Can You Find the Hidden Notes?

I loved reading Highlights Magazine as a kid. There was always one hidden picture in each magazine. I would spend so much time pouring over these pictures looking for the lists of items. So, here is a fun worksheet using basic music symbols! Can you find the hidden notes and music symbols?

This is a list of symbols and notes that a student needs to be able to recognize in order to succeed at solving the puzzle.

List of Hidden Notes

Treble Clef
Bass Clef
Alto Clef
Whole Note
Half Note
Quarter Note
Quarter Rest
Half Rest
Whole Rest
Time Signature – 3/4
Eighth Notes
Forte
Piano
Mezzo Forte
Up Bow
Down Bow
Sharp
Double Bar Line

Can You Find the Hidden Notes in the picture?

Download here

Download Answer Key

Highlights Magazine reminds us that puzzles like this help strengthen qualities like perseverance, resilience, and self discipline. I would add that it also helps strengthen focus, observation, paying attention to detail. All of these skills will help with learning an instrument. And most obviously, this activity will help with recognizing music notation and symbols. The symbols are not printed by the term, so students must know what each term’s symbol looks like.

This is a great activity to do while listening to your Suzuki CD. If you have students who do their listening on their way to school, listening may not be happening. Going to school now entails traveling from your bedroom to the dining room table. Here is an activity that they can do while listening. Since most people are listening to Christmas music by this time of year, have your students listen to some of Classical Christmas works they don’t know. Here is a playlist from the Houston Symphony to check out. Things like the Corelli Christmas Concerto, Bach’s, Sheep May Safely Graze Handel’s Messiah, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, Mozart’s, Sleigh Ride. After you find all the symbols, you can color the picture!