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Music Blocks – Their History and How to Use Them!

Music Blocks and How They Came To Be

This past summer saw an invasion of little ones to my studio. Teaching the age group of 4 years – 8 years old requires imagination, patience, and curiousity, among other things. In my constant pursuit of making learning interesting and fun, I am always scouring stores for things that I can adapt to use for teaching. So enter phase one of Music Blocks!

A morning crafting session produced these:

 

First wave of the Music Blocks

Music Blocks – the Prototype

I posted this picture to some music forums on Facebook with the caption: “How cute are these?!” and the instant wave of response was encouraging!

I decided to take them into my studio and try them out on my discerning little piano students. I should now amend my caption to read: “How FUN are these?!” My piano students now demand every lesson: “Where are the Music Blocks?! I want to play with the Music Blocks!!”

Music Blocks – The Facebook Discussion

I can always count on my Facebook music forums for lively discussion and excellent suggestions. After posting about the blocks, many of my colleagues offered their opinions and suggestions. Some suggestions included using the colours in rainbow order (I meant to do that, but was missing seven colours at the time). Someone else suggested starting the order from C – B instead of A – G. Other people wanted do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-TI instead of SI. That started a WHOLE OTHER DISCUSSION about solfege!

I also received some criticism about how the blocks would not be usable for those students that work with ‘movable do’. But I believe that the blocks can still be used–you just have to ignore the colours. The alternative is to special order the blocks from me and I will only use one colour for the note name syllables without the corresponding letter names. Although I would prefer to have the set in the rainbow colours even then–it makes it easier to sort through quickly! (Imagine trying to find the syllables and organize the scale quickly when all the blocks are the same colour).

Music Blocks – Test Drive!

I was concerned that the blocks wouldn’t hold up to use. The original prototype was made with some scrapbook stickers that I had lying around. They were the perfect size for the blocks. But since the stickers had only one ‘G’ in them, it was going to make it difficult to mass produce! Also, I wasn’t sure the letters would stay stuck to the blocks. I also had a rough time gluing that ‘dot’ on the ‘i’, believe me!! But amazingly they held up to <somewhat> rough use!

I quietly incorporated the blocks into my lessons with awesome results. (Remember the above comment: “Where are the Music Blocks?! I want to play with the Music Blocks!!””)? Enthusiastic parents asked: “Where can I get those? Put me down for a set when you get them.”

I noticed an improvement in reading, more confidence in finding the notes to put the blocks down, willingness to learn the alphabet backwards (great for left hand!), curiousity about learning both systems of note naming (letters and solfege symbols), interest in composing and improvising, and more creativity overall.

Finished Music Blocks

Music Blocks! Wooden rainbow coloured music blocks: two kinds are pictured here with SOL-LA-SI and SOL-LA-TI, and gold-chrome coloured letters

Music Blocks – Suggestions on How To Use Them

Here are some suggestions on how to incorporate Music Blocks into your teaching. They are loosely placed in order from young beginners to advanced pianists.

Music Blocks and note naming fun away from the piano

For the youngest students, who may be pre-reading level or just learning their letters. The Music Blocks are excellent for introducing them to the music alphabet. We play with the blocks, mix them all up and have them find the letters in order. We build them into towers, say the alphabet forwards and backwards. Kids love competition and games, so we have a race to build the tower, or I time them to see how long it takes for them to arrange them in letter order, or arrange them in letter order backwards. We recite the letters out loud. I remove a block and have them name the one that’s missing.

Music Blocks and solfege syllables

In my part of the country, both the letter systems and the solfege symbols are used interchangeably. Many of the French students learn the solfege syllables but want to learn the English letter equivalents for when they are in band or playing with their friends. So I will stack the music blocks with their corresponding English letters so they can make the connections quickly in their minds. Then I will take the set and only show the letter side and quiz them on their solfege equivalents. Or show the solfege side and ask the letter equivalents. The student checks their answer by spinning the block around to the opposite face.

Music Blocks: Introducing keyboard geography

One of the first activities I do when using the Music Blocks with the piano is showing proper placement of the blocks. I show the students the order from C to B and place them on their corresponding piano key. (We usually place the blocks at the ends of the keys near the fall board. That way, the students can play the keys without the blocks falling off). Then I will name a note and a finger number and they will play that note. Sometimes I will turn the blocks to a blank face, and have them mark all the “C’s” on the piano, etc. first and teach them how to find that particular note in relation to the black keys, for example, C is to the left of the group of two black keys.

You can improvise on this exercise depending on the age and capability of the student. Sometimes I will scramble the blocks, and give it to them in a different order and have them place them on the piano. You can make it more difficult by having them choose different octaves to place the blocks on. We can introduce a timing element into this if you want to make it more competitive.

Music Blocks, pre-readers, and colouring…. oh my!

The Music Blocks are especially popular with the younger students. They love to arrange the blocks in order and then go through their theory sheets or beginner music and colour the corresponding notes. The note learning is reinforced by colour and writing. Playing by colour works so well with the kids that struggle with reading letters. If you think about it, for sight reading to “work”, we are recognizing where a note sits on the staff, relating it to a letter, thinking of where the letter is on the piano, and then playing that note! When we use colour, little kids pick up the “reading” so quickly. And (maybe counter-intuitively), they pick up on note names eventually as well.

Music Blocks and landmark notes

When first training students in staff reading, I have the students put their thumbs on shared Middle C. Then I mark the treble clef G, the bass clef F, and the C’s an octave out from Middle C with the Music Blocks. Then we have random landmark note drills, either using the Bastien Flash Cards, or by using the RCM Sight Reading books. You can have variations on these exercises–Shuffle the Flash Cards and have your students mark the landmark notes with the correct block, etc.

Music Blocks and singing/saying the note names

Having a visual reminder of what letters they are playing helps them to learn their songs and letters. The Music Blocks add a fun, colourful, visual element to their playing. For beginner students, we will often yell, say, or sing the colours, or the letters as we play. Choosing to play the songs a different way each time eliminates the boredom of straight repetition! How many different ways can we play a song? Before you know it, you’ve sent the student home having ‘practiced’ the song 10 different times!!

Music Blocks: Introducing hand positions and practising hand shifts

The music blocks are ideal for outlining 5-finger hand positions and for marking the place where you need to shift your finger to. For songs with octave shifts or hand position changes, it is helpful to have the blocks ‘mark their place’ until the student gets used to finding the position on their own.

Music Blocks as an aid to theory exercises

Want to check that your students remember the Circle of Fifths or the order of sharps and flats? Have your students organize the blocks in the proper order.

Music Blocks for practising scales

Pull out a block for the students to practice their scales or quiz students on their knowledge of key signatures. You can flip a coin to choose flat keys or sharp keys and go from there.

Music Blocks as inspiration for composition or improvisation exercises

One of my favourite ways to use these blocks is by using them for composition or improvisation exercises. In this game, I use one set of blocks only. I collect them together and have the student choose five random blocks and set them up on the music rack in any order. Then we play the notes and try to make a melody out of them by changing the rhythms, grouping them together, adding sharps or flats if needed to make the melody pleasing. Then we use those same blocks to try to make a harmonic progression. We will sometimes combine notes, or use the letters to suggest chords, or add flats or sharps as needed. You can make the melodies and harmonies as simple or as complicated as you would like. I have also used the harmonic progressions as a repetitive pattern that the student has to improvise over and play with.

 

Order your music blocks at the-piano-studio store under “Music Tools”.

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