If you’ve looked closely at a sheet of music, you have no doubt realized that it consists of a variety of different types of notes. 

Those that are noteheads with no stems, outlined noteheads with stems and solid black notes with stems , flags and beams. 

So what does this mean?

Each of these elements like stems, flags and beams signify the type and value of the note and learning to decipher the difference is very important. 

Therefore, today I will be explaining how you can introduce ‘Eighth Notes’ to your kids in the homeschool in just six shockingly simple steps. 

Don’t forget to download the printable I have included, so you can take your child’s learning to the next level. 

Show And Tell

It’s as simple as that. 

Just show a flashcard with an Eighth Note, or draw it out on a paper or white board or simply point it out on a piece of sheet music and tell your child that a solid black note with a stem and a flag is called an Eighth Note. 

Other Names

Now tell your child that while in North America we call this type of note, an ‘Eighth Note’, in other parts of the world, especially in Asia and Europe the note is called a Quaver. 

Clapping And Counting

Now that your child can identify the note and knows both its names, it is time to explain that an Eighth Note/Quaver consists of 1/2 a beat. 

This means when played on the piano, you play two eighth notes in 1 beat.

If there are two eighth notes beamed together or separate, then you clap both in quick succession in 1 beat. 

Writing The Note

Next, you can show your child how to write an Eighth Note on a line, and in a space, as well as over the stave, hanging from the stave, as Middle C and ledger line notes. 

This would also be a good time to teach your child the stem rules and the flag and beam rules.

Identifying Eighth Notes

Now, show your child some sheet music (if you don’t have any handy, use the sheet music in the printable I have made available) and ask your child to identify all the Eighth Notes. 

On The Keyboard

Next have your child play Eighth Notes. 

For this you can simply draw a treble or bass staff on a piece of paper and write out a few Eighth Notes on different lines and spaces and have your child read the notes. 

If your child cannot read music notes as yet, you can still have your child play Middle Cs. 

For this you need to draw about four Middle Cs on a paper (as Eighth Notes), have your child play two Middle Cs in quick succession for the 1st beat and the next two in quick succession for the 2nd beat.

Easy enough don’t you think?

Now, don’t forget to download the printable included so you can reinforce the concepts taught here. 

Teaching notes and rests, their values and how they can be identified, and played is something any parent can do in the homeschool if they have access to the correct tools and guidance. 

Therefore today I’m going to give you the necessary tools and also explain the exact steps you can use to easily introduce the Quarter Rest to your kids. 

So what are Quarter Rests? They are similar in value to Quarter Notes, but no note is played. 

They basically extend the silence by one beats. 

If you haven’t already introduced the Quarter Note, do that first, you can find the steps, flashcard and printable in the post 6 ‘Ridiculously Simple’ Steps To Teach Quarter Notes. 

And here’s how you can introduce the Quarter Rest to your kids in the homeschool.

Show The Note And The Rest

Yes, it is as easy as that.  

Show them the flashcard of the note and the rest side by side. 

Tell them that the Quarter Rest (point to it) is similar to the Quarter Note and consists of 1 beat.

Explain The Difference

Don’t forget to explain the difference. 

With a Quarter Note, we actually play a note, but with a Quarter Rest we don’t play a note, rather, there is silence for 1 beat, wherever there is a Quarter Rest. 

Ask Them Both Names

Yes, ask them to tell you the alternate name for the Quarter Rest. 

Since they know that the Quarter Note is called a Crotchet, it is very likely that they will make the connection and tell you that the alternate name for the Quarter Rest is a Crotchet Rest. 

Clapping

Now comes the interesting part. Ask them to clap the Crotchet Rest. 

Remember, a Crotchet Rest means there is silence for 1 beat, so there is no clapping only counting one beat. 

Understanding The Quarter Rest

To make the previous step less confusing, you draw or show a Whole/Half or Quarter Note before the Quarter Rest. Then ask them to clap. 

So, they should clap for the specific note you drew, then count the correct number of beats for that note, and finally count 1 more beat to signify the Quarter Rest. 

