Just finished our St. Patrick’s Day / Spring Break Group Classes for the week. We used some of our favorite games but introduced a new one as well – Popular Songs Mix Up! Remember our Christmas Songs Mix Up? Same game, but new rhythms and pieces. And let me tell you, popular song rhythms are MUCH more difficult. Luckily our teams were mixed ages most of the time so the older ones could really help.
Another great thing about this game is that it reviews pick up notes like crazy! If you need a refresher before jumping into this game, try our Pick Up Game first. My students really had to listen to me as I counted before beginning my clapping to make sure they picked the right set. Some words were harder than others to match up – as a teacher, make sure you go onto YouTube and listen to the music before you do the game. Most are the chorus but if not, I’ve written the lyrics that go along with the section of rhythm in smaller print with the title to help.
Hope your students have fun! I’m always amazed at how well the younger beginners even know these songs. They can hardly read the 8th note rhythms yet they can clap them back to me and say the lyrics along perfectly. Makes me think I need to add lyrics to their difficult rhythm sections more often… anyways, enjoy!
Download: PopSongsRhythms and PopSongsTitles
Author: Whitney
Whitney Hawker, NCTM, teaches group and private piano at Weber State University, Utah. She loves surprising students with the perfect piece or a new exciting game! After graduate school, she missed sharing ideas and resources daily with colleagues so she and her friend, Spring, began blogging together at 4DPianoTeaching.com