Music Note Flashcards
Big Cards for Big Fun!

Music note flashcards like these GIANT free printable flashcards are great for fast-moving games like Whack-It!

Why would bigger be better, when flashcards are typically more DREARY than fun? Well, if used in combination with rambunctious games during lesson time, these giant flashcards make note-reading a blast.

Bigger IS better

big music note flashcards for games with students

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Whack the music notes on the staffs

My favorite way to use these giant music note flashcards is in a game called "Whack-It!", described by Natalie Wickham in her helpful music blog MusicMatters.com.

Natalie shows a young student using giant cards with piano keys on them in a 2008 post about Whack-It, but my giant piano flashcards have music notes on them instead. With cards, a spatula, and a floor, you are set! 

Whacking is great fun

You will need to cut these printed pages in half to make 2 cards.

With students who are beginning notereaders, I mix up the chosen cards and ask them to identify them in order. That is, I say, "Find Middle C." Whack!

That one is easy to find. I remove the card from the floor. 

piano flashcards, free!

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Then, "Find D (or Middle D)." I might call it "the Daddy note -- strong enough to carry the giant ladder -- the staff -- on his back." (This is in contrast to the "weak" Baby note -- bass clef Middle B -- which lies on top of the staff or "ladder.")

free online flashcards for treble clef

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Then E, then F, etc. For beginning readers, this works well. It's fun to watch them compare the note they just named with all the other cards, and look for the next higher note. 

free printable flashcards for beginners

If they whack the wrong note, then back go all the flashcards they have already won onto the floor! This is pretty fun when they're racing against the clock -- say, a one-minute timer. 

giant music note flashcards for treble clef

If they get all the chosen cards correctly, then the reward at my studio, currently, is to get to throw a "basketball" (a soft foam ball, really) through a small basketball hoop, anywhere from 3 to 10 shots, depending on how pressed for time I feel! 

Update: The game is ITS OWN REWARD!! There is not enough time in lessons for throwing balls through hoops, I have to come to feel.  In fact, such non-musical activities can be distracting and detracting.

Big flashcards

For group games with teams, or two music lessons back-to-back where the note-reading abilities of the students are pretty equivalent, we might have two "whackers" going. It's a little crazy, but fun. 

Bass clef flashcards, BIG!

A good way to break up a lesson with physical activity

Because the notes are set on the grand staff, these are really piano flashcards. I am using them with my violin and guitar students, but I plan to make some special treble-clef-only music flashcards for them soon. Update: Here they are!

Grand staff flashcards for games
Notes on the bass clef flashcards
Giant flashcards for bass clef
Big flashcards for music games, FREE!
Bass clef music note flashcards for piano & other instruments


The link for the giant flashcards:



Download printable giant music note flashcards 



Music for Music Teachers has other great free resources for piano teachers!  Take a look:

Rote Learning - leaving the written page behind (or treating it like a map!)


Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!

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Hi! I am liking the idea of the Whack-It game... Could you specify? Do they hit the correct piano key on the piano with a spatula? Also, are they …

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About the Author

Dana Thynes

Hi, I'm Dana!  (Say that like "Anna".)  I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.

Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.

You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.