On The Keyboard

Repeat the above step on the keyboard. 

Have them play the note first and count the corresponding number of beats and then count an additional 1 beat to signify the Quarter Rest. 

Writing The Quarter Rest

Now teach them how to correctly write the Quarter Rest. 

Please use the printable I have included for this exercise.

Identifying The Quarter Rest

Finally it is time to look at different sheets of music and identify the Quarter Rests. 

Again you can use the printable I have included for this post. 

Weren’t the steps as easy as I promised? 

So what are you waiting for? 

Grab the printable and the flashcard and go get started. 

Today, I’m going to explain how you can introduce seven of the most important notes your child has to be able to identify on the Grand Staff. 

So instead of simply showing you how to introduce only the Treble Clef landmark notes or the Bass Clef landmark notes, you will be introducing notes across the Grand Staff to cover both clefs. 

Ready to get started?

Wait. 

Download the music theory worksheet I have created especially for this post, before you get started. 

Done?

Ok, we can get started right now. 

So what is the first note you should introduce?

Middle C

Middle C, is written on its own line. 

In the Treble Clef, Middle C is written on its own line and is below the Treble Staff. 

In the Bass Clef, Middle C is written on its own line and is placed above the Bass Staff. 

Dangerous D

This is D4 and it is lovingly known ‘Dangerous D’ because it hangs from the Treble Staff. 

This note is not a landmark note (in the real sense, because it is not created by the Treble Clef), yet, it is a note that your kids should learn at this point.  

It is also a very easy note to remember, because it comes directly after Middle C. 

Second Line G

This landmark note is created by the Treble Clef and is second line G or G4. 

Why is this G considered as a landmark note?

It is because the coil of the Treble Clef or the start of the Treble Clef is on the second line of the staff and the note on the second line on the Treble Staff is G4. 

What’s the next one?

Fifth Line F

F5 or the fifth line F in the Treble Staff is another landmark note created by the Treble Clef. 

Why is that?

It is because the twist of the Treble Clef before its head goes over the staff happens on the fifth line. 

Fourth Line F

The first landmark note created by the Bass Clef is fourth line F or F3. 

Why is this F considered as a landmark note?

It is because the dot that starts off the Bass Clef is written on the fourth line of the Bass Staff and that fourth line is the placement of F3 on the piano keyboard.  

What’s the next one?

First Space A

A2 or the first space A in the Bass Staff is the second landmark note created by the Bass Clef. 

Why is it considered a landmark note?

It is because the Bass Clef ends by lightly touching the first space. 

E2

E2 when written looks exactly like Middle C. 

It is written on its own line and not in the Bass Staff. 

Rather, it is written below the Bass Staff instead of on top (like Middle C). 

What do you think?

Was that information overload?

It shouldn’t have been, but if you feel that it might be too much for your kids, introduce the first four landmark notes (Middle C, Dangerous D, second line G and fifth line F) on one day and the rest on the next day. 

You can also read my posts 3 Absolutely Important Facts To Know About Middle C, 3 ‘Super Important’ Treble Clef Landmark Notes To Teach, and 3 ‘Ultra Important’ Bass Clef Landmark Notes To Teach, to gain more clarity and extra music theory worksheets to help your reinforce the concepts for your kids. 

That is a very unusual post title don’t you think?

What do pelicans and dolphins have to do with writing music notes? 

Well, today I thought that I should address one of the biggest problems kids face at music theory exams, when trying to write music notes with technical precision. 

They always get confused about the direction of stems, flags, beams and noteheads. 

There is a right and a wrong way to write noteheads, stems and even flags, and in this post, I’m going to cover it and make it so easy that you, even though you may not have learned any music, will be able to teach them and your kids will never be confused about stem, flag or notehead directions ever again. 

Don’t forget to download the music theory worksheet included at the bottom of this post. 

Ready?

Let’s get started, learning how to determine the direction of stems on notes. 

All you’ve got to remember are the words Pelicans and Dolphins when it comes to note stems

Why Pelicans?

