Sometimes when students get into a practice rut, they need different games to keep things fun but educational. The following practice games are designed to make learning music theory and note reading fun. I hope you enjoy them.
I give Online Violin Lessons to students five years and older (video of my online students performing solos) as well as adults in the United States and Canada. Online lessons have been successful for many students.
Thank you.
Happy Practicing!
-Marnie
Games to Practice Violin at Home
In the following game, you will want to identify the note name of each note presented on the screen: https://www.musictheory.net/exercises/note
Fourth position flashcards: https://quizlet.com/214099922/violin-4th-position-flash-cards/
Hearing natural and sharped notes. Click on the following link and you will hear a two octave C chromatic scale for the first 26 seconds of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFh_hG0Hdek The notes are C, C sharp, D, D sharp, E, F, F sharp, G, G sharp, A, A#, B and C
To help with playing a violin piece for the first time, it is useful to have an understanding of what notes are half steps and whole steps. Whole steps are when fingers on the violin do not touch and there is a note between two notes (i.e. G natural to A natural looking at the pairing of notes below). This video further explains half and whole steps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVFvIHLfzlc
By understanding what notes are half steps and whole steps, violin students will be able to read music more accurately. It is important to commit the following pairs of notes to memory as half steps indicate when fingers should be played close together. To help with this process, here is a listing of half steps:
Explanation of basic violin theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9hQkCAdwrg
Explanation of different rhythms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NYwqgi9PbY&t=0s
Circle of Fifths Game: https://www.purposegames.com/game/circle-of-
If a capital letter is showing on the screen after you press play, the answer appears outside of the circle for a major key. If the lower case letter is showing, the answer appears on the inside of the circle for a minor key.