Music Composition Game for Kids: Compose with Dice

A New Music Composition Game For Kids

Introducing a new music composition game for kids: Compose With Dice!  I came up with this music composition game as I was brainstorming new ways to make sneaking in a little composing time into my piano lessons without it feeling like a chore.

I have created both a free and paid version of the Compose With Dice activity. You can use this post to generate the ideas you need to make your own activity! Or if you’d like to save time, you can either try the free activity (linked below) or purchase one of my Compose With Dice sets.  

Whether you end up purchasing anything from me or not, I truly hope you’ll find inspiration to try this (or your own) music composition game with your piano students!  

Importance of Including a Music Composition Game

Composition = Students’ Number One Aspiration

A couple of years ago, I gave each of my piano students a survey.  I wanted to find out what they enjoyed, what they wished they didn’t have to do, and what their piano/music aspirations were.

Young and old, every one of my piano students took my survey.

I asked about games, theory, pop songs, scales, composing, improvising, listening assignments, group lessons–every activity I had tried to incorporate over the years.

The final question was about what they wanted to get out of piano lessons ultimately. I made it a multiple choice with answers like:

• Be able to play familiar music for my friends
• Perform on stage
• Sight read any piece
• Learn difficult classical pieces
• Play really fast
• Compose my own pieces

The results were overwhelming!  I couldn’t believe it.  Almost every student’s top aspiration was COMPOSING THEIR OWN MUSIC.

Composition As Part of Piano Lessons

As soon as I read those survey results, I vowed to work composition into my students’ regular lesson time, somehow, someway.

But how do you squeeze in composition time with everything else you want to cover?

And how do you prevent composition from becoming a chore or feeling overwhelming? 

The answer came to me over the next two years of experimenting!  Read on, Piano Teacher Friend.

More Fun With Dice!

Dice For the Win

Over the years, I’ve noticed another trend:

Anything can be made fun with dice.

I use dice for many things, including warm-ups and scales! These are my favorite colorful dice.

Add dice to a mundane task and suddenly the student’s face lights up.  Even older kids love to role the dice to determine the order of exercises, or books, or whatever.

Compose With Dice?

So what if I added dice to the composition process?  Could I gamify composing music?

A music composition game?  Was it possible?

And that is when Compose With Dice was born!

Concepts Reviewed in This Music Composition Game

Over months of development, Compose With Dice was crafted specifically for beginning piano students.  It has become more than just a music composition game.

Compose With Dice is a wide spectrum music theory review!

Here is a list of concepts that are touched on through the Compose With Dice Game activities:

• C pentascale composing
• G pentascale composing
• D pentascale composing
• A pentascale composing
• F pentascale composing
• Drawing notes on the staff
• Major pentascales (with included sharps or flats)
• Stem direction
• Rhythms in 3/4 time (some Compose With Dice packs)
• Rhythms in 4/4 time
• Note & rest values
• Song form
• Musical Question & Answer
• Tonic & Dominant

Each piano teacher can take this activity in a direction that best serves their student’s needs and abilities.

Here are some ideas on how to use this music composition game with different age groups to get you started.

Age 5-7: How to Use This Music Composition Game

The following steps could be done in one sitting for a super composing session, or split up into several lessons.

Before You Begin Compose With Dice

1. Make sure the student is comfortable with the C Pentascale (playing songs using it and recognizing the notes).

Use the Dice Worksheet

2. Start with the Dice Worksheet first. Have the student roll a die and draw the corresponding note.
3. Use the Dice Worksheet to talk about drawing quarter notes with stems.
4. As you’re working through the Dice Worksheet, notice the difference between the notes. What’s unique about Middle C? Which notes are on the lines? Which are space notes?
5. This is also a great time to introduce solfege syllables to a young student.  Sing the notes as the student is drawing them.
6. If the student is really struggling to draw the notes in the correct place, you can draw the note lightly and have the student trace over.
7. If the student gets burnt out on this activity, leave the rest for another day.

Compose With Dice Song Sheet 1

8. Once the Dice Worksheet is complete, show the student the Compose With Dice Song Sheet 1 (C Scale).  Before rushing into the composing activity, let the student observe and comment on the page!  They may want to read the lyrics, wonder about the picture, see what each dice number means, or question why the Title box is blank.  
9. Show them how the first note is done for them and say, “Let’s roll to see what the second note will be!”
10. Let the student roll and figure out which note they are drawing.
11. Help the student draw the tiny dots in the dice square and draw the second note of the song.
12. Continue on repeating steps 10 and 11, observing the difference between the quarter notes and half notes.

Now Play It!

