn about the names of the keys.

The favorite was throwing the letter beanbags to land on the correct key. 

Rhythm and Beat

We also played a lot with the beat in music, and making rhythms inside the beat. 

Painting to the beat of marching music.

I love using the visual of raindrops and rainbows to teach short and long note rhythms. 

This idea came from the Playful Piano, and it works really well!

Short-short-short-long Art, inspired by the main rhythmic pattern in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

The Sounds of the Piano 

On the last day we celebrated what an amazing instrument the piano is- it's music can create so many different feelings and imagery. We listened to many different piano pieces, and used dance, art, storytelling, and movement to feel and experience the moods they create.

Favorites included making bees dance to "Flight of the Bumblebee"

And painting waterfalls to Jon Schmidt's "Waterfall."

 I made these mini foam piano keyboards for the kids, so they can keep playing with the piano at home.

My hope with these classes is to build background knowledge about essential musical skills in a playful and engaging way, so as to build attitude of excitement and fun toward playing an instrument in the future.

Music Summer Class: Exploring Musical Sounds

For our first session of the music summer class, we explored the different sounds that we hear in music. Here are some highlights from our fun week!

We played listening games, like Baby Bear Sits on the Chair.

We tried out different rhythm instruments, and made our own sound shakers.

We explored sounds that were loud, soft, fast, and slow.

Painting slow and fast to music.

We created our own sound songs, using shapes to represent different sounds.

On the last day we listened to a musical story, Sleeping Beauty, composed by Tchaikovsky. We made crowns and acted out the story with movement and dance as we listened to different themes of music.

What Happens in a Preschool Piano Class

I've had some questions about the preschool piano classes that I offer, and wanted to provide a more detailed example of what those classes can look like.  These classes are meant to introduce young students to musical concepts that will help prepare them for piano lessons (or really any instrument) in the future. Although I tend to call them preschool classes, they are really just pre-piano classes that can be beneficial and fun for 5-6 year olds as well. I strive to put my background in early childhood education to work with my musical knowledge and experience to make music fun, playful, meaningful, and exciting to all of my students.

Finding note patterns on the keyboard.

Every session of classes looks a little bit different as I make adaptions for student interests and abilities.  Generally each lesson or class focuses on one simple topic such as dynamics or the musical alphabet, and those topics are then integrated and built upon with each proceeding class. As I plan for the classes, I  think about ways that I can make the concepts more visual and active, and I spend time selecting music that supports what I'm trying to teach. Sometimes I find inspiration for learning activities and games in the theme of a song or in a picture book. I also love to read about and learn from what other teachers are doing to make music lessons more accessible and developmentally appropriate for young children. I've been especially inspired by these approaches: The Teaching Studio, Let's Play Music, and Let's Play Kid's Music. 

So, my music classes usually contains these elements:

• Instrument Exploration: We spend a lot of time exploring sound by making noise and using instruments. This most often involves rhythm instruments, but at times I will also incorporate instruments like the guitar or hand chimes. I have a full-size, digital keyboard that we use on the floor, in addition to my regular upright piano. The kids LOVE to try out the instruments, and we use them in a variety of ways to play and practice concepts. 

• Fun Songs: I try to find music that encourages movement and singing to help the kids use their bodies and voices as much as possible. Some of my favorites come from Hap Palmer, and K-8 Music. 

• Classical Examples: I also try to find classical music examples that illustrate concepts and expand our listening repertoire. For example, last week in class we listened to several different movements from "Carnival of the Animals" by Camille Saint-Saens to explore fast and slow sounds in the music. This also inspired us to move and dance like different fast and slow animals.        

• Listening Activities: Along with dancing, and singing to music, we also play games or do an activity that involves listening and responding to music or sounds. I loved these ideas for long and short notes from The Teaching Studio, and incorporated them into my own lesson about that topic. We created artwork based on the theme from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and used raindrops and rainbows to make up our own long/short song patterns on the keyboard.

• Stories: If possible, I also like to find picture books and stories that can illustrate a topic or help bring the music to life. 

• Individualized Instruction: Every student brings different interests and personality to the class, and I definitely take that into account as I'm teaching. This spring I had a student who loved trains, and so we used Thomas the Train to explore the notes and patterns on the keyboard. 

I have a lot of fun planning for and teaching these classes, and sharing my love of music with young kids in this way. Learning to play the piano is a complex skill that involves ear training, note reading, theory knowledge, fine motor skills, musicality, and more. It can be very overwhelming for young beginning students to jump into a world of new symbols, clefs, and 88 keys without prior experience. My purpose in teaching these classes is to help build up their background knowledge so that they have something to connect to as they learn to play. Just as background knowledge is a crucial part of comprehension in learning to read, these musical experiences can empower beginning piano students to feel more confident as they learn, because many of the terms and concepts that they encounter will already be familiar to them.