Flashcards

I was organizing my teaching basket and realized that I had lots of different sizes of flashcards. Which made it hard to keep track of everything and store them. So I redid my music alphabet cards, A scale cards, fingerboard ID, and treble clef first position flash cards. Now they are all the same size and fit my storage containers.

Music Alphabet Flashcards or A Scale Flashcards

You can do the same activities with either the music alphabet flashcards or the A scale flashcards. You can read more about some group class activities with these cards here. But these cards are great for saying the alphabet forwards and backwards. First, they are great in teaching that A comes after G in the music alphabet. You can use them for floor activities. Have the student put the cards in order stepping up through the music alphabet or scale. Have them put the put the cards in order going down the scale or backwards through the alphabet.   I like to have them close their eyes and then I turn one over. My question is “Who is missing?” After they are good at finding who is missing, I’ll put 1 card down and ask “Who are this letter’s neighbors?” They have to find the letter that “lives on either side.” This seems to really help kids learn how to step down, or go backwards in the music alphabet.

You can come back to these cards when they start learning to skip. So have them turn over the card that they are skipping so that they see the how the letters are moving, both up and down.

Fingerboard Flashcards

Here are fingerboard flashcards. The student should identify the position of where the little house is on the fingerboard by saying the letter name. For a fingerboard geography game check out “I Have Who Has?” Card Game. I think it’s really important that students know the letter name on the fingerboard not just “second finger” or “low 2.” While they do need to know the finger number, they also need to know the letter name. Both are important.  These flashcards will help students review the letter name.

Treble Clef Flashcards

These treble clef flashcards are all the pitches in first position. The back of the card identifies the pitch name, the string it is on (in first position) and the finger number (in first position). Your students can say as much or as little of this information as you want them to. I give a students a smaller set of these cards to practice at home. You can those in the back of the Magic of Music Theory books. As the books teach new letters and pitches on the fingerboard those are found in the back of the book.

The Combo: Fingerboard and Treble Clef Flashcards

For the older student who is reading notes, you can use both the fingerboard and the staff flashcards. Have the student match the fingerboard flashcard card to the correct staff note flashcard – picture to picture. This will also help students who are learning enharmonic notes. Two staff flashcards can match 1 fingerboard flashcard.