The Power of Games

Karen North

Assix-year-old Harrison bounces into the room for his music lesson, he eagerly asks, ‘Can we do that horse game again today, please?’

‘Sure!’ I reply, ‘and we’re going to …’

… launch into the lesson, with Harrison totally engaged and keen to learn.

Games are a powerful pedagogical tool, providing the ideal environment for learning to take place. Whether you teach in a studio, in the classroom or online, music games are a wonderful way to help our students learn fundamental skills and knowledge, and to really enjoy their music lessons.

One of the great benefits of music games is that they enable us to take an abstract idea and present it in a concrete way. Many of the concepts we are teaching in music are abstract, such as ‘What is the note D?’, ‘What is a beat?’, ‘What is a crotchet?’ Games give our students a chance to experience these concepts without a lot of theoretical explanation. We can give a student a game based on crotchets and quavers, and by playing the game, they can hear and feel the relative values of these notes without any explanation of the associated abstract ideas.

It is not until children are about 11 years old that they develop abstract logic and reasoning, and that they can apply something learned in one context to another situation. Therefore, before this age, children learn best if concepts are attached to a concrete situation – get straight into a game and do an activity. This helps the student feel, hear and perform the concept and avoids wordy monologues.

Busted!

One of main reasons I use games in teaching is because they are fun! Activities that are fun create positive emotions, and this facilitates learning. Research has indicated that a brain enjoying itself is functioning more efficiently. When we enjoy learning, we learn better. If children are having fun, not only will they be more engaged, they will also have better learning outcomes and look forward to their music lessons as a positive experience.

Camille understands everything in our lessons but she rarely speaks as she is an exceptionally shy seven-year-old. If I’m looking for a verbal answer, I find asking via my monkey puppet is more successful than plain old me. However, when I say, ‘Now it’s time for Busted!’, Camille transforms into a bubbly personality.

I use the game Busted! to improve reading rhythms; you could also use it for pitch reading or to learn

Italian musical terms. My older students enjoy this as much as the younger ones.

To play ‘Busted!’, write short rhythm patterns on the ends of popsicle sticks, then write the word ‘Busted’ on some extra sticks and place all sticks in a jar. The student draws a stick and if they perform the rhythm on it correctly, they keep the stick; if it is wrong, they put the stick back in the jar. If they draw the Busted! stick, they must return all their sticks to the jar. The game can continue as long as you want, or you can stop at any point and the winner is the person with the most sticks. If playing this game in an individual lesson, the student can see how many sticks they can collect within a time limit.

It’s in the cards

Educational card games have also been shown to lead to improved learning outcomes. I find these particularly helpful for teaching aspects of notation and theory.

The rules for a card game help structure learning, and the goal of winning creates motivation for even the most reluctant learner. Some might think card games are rather unsophisticated compared to the wonderful app games available today, but I have found kids still love playing card games. Domino Fingering (violin, viola and cello) is a card game I use with beginners to help them learn the connections between staff notation, letter names and fingerings/strings. As the name suggests, this game is played similarly to a game of dominoes, with different pictures on each half of the card and each player aims to match the string/ finger with a picture of the note on the staff or the letter name. Even when students progress beyond the first position notes in Domino Fingering, they still ask to play it, which I regard as a success both in terms of the learning outcome and enjoyment.

How many times?

To learn a new skill or piece of music thoroughly requires repetition, and for some students this takes lots of repetitions! US psychologist and researcher, Dr Karyn Purvis, found that it takes significantly fewer repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain if the learning happens through play.

Games are a great way to repeat or revise music without students getting bored. For example, Pass the Tune involves ‘passing’ the music between student and teacher or between two groups of students, bar by bar without any pause in the music. If the music happens to have an anacrusis, students (and teachers!) are really kept on their toes making sure they stop at each bar line.

Integration of games

Games are integral to my lesson plans; interweave them throughout the lesson. In addition to planned games, I also have a plethora of games ready to help with individual problems as they arise.

Some teachers feel there isn’t time in the lesson for games; they need to fit in technical work, pieces and maybe sight reading and/or aural skills. But what about using games for some of this work, so the game is part of the lesson?

Another approach is to offer a game at the end of the lesson as a reward. This can be helpful for students who need extrinsic motivation. In a halfhour instrumental lesson, you could set aside the last five minutes of the lesson for a game.

I particularly like using games to cover technical work, even with older students. It’s amazing how scales can become fun when you use a game show format. Games are also helpful to teach students how to practise their pieces. Eight-year-old Katie comes from a very large and busy family and is usually left to her own devices for home practice. I could jot down some comments to remind her what she needs to do, but it’s unlikely she’d read them, so we play the game Dicey Deal in her lesson, then she takes it home for her own practice. In this game, Katie throws a die to select one of six sections on a chart, each of which has a challenge related to the piece she is learning. This models how to focus on specific sections of a piece in practice sessions, not just play through the music.

Something for everyone

Our students have different learning styles. Some are visual learners, others learn best by hearing things, others are kinaesthetic (physical) learners. One of the reasons games are such a successful teaching tool is that they offer different sensory experiences, and many games use a combination of senses, appealing to different learning styles.

Aural skills are a crucial component of learning music and can form the basis of many games for the youngest pre-reading students as well as more advanced students. Games can also be a useful way to develop skills without actually playing the instrument. Holding a string instrument with arms away from the body is tiring, especially for young beginners.

Additionally, many young children find it hard to sit still, so games which involve movement can help them stay focused. For example, when teaching the names of the open strings, you could use a simple game such as placing cards with the names of the open strings in each corner of the room. As you call out a letter, the student runs to the corresponding card, then runs back, picks up their instrument and plays that string.

I love using games in my teaching as they generate a feeling of relaxation and motivation, optimising the learning process. My students have fun, I have fun, and we still cover the necessary technical skills and music in the lesson. Maybe I’m preaching to the converted, but if you don’t already use games in your lessons, give it a go!

[Ed: Karen was unable to present at the recent National Conference. She has generously shared her presentation here.]

Karen North has enjoyed bringing music into the lives of children and adults for over 35 years in her roles as teacher mentor and conductor. Karen is the author of Fun & Games for Music Lessons, Lyrical Violin Legends, Festive Violin Fun and other instrumental books. She supports teachers around the world through her online workshops, conference presentations, blogs and newsletter. Further details of games can be found at www.allegromusicgames.com