Pelicans as you know are birds and birds fly. 

The word pelican starts with the letter ‘p’. 

Teach your kids to remember the word pelican, and the letter ‘p’ because notes written on or above third line in the staff look like the letter ‘p’. 

Their stems go down on the left side of the notehead. 

Isn’t that easy? 

They never have to be confused agin, if they remember that all notes on or above (flying in the sky) the third line have their stems going down just like the letter ‘p’ in the word pelican (a bird that flies in the sky). 

Why Dolphins?

I think you can guess this one. 

Dolphins are a type of fish that swim in the sea. 

Dolphins start with the letter ‘d’.

Every note on or below (swim in the sea) the 3rd line has its stem going up, just like the letter ‘d’.

The stem goes up on the right side of the notehead. 

Easy isn’t it?

No more confusion. 

Did you notice that noteheads on the 3rd line can be either ‘p’s or ‘d’s?

Yes, that is correct, they can have their stems going either up or down. 

What about flags then? 

The flag that is written with single eighth notes are always on the right and if the stem goes up the flag remains on the right side and goes down. 

On the other hand if the stem goes down, the flag still remains to the right side of the stem but this time it goes upward. 

Now use the music theory worksheet that I have made available and have your children learn this very important concept.

If you’ve taught your kids to read music notes and play the piano, you will know that the notes F2 and B3 are neither line nor space notes. 

While both these notes are important notes to know, since they don’t fall into either category it is hard to know when to introduce kids to these notes. 

In this post I will discuss three methods to introduce kids to the notes. 

You can choose either one of the three methods. 

Yes, I am partial to one of the methods over the other, but that doesn’t mean that my favourite method is better than the other two methods I have explained here. 

So, please read through the post and decide, which method you would like to try when teaching your kids to read music notes and play the piano in your homeschool. 

Don’t forget to download the music theory worksheet I have included to help reinforce the concept of F2 and B3 to your kids. 

So, if you are ready, we can get started right now. 

Method 1 – Stand Alone

Like its name, this method is ‘stand alone’, meaning you should teach both notes ‘Fearless F’ (F2) and ‘Bouncing B’ (B3) after teaching your child the Bass Clef Line and Space notes. 

With this method you will: 

– First show your child the flashcard for F2

– Explain that it is F2 and called ‘Fearless F’ because it hangs from the Bass Staff.

– Ask your child to show F2 on the keyboard. 

– You will follow the same steps and introduce B3 as well. 

Method 2 – Teach, when introducing Middle C

You can introduce both ‘Fearless F’ and ‘Bouncing B’ to your child, when teaching them Middle C. 

With this method you will: 

– First show Middle C and point to F2 and B3 in relation to Middle C. – Show flashcards and say F2 is called ‘Fearless F’ because the note hangs from the Bass Staff and B3 is called ‘Bouncing B’ because the note sits on the Bass Staff. 

Method 3 – Introduce F2 with Bass Clef Line Notes and B3 with Bass Clef Space Notes

This is by far my favourite method. However, please remember that methods 1 and 2 are equally good. 

With this method you will:

– Teach the Bass Clef line notes and introduce them to F2, by showing them the flashcard, telling them that it is called ‘Fearless F’ because it hangs from the Bass Staff and then show them the note on the keyboard. 

– Teach the Bass Clef space notes and introduce them to B3, by showing them the flashcard, telling them that it is called ‘Bouncing B’ because it sits on the Bass Staff and then showing them the note on the keyboard. 

Would you like to implement Method 2 but still haven’t introduced your kids to Middle C? Then read my post 3 Absolutely Important Facts To Know About Middle C.

Want to use Method 3? In that case, you will have to first read and implement 5 ‘Shockingly Easy’ Steps To Teach Bass Clef Line Notes, and 5 ‘Ridiculously Simple’ Steps To Teach Bass Clef Space Notes. 

Either way don’t forget to download the music theory worksheet I have made available with this post.

What is your favourite method?

Comment below and let me know.