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Bad Hair Day: An Ear Training Game

by Kristin

Bad Hair Day ear training game This fun ear training game teaches kids beginner rhythmic dictation. The kids you teach will be giggling and having a ball giving their character a crazy hairdo each time they answer correctly.

Bad Hair Day Ear Training Game for Kids

Purpose: Ear Training- rhythmic dictation

Teach and Review: Review the rhythm at the beginning of each round. Instruct the children that you will play a rhythm that is either the same as or different from the displayed rhythm.

Materials: Bad Hair Day faces, pipe cleaners, rhythm cards, keyboard

Preparation: Print the Bad Hair Day faces. I recommend laminating them. Next use a hole punch to punch 5 holes in the top of each Hair Day face. Also print out some simple rhythms or select a few measures from a piece of beginner sheet music.

Set up: Give each child a Bad Hair Day face and place a pile of pipe cleaners where the students can reach them. Give each student a set of same/different cards.

How to Play: Display a rhythm card. Play a rhythm that is either the same as or different from the rhythm shown. Students listen carefully and then answer “same” or “different”. You can have the child or children call out their answers or write their answers on a piece of paper.

Any student who answered correctly gets to take a pipe cleaner from the pile and give their “person” its first strand of hair. The kids slide the pipe cleaner through the hole and secure it. If students wish, they can twist, bend and curl the pipe cleaners to give the person a really bad hair day!

Display a new rhythm and begin a new round.

Print Bad Hair Day Free
Free Printable

Did you enjoy this ear training game? Here’s what you can do next:

First, Leave a Comment–we all benefit when we work together and share ideas.

What other techniques do you like to use to help your students with beginner rhythmic dictation? Leave a comment below to help out the other piano teachers in our online community.

Bad Hair Day ear training game

Second, Help Other Music Teachers find and use this ear training game.

1. Pin the image that’s on the right
2. Like and share myfunpianostudio.com on Facebook


Third, Start Teaching Piano Improv to put those well-trained ears to use as kids create music and give your students a lifetime of enjoyment at the piano.

Sign up for my email newsletter and get a free beginner blues improv lesson. This improv lesson is designed for beginners and can be learned quickly so that kids can start jamming right away. Click the button below to subscribe and get the free blues improv lesson.

Beginner Blues Improv Lesson

Filed Under: Beginner, Ear Training, Ear Training Level 2, Rhythm Games

Comments

  1. Nancy Campbell says

    July 6, 2017 at 11:42 pm

    This is one of my absolute favorite piano games! The kids LOVE it!!!

Free-Beginner-Blues-Piano-Improv-Lesson

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Kristin is a piano teacher, curriculum developer and author of the widely popular Piano Magic system. She loves helping piano teachers enhance their teaching skills and optimize their studios so they can use time efficiently, maximize profit and live a life they love.

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