Note Names

Our introduction to note names began with the grand staff and an expanded explanation as to why some of the campers use only one clef for their instruments.  Note naming exercises were done as a group before moving on to any of the note name games.

Stinky Sock Revisited
Revising the Stinky Sock game involved changing the slips of paper to include words made by using the letters A through G.  The camper that was left holding the sock when the music stopped had to choose a paper and spell that word on the staff using notes (more details on this game in the previous post).

Note Name Relay Race
NoteWordy Level 3 (Whirligig, LLP game) card decks were perfect for playing a note name relay race.  Each team for this game consisted of two campers.

• The first player on the team looked at the first word on a prepared "word list."
• He or she then chose the "note" cards from the NoteWordy Level 3 card deck which would spell the first word.
• With "note" cards in hand, he or she ran to the other side of the room.
• Once there, the "note" cards were used to spell the "word list" word for the teammate.  
• The second player had to write down the word that the cards spelled.  
• Play continued with the second player choosing a word from a prepared "word list."
• When "time" was called the team that had the most correct words won! 

We let the players choose the clef that they would be using for band lessons..........unless they were piano players in which case, they used the entire grand staff.  It was very gratifying to see how much they improved with note identification in just three days!


Campers could take home note naming worksheets for extra points.  I had made some note name sheets on which each measure spelled a word.  To keep some campers from just guessing at the words rather than actually figuring out all note names, some of the words were spelled backwards.


Sally Ritchie