I consider this one of the MOST important parts of a studio! Students learn best when using as many parts of the brain as possible. Using something physical, or concrete, to describe an abstract concept such as music is HUGE in understanding and developing musicians. Thus, we use our body to act out, or perform, music in different ways so that we can log it into our brain in more than one way. Not only does it help in learning, it is FUN! All students, no matter their age, enjoy things they can touch, stand on, or maneuver with their hands and body. The purpose of this page is to create a place to write down the manipulatives and visuals that I have found to be AMAZINGLY helpful in my studio! These are my must haves!
Joy Carpets Note Worthy Rug
You are going to LOVE this rug! It is amazing. I use this all the time. Not only does it add a lot of color and excitement to the room, it is perfect for standing on and having the students step and skip up the staff. It is useful for beginner students and for intermediate. Stepping on the staff and walking up the staff puts that concept from abstract to concrete. As a plus, you can use the symbols around the rug for additional games and teaching awareness. There are so many ways in which you can use this rug. I can’t wait to see what experiences you have with it!
Giant Electronic Floor Keyboard
This giant floor keyboard is a gem! You will love how your students can play the keys by walking up and down. Add in two feet and you can play an interval. Add in some hands and you can play a chord. This is EXACTLY what I mean when I am talking about using different parts of the body to store information into your brain in multiple ways. Concepts are much easier remembered and comprehended when you can use them in many different aspects. There are cheaper electronic keyboards out there and that’s what they are – cheaper. This one will last a lot longer. It doesn’t have all the unnecessary bells and whistles. It works well and will endure some abuse as you jump around on it. I also love that it only takes four AA batteries cause I always have those laying around and they aren’t going to cost you an arm and a leg to replace.
Remo Kids Percussion Gathering Drum
This drum is one of the best drums out there. You bang on this thing and you can tell immediately that this it the real thing. The sound is beautiful, the feel is just right. You can’t go wrong with this thing. It will hold up well for you. If you look this thing up, it has over 1100 reviews and is at a five star rating. That tells you right there, my friends, that this thing is awesome! There are different sizes that you can choose. I suggest this slightly larger size so that more than one person can play it at a time. Several sets of hands can use this at the same time, thus saving you the need to buy more than one unless you have a really large class. You can use the percussion drum for rhythms, for reinforcing difficult timing on pieces of music, for playing the beat to a song, or for whatever else you may need to pull it out for. Sometimes you may just need to change things up and pulling out the drums will provide a great transition into your lesson plan.
Boomwhackers
These boomwhackers are so fun! The kids will absolutely love playing with these in group lessons, music camps, or if they are especially talented, on their own. Using these boomwhackers will help them learn the importance of timing and working in a group, just like working in a band. These are a huge hit every time they are pulled out!
Bluetooth Speaker
You can’t go without a bluetooth speaker. I use this so much I can’t imagine what I would do without it! I play everything from backtracks, to YouTube videos through it. When you are teaching music, you want to make sure that you have a high quality speaker to hear it from!
This bluetooth speaker is really affordable. It has everything you need for your studio.
Percussion Instruments
These 18 piece percussion instruments are awesome for reviewing rhythm and timing. You will want these to pull out because playing rhythms are so much more fun and require so much more creativity on these than just clapping it out!
Super Fun Blow-up Dice
If you have explored my blog, you know how much I like to incorporate games and lots of activity into my lessons. This super fun pair of dice are right up my ally! A child’s attitude changes immediately as soon as you pull these out. Check out my tried and true games and activities I like to play!
Whiteboard
I can’t imagine a studio without a whiteboard. I just don’t think its possible to have students without something to write on, like a whiteboard! Now, I don’t need anything big or fancy, but something fairly good sized. That’s why this whiteboard is the one I recommend. Don’t forget to pick up your dry erase markers too. These dry erase markers are magnetic which is perfect for this whiteboard and you never have to wonder where your markers are!
Flashcards
Flashcards are probably my most used item in my studio. I use flashcards to learn, to review, to build chords, or to write a simple melody, to have something tangible to compare and contrast. They are just so handy to have around which is why they end up being my go-to so often.
I would suggest buying more than one of these packages of both Set A flashcards and Set B flashcards. If you have more than one set, you can use it for concentration, or they can be used to help you in substituting playing cards for other games.
I would also suggest laminating these cards if you can. I know that’s a lot of lamination but it will help them to keep for that much longer. Perhaps your students are nicer to your cards than mine are, though!
These give you quite a bang for your buck. I would not be able to make these from my own printer for any cheaper than this. The first set is more of your beginner things: note placement, time signatures, and some other cards that will come in handy (rhythm patterns, etc). The second set B is for more intermediate students who can use them to help review and learn musical terms, key signatures, and chord progressions.
Complete Color Coded Flash Cards for All Beginning Music Students
As if you can’t have enough sets of music cards….but the reason I suggest these Complete Coded Flashcards in addition to the other sets is that it has a slightly different way of presenting things that I like. If you are only going to buy one set, start with Set A flashcards, but if you can, I would buy all three of these sets of flashcards, and more than one of each if you can. I enjoy these cards for a slightly different approach and I also highly value the intervals cards that come with these.
