For the past few weeks, Trevor and I have been pumping out activities with pumpkins, bats, and mummies. Every October, Halloween seems to dominate our teaching resources.
But October isn’t just about Halloween.
Autumn is in full swing. And kids love to celebrate autumn as well. Unlike the party atmosphere that comes with Halloween, autumn is calm and beautiful.
We could all use a little more “autumn”.
In today’s post, we’re sharing autumn-themed, keyboard awareness clip cards that you can use with your early primer piano students.
We’re also going to introduce you to the book we are releasing next week: Nuts For Alpha Notes!
Are Your Piano Students Note Reading Too Early?
There is a tendency to jump right into note reading with new piano students. Some parents and teachers believe it is important to get kids onto the grand staff as soon as possible.
Historically, there were many benefits to getting kids on the grand staff quickly.
But that’s because effective pre-reading piano repertoire just wasn’t available. Students either played pre-reading music with notes floating randomly on a white page or played from a grand staff that they were not yet ready for.
This lack of pre-reading material is very problematic.
Before kids jump to the grand staff they need to develop an awareness of the keyboard and an understanding of directional note movement.
The printable that we’re sharing at the bottom of today’s post is a fun, game-based activity for developing keyboard awareness.
But it’s just a start!
Next week we are releasing the piano book your early primer students need before moving on to the grand staff.
Nuts For Alpha Notes, V. U. Level C is a pre-reading resource. Children using this book will build keyboard awareness while playing alpha notes in middle C position.
Coming Next Week!
Inside you will discover 7 loveable piano pieces with lyrics and teacher duets, keyboard awareness games, rhythm reading practice, finger number exercises, a coloring activity, a practice tracker, and a certificate of achievement.
And there’s more…
Nuts For Alpha Notes contains piano solos composed on the Wunder Staff.
Unique to the WunderKeys Method Books and resources, the Wunder Staff is a modified grand staff used with very new piano students.
It contains the top two lines of the bass staff (referred to as the LH staff) and the bottom two lines of the treble staff (referred to as the RH staff).
The Wunder Staff provides a home for alpha notes so they do not have to just float in space. When alpha notes are placed on the Wunder Staff, kids learn the directional movement of music with much greater success. They can easily see when notes move higher, move lower, and repeat.
And it gets better.
Alpha notes are placed on the Wunder Staff according to their positions on the grand staff. So, while your students are reading note names inside the notes, they are also learning to recognize the placement of notes in middle C position.
This is an advantage that you will only find in WunderKeys resources and in the piano books in Andrea and Trevor Dow’s Very Useful Piano Library.
So, don’t forget…
Watch for our announcement on Tuesday when we officially release Nuts For Alpha Notes, V. U. Level C: Pre-Reading Songs and Activities For Early Primer Piano Students.
Download Today’s Keyboard Awareness Clip Cards
Click here or on the image below to download today’s Keyboard Awareness Clip Cards. Sort by “VU Library ->Level C” in the toolkit to find them.
And remember to watch for Nuts for Alpha Notes next week!
