Make a Note of It!

My daughter has been taking piano lessons for almost a year and she loves to play.  I am impressed with the progress she is making with her teacher.  She can play pieces with chords, using both hands.  However, I can tell that help with sight reading notes would improve the fluency of her play–and probably her enjoyment.

We bought flashcards but they did not hold her interest and I do not like to push.

Instead, inspired by some bottle cap reading games, we made a musical notation bottle cap game.  I was going to make it for her but she wanted to make the bottle cap notes herself.

All we needed was some extra-large staff paper I made on the computer, some plastic bottle caps, a permanent marker (Sharpie), and some strong glue (Elmer’s Glue All).

We outlined the bottle caps in permanent marker and then added a note name in.  For notes above and below the staff, you can glue pipe cleaners above, below or through the middle of the bottle caps.

We also used some translucent caps (without outlining them) and drew flats, sharps, natural signs,  and rests.  My daughter has fun making “words” with the musical notes and creating pieces for me to transcribe.