13. Once the student has completed the first two measures, sing the solfege for them. Then play it on the piano.
14. Invite the student to play the right hand melody only on the piano.
15. Now, have the student play the right hand while you play the left hand.
16. This may be the end of the first composing session, and the student can complete two measures at each lesson. Or, you can continue on in this manner.
17. A young student may not be comfortable playing hands together and that’s ok!

Age 8-10: How to Use This Music Composition Game

For this age group, we’ll start in the C Pentascale and then move to G Pentascale. Feel free to use Compose With Dice in other scales as well depending on the student’s knowledge and experience.

Start with the C Pentascale Dice Worksheet

1. Give the student the Dice Worksheet in C and a die.
2. Supervise as they draw their notes one by one. Offer any tips to help them draw the quarter notes correctly.
3. They do not have to complete the entire worksheet if they seem adept at drawing notes.

Compose With Dice Song Sheet in C Pentascale

4. Give them Compose With Dice Song Sheet 1. 
5. Have them draw the five notes at the top from memory if they can. (If needed, they could look at the Dice Worksheet for help.)
6. Now the student will roll the dice to see what note they’ll draw first.
7. Supervise as they draw the first note.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7.
9. If the student seems to be confident in the steps of the activity, they could work independently to complete the first four measures or take the page home as an assignment.
10. Once the student has completed the first line, have them play it. They may need to start with just right hand, and then add the left hand.
11. Ask them about the sound.  Do you like the sound of it?
12. Sing the melody and lyrics with the student.
13. Talk about the tonic and dominant notes in the left hand.
14. Now let the student continue to compose until they reach the end of the song.
15. Repeat steps 10-12.

Now Move On to G Pentascale

16. Present the student with Compose With Dice Song Sheet 2 if they need some more practice writing in the C Pentascale. 
17. If they’re ready to move on, give them the Dice Worksheet in G Pentascale.
18. From here, you’ll repeat steps 1-12 using the G Pentascale Worksheet and Composing Page.

Age 11-13: How to Use This Music Composition Game

With older students, it’s likely you can just right into the composing part of the activity.  Or you can use one of the Dice Worksheet to explore a more difficult or unfamiliar pentascale.

Choose a Pentascale to Start With

1. Choose a pentascale that is somewhat familiar or easy for the student to start with.
2. Feel free to skip the Dice Worksheet entirely and give the student the Compose With Dice Song Sheet of your choice.

Compose With Dice Song Sheet

3. Refer to the matching Dice Worksheet or Cheat Sheet if the student needs a reminder when drawing the five notes at the top.
4. Let the student roll the die and draw the notes one by one. Likely the student will need little supervision so just let them work!  They may need a reminder about adding a sharp or flat, or stem direction.
5. Once the first line is complete, you could try sight-singing the melody with the student using letter names, solfege, singing the words, or just humming.
6. Have the student play the first line (hands together). 
7. Talk about the sound. Were there any melody notes you didn’t like the sound of? Why do you think that note didn’t work there? What would you choose instead?
8. Repeat steps 4-6 to complete the song.

Get Creative!

9. If the student is up for it, try adding harmony to the melody or turning the left hand part into chords that match the melody.

Explore a New Scale

10. Try another song in a new or less familiar pentascale!

Ready to Try Compose With Dice?

Hopefully I’ve inspired you to include composition in your upcoming lessons!

If you’d like to purchase my ready-to-print Compose With Dice set, you can buy it here in my TeachersPayTeachers store.

It includes:

• A total of 8 composing activity pages (color and black & white)
• A scale cheat sheet (color and black & white)
• A total of 10 note writing worksheets (color and black & white)

And it covers the following scales:

• C Pentascale
• G Pentascale
• D Pentascale
• A Pentascale
• F Pentascale

The set is available for only $3!  And, your purchase helps support this blog and my YouTube channel!

Seasonal Variations of Compose With Dice 

Besides the main Compose With Dice set, there are adorable holiday variations for year-round fun.

• Original (coming soon)
• Valentine’s Day
• St. Patrick’s Day
• Spring/Easter
• Mother’s Day/Father’s Day
• Summer
• Back to School (coming soon)
• Halloween (coming soon)
• Christmas
• Winter

Each set is $3.00 each and can be purchased in my TeachersPayTeachers store. Or if you love Compose With Dice, you can buy multiple variations in a bundle* to save some money!

*I’m working on creating more Compose With Dice sets and a money-saving bundle. Sign up for email updates and I’ll let you know as soon they become available.

FREEBIE: Compose With Dice Sample Sheets

Not ready to spend any money today?  That’s fine!

Try this free sample of a worksheet and song sheet in C Major Scale to try it out with your students!