Piano Game n.1 ‘The Chase’ Games to play during piano lessons

‘Piano Game n.1: The Chase’

games to play during piano lessons

-free scores+lyrics+comics

Let’s play a game.

Sing a short, simple 4-bar phrase to your student. First, sing it in Solfa. Second, sing it together. Then let them sing it alone. At last, play it on the piano and ask them to play it after you. While learning this phrase, keep the scores for them to look at, then, take them away (4 bars are easy to remember, whether you sing or play.) Visual stimuli – key pitches, bars, symbols and signs of note durations, dynamics, tempo etc., are all important addition to your student’s tool-box for a well-rounded musical education.

I like to start with singing because it is easier for a beginner or a young kid to sing rather than play on an instrument they are just learning. But this is up to you as a teacher. There is no correct order.

I ask my students to sing this melody with a stable, moderate speed repeatedly (4-6 times.) I tell them that no matter what happens while they sing, they must focus on singing steadily and keep repeating the melody as if they’re trying to irritate me  by  singing non-stop, like  a  broken record (don’t say that, they probably don’t know what a record is!) I even let them close their ears if they need to, so that they don’t ‘lose’ their track and stop. Let your student sing it at least 2-3 times so that they get momentum from the tempo and that phrase kind of sticks in the air.

        And now the chase begins.

The student sings, repeats and I start chasing them, i.e. singing the same melody with some time difference (1 or 2 bars.) They will be a little ‘shaken’ in the beginning, then they’ll try to continue the repetitions but usually they only manage to repeat it once or twice more with you chasing them. They will get derailed, not because they can’t do it, but because the unexpected melody echoing behind them took them by surprise. Then surprise gives way to laughter because NOW they understand what kind of chase this is. And we repeat. On our 3rd or 4th try we are able to complete 3-5 full rounds/ circles/ rotations

(1 circle or round is a complete imitation of the phrase that chases the 1st player who started it. The more rounds you complete, the better.)

Additionally, we try a chase with lyrics.

Improvise: compose lyrics on the spot with your student. It can be something relative to them for that day, e.g. : once a student came in the lesson complaining he hadn’t got much sleep as his new puppy was whining  all night and that he was hungry (why are they always hungry at the piano lessons?) So we came up with these lyrics: ‘Couldn’t sleep at all last night. Came downstairs to grab a bite.’

Finally, after the lyrics we try the chase on the piano. In the beginning you can continue being the 2nd player, the one chasing (an octave higher or lower.) Then, ask your student to play with both hands: the left hand to chase the right hand. You can do this with or without the scores, that depends on how well they can adapt to playing the same melody with different fingers.

And … voilà! By the end of this game your student has learnt what a canon is and has even played it on the piano.

4 more tips/ ideas/ thoughts/ suggestions:

1. Ask your student to play the same canon changing the time differences of the chase :
2. with 1 bar difference b. with 2 bar difference c. with 3 bar difference
3. I avoid using complicated musical terms, especially with young children. So, the word canon does not appear before we have completed several chase rounds (singing or playing.) It’s easier for a child to understand the term ‘chase’, as they play it all the time, rather than terms like imitating, mimicking and sing in canon form.
4. Make your student become the chaser, the 2nd player. This role is a bit harder, which is why I assign it after he’s learnt the role of the 1st player well.
5. Here you can watch a detailed Youtube tutorial I made for this game with examples, scores and lyrics and also how to apply/transform it in a music classroom.

For the free download of ‘Piano Game n.1: The Chase.’ scores+lyrics+comics contact us:

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