You’re sitting at the piano bench with a student saying “up a second, down a second”, on and on and it’s getting kind of tedious. So just get off the bench and go over and play the Slap game for a few
You’re sitting at the piano bench with a student saying “up a second, down a second”, on and on and it’s getting kind of tedious. So just get off the bench and go over and play the Slap game for a few minutes, just enough to add some vitality to the lesson.
This is another game from Cecilly. It is a game for students who can’t seem to “get” intervals. I think it can also be successfully used for students who are just learning intervals in their primer level book. If you use my alphabet cards, you will have to print out more than one page unless you want to stay within an octave. (Look for the July 27, 2008 posting to see my original posting on the alphabet cards.) I went ahead and laminated mine with clear book covers, so they are going to be slippery. It was suggested by other teacher to used removable putty on the back to help them stay in place. It was also suggested to use a fly swatter and swat the interval rather than slap. Like all of Cecilly’s games, you can modify it to work for you. If you play it, let us know how it worked out!
Interval path “Slap” Game:
Either on a table or on the floor, lay out 2 sets of ABC cards in a
straight line, row, or slightly curved (like a rainbow). Have the
student stand or sit facing the cards.
Much of this activity is “silent”. The teacher calls out “Starting
note” followed by a letter (ie “Starting note: C”). The student
places his pointer finger just below one of the C’s. Then the
teacher dictates a simple 5 or so note interval path saying the
direction and interval (ie up a 2nd, up a 2nd, up a 2nd, down a 2nd,
etc.). The student may follow the path with his finger after each
interval. Then the teacher, when the path is completed, calls
out “Slap!” The student then slaps the final note as fast as he can
(ie “Starting note:C, up a 2nd, up a 2nd, up a 2nd, down a 2nd,
SLAP!”) AT THE SAME TIME, you, the teacher, also go to slap the
correct letter card. Whoever slaps first earns a point.
You can m