Did you know that one of the best ways to ensure that your kids are extremely proficient at reading music notes, is to consistently reinforce the concepts they’ve learned?

So, how do you do that? 

Here’s how. You do it with games.

What games?

Read on and I will show you some really cool games you can play with your kids. 

I have even included the necessary material with this post, so don’t forget to download it and go so far as laminating it if necessary. 

Ready to get started? 

Things You Need:

– Dry Erase Marker

– Pebbles/ Coloured Beads/Mini Action Figures/Tokens/Coins/Anything Similar

– Keyboard (doesn’t have to be a piano, can be an electric keyboard with at least 44 keys, black and white notes included). 

Games

1. Play a note on the keyboard, ask your child to find it amongst the planet notes and also connect it to the keyboard on the game card. You can play this game in reverse with your child playing the note and you finding it and your child correcting you. 

2. Ask your child to pick one type of planet and name all the notes that have been denoted by that planet. Once he’s done that, ask your child to take the game card to the keyboard and play each of those notes denoted by the chosen planet. 

3. Team/Racing Demons Variation: Assign a specific planet to each child and ask them to name as many planets in their group in 30 seconds (give them a paper to write it on) and then play it on the keyboard. 

4. Play a note on the keyboard. Ask your child to find the note on the stave, connect it to the matching concept and then call out the name. 

5. Ask your child to play a note on the keyboard. you find the corresponding note amongst the planets, match it and ask your child to check if you got it right or wrong (Tip: It’s always good to get a few wrong, it’s a confidence booster for kids that mom or dad don’t know as much as they do). 

6. Leave a pebble on a note on the stave, ask your child to find it on the keyboard. 

Bonus – Team Game/Racing Demons Variation: Call out a name of a note. Have the children compete to be the fastest to put their bead/pebble or action heroes on the correct planet note and match it to the keyboard (give each child two beads/buttons that are the same colour or similar so you which is which). 

Reading music notes can be very easy if taught correctly from the very beginning. 

The number one reason kids struggle with learning to read music notes is because the fundamentals are not taught correctly and in the right order. 

With the correct tools and guidelines even mom’s who have no musical background can teach their kids how to read music notes and play the piano effortlessly. 

In this post I am going to show you how you can teach your child to read Bass Clef line notes. 

Yes, even if you’ve never had any musical training in your life, you can still do this, because my method is ‘super easy’. 

However, in order for you to do this, you should have already introduced your kids to the Musical Alphabet, They should be able to find their way around the keyboard, effortlessly and they should be able distinguish between line and space notes, and have learned about line numbers and space numbers, and have been introduced to Middle C.

If you haven’t introduced them to even one of the above, please click on the appropriate link, complete the steps and then proceed with the instructions in this post. 

If you haven’t completed ANY of the above steps, then start with the Musical Alphabet and go in the order I have suggested. 

On the other hand, if you’ve completed all of the above steps, you are ready to proceed. 

But, don’t forget to download the music theory worksheets and flashcards I have made available below. 

Got it?

Let’s get started. 

Review Middle C

Ask your child to show you Middle C on the keyboard. 

Remind him that all the notes to the left of Middle C are usually written in the Bass Clef and played with the left hand. 

Review Treble Clef Line And Space Notes

If you haven’t already introduced the kids to Treble Clef line and space notes, this would be a good time to do it. 

Even though you can proceed with teaching Bass Clef line notes without first teaching the line notes, it just makes things easier. 

I strongly suggest that you first teach your child the Treble Clef line notes, for that you can read my post 5 ‘Incredibly Easy’ Steps To Teach Treble Clef Line Notes, and 5 ‘Ridiculously Easy’ Steps To Teach Treble Clef Space Notes.

Introduce G

Show the flashcard.

Show G (on the flashcard) and say that it is first line G also known as G2.

Since your child already knows C4 (Middle C) ask him to show you G2.

Introduce B

Now show the flashcard again and ask your child to show you B. 

Say that it is called second line B also known as B2. 

Introduce D, F, A In The Same Way

Use the same steps as above to show each note one at a time. 

Remember to say third line D also known as D3. 

Proceed on to show fourth line F or F3 and fifth line G or G3. 

