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Music Practice Ideas That Build a Genuine Enthusiasm

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:48:37 +0000

Throughout the following ideas, there is one basic theme; end the routine. Not the routine of practicing, but the routine of doing the same thing each and every day.

Praise Your Child
Praise your child. Instead of nagging them to practice, find some way to acknowledge and support their efforts. Praise them for good posture. Praise them for trying. Let them know how pleased you are about the progress they have made on a particular song. Praise is a wonderful and appreciated thing, and the reward for you and your child will be great.

Designing a Practice Schedule
Designing a practice schedule that is right for your child is an important part of your childs plan for success. Beginners do not need long practice periods to make progress. For elementary grade children 20 minutes per day is quite sufficient. Beginning trumpet or trombone players, for example, would be well served by a short practice period, as their muscles are easily fatigued. Some children may prefer to practice 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. These short periods may be just what they need to keep things interesting. Practicing every day is ideal, though skipping a day here and there will not hurt anything. It may even help to keep your child fresh and excited about playing.

Find Great Music
Music that kids enjoy playing motivates them to go to their instrument to play it. Unfortunately, this simple equation is often overlooked by music instructors who choose to focus heavily on scales, exercises and theory, with little attention on what might interest the student. There are many wonderful graded method books full of Disney songs, popular songs and hymns for begininng and intermediate instrumentalists. Also available are book/CD play-along sets that give your child a chance to play along with a full orchestra, rock band or jazz combo, playing favorites from Disney, the movies, pop culture, and Broadway. Talk to your teacher to see what they recommend.

Let’s Practice!

‘Oliver the Octopus’ Music Theory Arcade Games

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:32:54 +0000

Our music resource site, MakingMusicFun.net, features two music theory arcade games that are jam-packed with fun, while helping music students to drill and practice basic skills.

‘Music Press Distress’ Music Theory Arcade Game
Toss those worksheets! Learn to identify 6 basic rhythms with Oliver and the Gang, including the whole note, the half note, the eighth note, the dotted half note, and the dotted quarter note.

‘Eek! Shark!’ Music Theory Arcade Game
Learn your notes names with Oliver and the Gang. Select the treble or bass clef, set the note range that you would like to practice, and play!

Best of Bach | Free Sheet Music for Piano

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:03:28 +0000

Our free resource music site, MakingMusicFun.net, features premium sheet music that bridges the gap between children’s technical skills and musical aesthetics. We call our sheet music arrangements “premium” because each piece that finds it’s way on this site meets a very high standard – it must be as good or better than anything available – not just on the web – but anywhere!

Within this collection are several pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach for easy and intermediate piano solo. We hope you will enjoy practicing and playing them.

Free Sheet Music for Easy Piano

Minuet in G for Piano Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach
Musette in D for Piano Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach

Free Sheet Music for Intermediate Piano

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring for Piano Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach
Minuet in G for Piano Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach
Minuet in G Minor for Piano Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach
Musette in D for Piano Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach

Best of Beethoven | Free Sheet Music for Piano

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:25:48 +0000

Within this collection are several pieces by Ludwig Van Beethoven for easy and intermediate piano solo. We hope you will enjoy practicing and playing them.

Free Sheet Music for Easy Piano

Ode to Joy for Easy Piano Solo
Beethoven’s Fifth for Easy Piano Solo

Free Sheet Music for Intermediate Piano

Für Elise for Intermediate Piano Solo
Ode to Joy for Intermediate Piano Solo
Ecossaise for Intermediate Piano Solo

Best of Mozart | Free Sheet Music for Piano

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:07:28 +0000

Within this collection are several pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for easy and intermediate piano solo. We hope you will enjoy practicing and playing them.

Easy/Intermediate Free Sheet Music

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik for Piano Solo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata in C Major, K.545 for Intermediate Piano Solo
Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) for Piano Solo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Turkish March for Piano Solo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Best of Tchaikovsky | Free Sheet Music for Piano

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:33:01 +0000

Within this collection are several pieces by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky for easy and intermediate piano solo. We hope you will enjoy practicing and playing them.

