Unit 1

Orientation on the Piano

In this unit what we want to do is to get the child to have an orientation on the piano/keyboard.

Materials Needed:

  • Gems or other small items
  • Pencils/Paint Brushes/Water Colors/Crayons
  • Different colored Construction Paper (For flash cards)
  • Different shades of the same color paper (as used at Home Depot for paint selections; you may print as well)
  • Popsicles
  • Glass/Jar

NOTE: The following activities can be repeated as often as needed before future lessons. Example: Before introducing the next Unit’s topic (musical alphabet), you can focus on identifying the group patterns of 2 & 3 black keys as a refresher.

Table Time Activities

1.

Print (-Colorable Keys-)

Printable
Printable

Goal: Get familiar with the key patterns.

A. Have the child color the black keys in black.

B. Circle the groups of 2 black keys and the groups of 3 black keys using 2 different colors

C. Color one “D” (the key between the group of 2 black keys) in one color and have the child look for another “D” to color it

NOTE: They may color the other keys as well.

2.

Print (-Piano Key Flashcards-)

Goal: Identify the repeating group patterns.

A. Have the child place the groups of keys in the correct order.

Printable

Piano Time Activities

1.

A. Let the child explore the piano and point things out (such as the white & black keys/low and high notes).

B. Place one glass/jar on the right side of the piano (for high notes) and one on the left side of the piano (for low notes). Use two different colored gems or any 2 different small items readily available. For every HIGH note played, the child places a yellow gem (in this example) into the right glass, and for every LOW note played, the child places the other item into the left glass.

TIP: Have the child turn around throughout these activities.

2.

A. Move the glasses closer together the better it goes (The closer together, the more challenging).

3.

These are the cards from Table Time 2A.

A. Have the child place the cards on the correct places on the piano.

B. Take 1 of the cards with the group of 2 black keys and draw a circle around it. Label it with the letter “D” on the key between the group of 2 black keys. Have the child look for the key that is in the middle of the 2 black keys.

TIP: You could call it a Dog house and have the child look for dog houses.

This should be repeated very often until it seems to be no problem to find all “Ds” on the piano!