The Pneumonic

Tell your child that the easy way to memorize the note names is  Good Birds Deserve Food Always.

Introduce/Review F2

If you haven’t already done so (depending on the method you chose), this would be a good time to introduce the note F2 or ‘Fearless F’.

Show your child the flashcard for F2. 

Say that it is called ‘Fearless F’ because it hangs from the Bass Staff. 

Ask your child to show F2 on the keyboard (he should point to the F immediately after Middle C). 

If you have already introduced your child to F2, then use this opportunity to review the concept. 

Play A Few Games And Complete The Music Theory Worksheet

Yes, play a few games to reinforce the concepts learned here. 

You can call out a note name and ask your child to play the note. 

Eg. You call out first line G and your child will play G2. 

Next, you can play D3 or even draw the note on a Bass Staff and ask your child play the note. 

Another good idea is, once your child has completed the attached music theory worksheet, you have ask him to play the notes on the keyboard. 

What do you think?

Can you introduce your kids to the Bass Clef Line Notes? 

Of course, you can. 

You have all the material, all you need now is to just do it. 

So what next? 

You can now proceed to my post 5 ‘Ridiculously Simple’ Ways To Teach Bass Clef Space Notes. 

Did you know that clef signs create landmark notes?

The Treble Clef creates two landmark notes.

And in this post I will show you how you can introduce both landmark notes to your kids. 

Remember to download the music theory worksheet I have made available especially for this post, so you can reinforce the concept of the Treble Clef landmark notes, which you will be teaching your kids. 

What Is A ‘Landmark’?

A ‘landmark’ in music, is a ‘clue’ to help you identify a specific note name and placement. 

Furthermore, a ‘landmark’ is created by a clef sign when the clef is written with technical precision. 

Therefore it is very important for kids to learn to write the clefs correctly.

Not sure if your kids have learned to write the Treble Clef with technical precision? 

No worries. Check out my post 5 ‘Super Easy’ Ways To introduce Kids To The Treble Clef. 

Ready to get started?

So what are the two landmark notes created by the Treble Clef?

Second Line G

The first landmark note created by the Treble Clef 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. 

So there’s your first landmark note in the Treble Clef. 

What’s the next one?

Fifth Line F

F5 or the fifth line F in the Treble Staff is the second 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. 

So the next time your kids are reading music notes and are trying to find their way, tell them to look for the coil and know that the note there is G4 (on the piano) and to look for the twist and know that the note there is F5 (on the piano). 

They can now count down or up and find the rest of the notes on the piano easily. 

Bonus – D4 or Dangerous D

Since we are learning landmark notes, I think it is best for you to teach your kids one additional note and that is D4.

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.  

D4 or as it is lovingly known ‘Dangerous D’ because it hangs from the Treble Staff, is the note.

This is also a very easy note to remember. 

It comes directly after Middle C. 

So what do you think? 

Easy enough?

Can you teach your kids these landmark notes in the Treble Clef?

Great. 

Don’t forget to download and use the music theory worksheets I have included with this post. 

Even though most parents think that teaching music in the homeschool is hard, it really isn’t if you have the correct tools and guidance needed. 

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

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

They basically extend the silence by two beats. 

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

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

Show The Note And The Rest

That’s all there is to this step. 

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

Tell them that the Half Rest (point to it) is similar to the Half Note and consists of 2 beats.

Explain The Difference

Don’t forget to explain the difference. 

With a Half Note, we actually play a note, but with a Half Rest we don’t play a note, rather, there is silence for 2 beats, wherever there is a Half Rest. 

Ask Them Both Names

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

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

Clapping

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

Remember, a Minim Rest means there is silence for 2 beats, so there is no clapping only counting two beats. 

Understanding The Half Rest

To make the previous step less confusing, you draw or show a Whole/Half or Quarter Note before the Half 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 2 more beats to signify the Half 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 2 beats to signify the Half Rest. 

Writing The Whole Rest

Now teach them how to correctly write the Half Rest. 

It sits from the third line within the third space.

Please use the printable I have included for this exercise. 

Identifying The Half Rest

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

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

Aren’t these steps just shockingly easy to follow? 

I promised you, it would be, didn’t I? 

So what are you waiting for? 

Grab the printable and the flashcard and go get started.