Back to School Music Games your students will love!
Early fall is the perfect time to review music theory concepts, test out the knowledge of new students, and teach some brand new material!
Starting off the school year or private piano lessons with a game?! You’ll be the music hero of your students and establish the fact that MUSIC IS FUN!
I’m excited to share these five back to school music games with you and I’ve got a free bingo game you can print and try today!
The music game ideas I’ll share in this post are products I’ve created. They are for sale for a few dollars on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. If you end up purchasing any of my products, I thank you so much for your support! Every little purchase helps me keep this blog and the YouTube channel going.
Or if you’re the creative DIY type, feel free to use this page for inspiration. (I just ask that you avoid recreating my music game ideas for sale. Thank you!)
If you’d like to skip all the chit chat, and shop all of my back to school music games right now, here ya go…
Back to School Rhythm Bingo
Our first of five back to school music games is Back to School Music Bingo.
This is a back-to-school-themed version of my bestselling music game: Rhythm Bingo.
The game works just like traditional bingo, but the teacher will call out rhythms. Students will then need to match the rhythm they heard to the corresponding rhythm on the board.
I love this game because it helps link the note and rest values students see in their method books with the musical rhythms they hear every day. After all, what good is music theory if you can’t apply it to what you’re playing?
The game includes three levels, each progressively harder:
- Level 1 shows the rhythm + picture + words
- Level 2 shows the rhythm + picture
- Level 3 shows the rhythm only
This helps teachers to work with groups of various ages, even combined age groups.
Plus, there are endless ways to use these bingo pages as a rhythm teaching tool!
Check out Back to School Rhythm Bingo. and other bingo variations in my TPT store.
Free PDF Music Bingo Game
As promised, a free sample of the above rhythm bingo game to try out!
Note that this is just one bingo board to try out the game. For the full game with three levels and multiple ways to play, check out the full version for just a few bucks.
Grab this Free Back to School Rhythm Bingo Board from my TPT store here.
Back to School Bus Matching Games
Our next back to school music games are music theory matching sets in a fun, school bus theme.
These sets cover a variety of music theory concepts. There is a set for…
- Piano Keys + Basic Notes on the Staff
- Note Values + Rest Values + Music Addition
- Notes on the Staff (match 3 octaves)
- Major Triads (build-a-triad)
- Minor Triads (build-a-triad)
- Key Signatures (major and minor)
Here’s how each music matching set works:
- Print the school bus page.
- Print and cut out the matching squares.
- Allow the student to make matches with the squares in the windows of the bus picture.
There is also an alternate way to play with game instructions for each matching set.
And, you can save 25% by buying all six sets together in a bundle! Clicking the link below will bring you to the bundle and you can navigate to any individual set from there.
Shop Back to School Bus Matching Sets in my TPT Store here.
Back to School Music Composition Activity
I came up with the Compose With Dice activity as I was brainstorming ways to make music composition more fun and approachable for beginning piano students.
My students love to do anything with dice. How do those magic little $0.60 cubes make everything more fun?!
I have a whole blog post dedicated to how to use Compose With Dice if you’d like to really dive in. But in summary, students are given a shell of a song (lyrics, left hand, and rhythm done for them), and they roll the dice to determine what each right hand melody note will be.
The benefits of this activity are endless! Students are reviewing so much more than just composing. Here are just some of the music theory concepts involved in Compose With Dice:
- 5-finger major scales
- Identifying notes on the treble clef
- Drawing notes on the staff
- Stem direction
- Note and rest values in 3/4 and 4/4 time
- Ear training
- and so much more
Choose from these pentascales (5-finger hand positions): C, G, D, A, and F Major
And each song has a cute picture and engaging lyrics related to St. Patrick’s Day.
Also included: a “cheat sheet” showing all of the scales and extra worksheets for practice drawing notes on the staff.
Grab this Fun Music Composition Activity for a few bucks in my TPT store.
Back to School Apple Flash Card Puzzles
The fourth of five back to school music games is Apple Flashcard Puzzles.
I call these little puzzles “flashcard puzzles” because of how they function as a more fun way to review notes, intervals, and music symbols. These can replace flashcards and, in my experience, are more successful in getting students to review their music theory at home.
These printable puzzles cover piano keys for very beginning piano students. They cover notes, from that very first Middle C learned on the staff to ledger lines on treble and bass staff. Intervals and a few dynamics and music symbols are covered as well.
Print only the pages that are relevant for your students, and use and reuse these printable puzzles for years to come!
Shop Back to School Apple Flashcard Puzzles in my TPT Store here.
Back to School Music Coloring Pages
Okay, so the fifth of our back to school music games is not a game at all. But, c’mon…coloring!
Little kids and big kids (myself included) love coloring! Even the most anti-theory students will usually smile at the prospect of completing a music theory coloring assignment.
One of my favorite ways to use music coloring pages is when I have two siblings that arrive together. I can easily send one sibling to the desk with a box of markers while I work with the other. No explanation needed–every kid understands color-by-code!
This color-by-code set comes with three levels included:
- Level 1 (Easy)
- Level 2 (Medium)
- Level 3 (Challenging)
Beginning students can complete a picture with just the notes of the Middle C Position or C Pentascale. While advancing students can complete the same picture, but their version will challenge them to identify ledger line notes!
You just can’t lose with coloring pages for music theory review!
Shop for Back to School Music Coloring Pages in my TPT store
Back to School Music Theory Worksheets
I’m not counting these as a music game, but I’ll mention that I also have several pack of Back to School-themed music worksheets!
These worksheets are a good balance of solid music theory review and student-friendly summer fun.
Once again, clicking the image will bring you to the summer music worksheet bundle (save 25%), but there are 6 worksheet packs to choose from!
Customize based on the music theory concept you want to work on:
- Piano Key Names
- Finger Numbers
- Musical Alphabet
- Note & Rest Values (music math)
- Notes on the Staff
- Intervals
Oh, and, if you do purchase the Summer Music Worksheet Bundle, you also get the coloring pack mentioned above as well!
Click here to check out the worksheet bundle or any of the worksheet packs.
More Back to School Music Activities?
I hope you found something interesting listed here that your piano students will enjoy this fall!
I couldn’t include all of my fall music activities in this post, so if you want some more fun ideas…
And I also have a big bundle of all of my Back to School activities and worksheets. You’ll save 25% today if you purchase the bundle (and just between you and me…if I add more resources in the future, you’ll get them for free if you purchase today!).
This bundle includes ALL resources mentioned in this post!
Love Free Music Theory Printables??
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