In Fall 2020, the creators of Piano Detectives Club hosted a weekly video series in an effort to contribute new resources and inspiration to the piano teaching community. A number of these free, printable resources may be downloaded below. To view the video series, visit us on Facebook.
Downloadable Games and Activities:
Holiday Break Bingo: This year’s Holiday Break Bingo card features new ideas for elementary students to stay connected to music over the winter break, including new listening prompts and ideas that build on students’ natural creativity and curiosity.
Long Ago: An elementary piece designed to be changed! Some students find it challenging to begin a composition from scratch, so Long Ago is intended to be a jump start. Suitable for elementary readers or for teaching by rote.
Special Agent Investigative Report – You don’t have to be an official detective to conduct your own musical investigation! Invite students to analyze and reflect on their own playing in this take-home activity. File contains two versions graded for early elementary and elementary students.
Animal Visuals for Landmark Notes – Gina the Spider, Franklin the Frog, and Cecil the Cat: It’s always helpful to have many ways to think about foundational concepts. Capitalize on students’ imaginations as you picture clef signs and ledger lines with fresh creativity.
Holiday Break Bingo: Holiday Break Piano Bingo provides an innovative and fun way for students to stay connected to their piano studies over winter break. Available in elementary and advanced levels.
Mad Lib Menu Composing Activity: This whimsical prompt is a great way to get students’ creative juices flowing. The activity is easily adapted to suit pianists at a variety of levels and can be used additionally for rhythm and clapback activities.
Turkey Tail Rhythm: Use as an individual cut-and-paste activity for rhythm sorting practice, or as a printable game for 2 or more players. Suggested instructions are on Page 1. Recommended to print in color.
Music Postcards: Mail these to your students as a midweek encouragement or to recognize exceptional work. Brighten your student’s day! Color print double-sided on white cardstock and cut along the provided lines.
The Pumpkin Patch Guided Composing Activity is designed for use with elementary piano students at any stage of musical development. Four pages of illustrated melodic rhythmic and melodic activities offer teachers endless options to tailor the activity to the specific needs of each students. Teachers may choose to use a prewritten rhythm or invite students to create their own to accompany the humorous lyrics. Students may compose a melody using a D-minor five-finger pattern, or they may explore other melodic possibilities. The Pumpkin Patch Guided Composing Activity gives teachers an exciting way to put students’ musical knowledge into practice as students create an original, fall-themed composition.
Guess What? is a 2-person game that helps elementary pianists develop vocabulary for describing and naming musical terms. Players ask yes-or-no questions to identify their opponent’s Top Secret Answer. Full instructions included. Supplies needed for each player: printed game board, 15 small objects that can be used as place markers, small piece of paper, writing utensil.