Free Sheet Music for Easy Piano

Beriozka (The Birch Tree) for Easy/Level 2 Piano Solo | 4th Symphony Theme

March Slav for Easy/Level 2 Piano Solo

Trepak (Nutcracker) for Easy/Level 2 Piano Solo

Free Sheet Music for Intermediate Piano

Arabian Dance (Nutcracker) for Intermediate/Level 3 Piano Solo

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Nutcracker) for Intermediate/Level 3 Piano Solo

Chinese Dance (Nutcracker) for Intermediate/Level 5 Piano Solo

Dance of the Reeds (Nutcracker) for Intermediate/Level 5 Piano Solo

Theme from 1812 Overture for Intermediate/Level 5 Piano Solo

March (Nutcracker) for Intermediate/Level 5 Piano Solo

Waltz of the Flowers (Nutcracker) for Intermediate/Level 5 Piano Solo

Free Music Practice Sticker Charts

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:15:42 +0000

Our music resource site, MakingMusicFun.net, features a collection of colorful practice chart/records to make practicing a way more fun!

Kids love to be recognized for their effort. Whether it be for specific things like memorizing their recital piece, or for general things like meeting weekly practice goals. Let your young music student add his/her own sticker each time they meet their goal. Once your child has met their practice goal, praise them. If that doesn’t seem to do the trick, you may have to break out the cookies.

Piano Practice Sticker Chart

Music Notes Practice Sticker Chart

Scooter and Jr. Practice Sticker Chart

Charlie the Shark with Trumpet Practice Sticker Chart

Oliver at the Drums Practice Sticker Chart

Free Music Theory Worksheets | Intervals

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:35:37 +0000

Our music resource site, MakingMusicFun.net, features free interval worksheets that introduce children to basic music theory skills in a fun, colorful way. All of the worksheets are available for you to print and enjoy in high quality PDF format – the best choice for a clean and crisp copy.

Free Music Theory Worksheets | Intervals
Intervals! worksheets continue to drill note naming skills, as they introduce simple intervals. The first worksheet asks students to write a second (2nd) up or a second (2nd) down from the given note, and then label each note with the correct alphabet letter. These worksheets are most effective if used in sequence, following the introduction of basic symbols (staff, treble and bass clef) and basic note names.

Intervals! Worksheet One/2nds

Intervals! Worksheet Two/3rds

Intervals! Worksheet Three/4ths

Intervals! Worksheet Four/5ths

Ready, Set, Go! Worksheet Five/Unison-Octave

Free Music Theory Worksheets | Note Names

admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:23:09 +0000

Our music resource site, MakingMusicFun.net, features free note name worksheets that introduce children to basic music theory skills in a fun, colorful way. All of the worksheets are available for you to print and enjoy in high quality PDF format – the best choice for a clean and crisp copy.

Free Music Theory Worksheets | Note Names

Color That Note! Note Naming Worksheets
Color That Note! Note Naming Worksheets provide the beginning music student with a fun way to learn their note names. To complete this activity the student will choose 5 crayons, color over each of the first 5 whole notes with a different color for each note, and then complete the rest of the worksheet by naming each note correctly, and coloring each note the same color as it was colored at the top of the worksheet.

I Thought That I Was Crazy: A Wacky Note Naming Activity

Here’s a chance to read a funny poem and learn your note names at the same time. Some of the words in this poem are spelled out with music notes instead of alphabet letters. Figure out what the note names are and write them in the blanks below the notes to solve the puzzle.

Ready, Set, Go! Note Name Speed Tests

Ready, Set, Go! Note Name Speed Tests will challange beginning music students to develop speed and accuracy in their treble and bass clef note naming skills. With the clock ticking, students will name 10 notes as fast as they can. When they complete the line they will record their time. Start the clock again and try to beat your score.

Let’s Crossword! Note Naming Worksheet

Let’s Crossword! Note Naming Worksheet is perfect for beginning music student, after they have had a chance to master the basics. Figure out what each note name is, then write the alphabet letter in the blank below the note. Once you discover what the word is, you can start solving the puzzle!

Free Printable Music Theory Flash Cards

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:38:05 +0000

Our free resource music site, MakingMusicFun.net, features the biographies of our major composers, along with a collection of printable resources and lesson ideas that make learning fun!

We’ve just added three sets of free printable flash cards for the elementary music student, and yet another way to help kids to be successful!

Treble Clef Flash Cards
This set of flash cards allows student to drill more than two octaves of notes from C4 (middle C) to E6.

Bass Clef Flash Cards
This set of flash cards allows student to drill more than two octaves of notes from C2 (two octaves below middle C) to E4 (two notes above middle C).

Viola Clef (Alto Clef) Flash Cards
This set of flash cards allows student to drill more than two octaves of notes from C3 (one octave below middle C) to E5.

This collection of free printable word search worksheets are available for you to print and enjoy in high quality PDF format – the best choice for a clean and crisp copy.