Music Note Flashcards
Big Cards for Big Fun!
Music note flashcards like these GIANT free printable flashcards are great for fast-moving games like Whack-It!
Why would bigger be better, when flashcards are typically more DREARY than fun? Well, if used in combination with rambunctious games during lesson time, these giant flashcards make note-reading a blast.
Bigger IS better
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
Whack the music notes on the staffs
My favorite way to use these giant music note flashcards is in a game called "Whack-It!", described by Natalie Wickham in her helpful music blog MusicMatters.com.
Natalie shows a young student using giant cards with piano keys on them in a 2008 post about Whack-It, but my giant piano flashcards have music notes on them instead. With cards, a spatula, and a floor, you are set!
Whacking is great fun
You will need to cut these printed pages in half to make 2 cards.
With students who are beginning notereaders, I mix up the chosen cards and ask them to identify them in order. That is, I say, "Find Middle C." Whack!
That one is easy to find. I remove the card from the floor.
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
Then, "Find D (or Middle D)." I might call it "the Daddy note -- strong enough to carry the giant ladder -- the staff -- on his back." (This is in contrast to the "weak" Baby note -- bass clef Middle B -- which lies on top of the staff or "ladder.")
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
Then E, then F, etc. For beginning readers, this works well. It's fun to watch them compare the note they just named with all the other cards, and look for the next higher note.
If they whack the wrong note, then back go all the flashcards they have already won onto the floor! This is pretty fun when they're racing against the clock -- say, a one-minute timer.
If they get all the chosen cards correctly, then the reward at my studio, currently, is to get to throw a "basketball" (a soft foam ball, really) through a small basketball hoop, anywhere from 3 to 10 shots, depending on how pressed for time I feel!
Update: The game is ITS OWN REWARD!! There is not enough time in lessons for throwing balls through hoops, I have to come to feel. In fact, such non-musical activities can be distracting and detracting.
For group games with teams, or two music lessons back-to-back where the note-reading abilities of the students are pretty equivalent, we might have two "whackers" going. It's a little crazy, but fun.
A good way to break up a lesson with physical activity
Because the notes are set on the grand staff, these are really piano flashcards. I am using them with my violin and guitar students, but I plan to make some special treble-clef-only music flashcards for them soon. Update: Here they are!
The link for the giant flashcards:
Download printable giant music note flashcards
Music for Music Teachers has other great free resources for piano teachers! Take a look:
Rote Learning - leaving the written page behind (or treating it like a map!)
Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!
Recent Articles
-
Angels We Have Heard on High - Free Christmas Songs Arrangements
Angels We Have Heard on High: children love the fancy "Gloria" chorus, and you can download multiple arrangements for piano, violin, & guitar! -
Gospel Song Jesus Loves Me: Beginner & Easy Piano, Plus Lead Sheets!
Gospel song "Jesus Loves Me" is well-known to many children. Here are easy arrangements to learn the music & each word to Jesus Loves Me, for early piano. -
Easy Piano Sheet Music Swan Lake -Beginners & Intermediate Pianists!
Easy piano sheet music Swan Lake, lovely solos & duets, with lyrics in the beginner arrangements for dreamy students who love imagining. New arrangements! -
The Wellerman Sheet Music: Easy Piano & Lead Sheets!
The Wellerman: Tabs, sheet music & lyrics for piano, guitar, & more! Such a fun, high-energy song to sing & play - learn it fast with letters in the notes! -
Christmas Carol Lyrics Song from the Bible: Free SATB and Guitar Tab
Christmas carol lyrics from the Bible and an old-fashioned carol-like tune combine in this free Christmas song for SATB choir or a solo vocalist with guitar.
Interested in songs from the Bible for your students or church? Check out my other website, SingTheBibleStory.com!
All the first-year material I give my beginner students.
Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!
This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.
A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!
This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.
This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.
It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!
This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!
Comments: Do you have a story or a question about music teaching? Share it!
Please note that all comments are moderated, and will not appear until I have approved them. Also, IF YOU ARE ASKING FOR MUSIC THAT IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, YOUR REQUEST WILL BE IGNORED. That's pretty much any music written in the last 75 years...
What Other Visitors Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Question about "Whack-it" Game Not rated yet
Hi!
I am liking the idea of the Whack-It game...
Could you specify? Do they hit the correct piano key on the piano with a spatula?
Also, are they …
About the Author
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.
Recent Articles
-
Angels We Have Heard on High - Free Christmas Songs Arrangements
Angels We Have Heard on High: children love the fancy "Gloria" chorus, and you can download multiple arrangements for piano, violin, & guitar! -
Gospel Song Jesus Loves Me: Beginner & Easy Piano, Plus Lead Sheets!
Gospel song "Jesus Loves Me" is well-known to many children. Here are easy arrangements to learn the music & each word to Jesus Loves Me, for early piano.