Band Mad Minutes
Do you want to know what bugs me? Like really bugs me? When I see students writing the note names under EVERY.SINGLE.NOTE on their piece of music. Why though? It's so inefficient. For some reason these kids seem to think it is easier to take the time to write out all the notes instead of just learning what each line or space represents. So how do I combat this super inefficient time-waster while still loving on my students? Through games and drills, of course! Check out these previous posts for some ideas of how I introduce notes on the staff:
1. FACEs on the Staff
2. Games on the Floor Staff
3. More Floor Staff Games
Another strategy that I find super successful is Mad Minutes. I had used these with my recorder students and wanted to figure out how to do it in Band. I tried a few times and failed.
Failure #1
The students are reading from different clefs. I had to make a Treble and a Bass Clef sheet and figure out how to pass them out quickly. What I ended up doing was white-ing out the Treble Clef on my Mad Minute sheets and drawing in a Bass clef. Problem solved, right? No.
Failure #2
When it came time to take up the answers I would have to do the Treble Clef notes first and then the Bass Clef ones. Since I was using the same sheet for both they ended up being different pitches depending on the clef. So what happens when one group is waiting for the next to finish? Chatter. Lots and lots of chatter. There can be no down time in Music class.
Failure #3
The notes on the Mad Minute sheets weren't always in the range of the instruments. They'd be learning notes that they would rarely play in Beginning Band and not be improving the recall of the notes that they see frequently.
Failure #4
I keep all my Recorder Mad Minute sheets in a page protector because some classes are further along than others. Before we get started I would always say, "Pull out BAG Mad Minute and make sure it's on the top." And then there are always the few students who would not do that and would get super confused when we take up the solutions because none of their answers were correct.
My Solution
I created my own set of Mad Minutes for Beginning Band. It doesn't address each of the failures perfectly but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Here's what I love about it:
1. FACEs on the Staff
2. Games on the Floor Staff
3. More Floor Staff Games
Another strategy that I find super successful is Mad Minutes. I had used these with my recorder students and wanted to figure out how to do it in Band. I tried a few times and failed.
Failure #1
The students are reading from different clefs. I had to make a Treble and a Bass Clef sheet and figure out how to pass them out quickly. What I ended up doing was white-ing out the Treble Clef on my Mad Minute sheets and drawing in a Bass clef. Problem solved, right? No.
Failure #2
When it came time to take up the answers I would have to do the Treble Clef notes first and then the Bass Clef ones. Since I was using the same sheet for both they ended up being different pitches depending on the clef. So what happens when one group is waiting for the next to finish? Chatter. Lots and lots of chatter. There can be no down time in Music class.
Failure #3
The notes on the Mad Minute sheets weren't always in the range of the instruments. They'd be learning notes that they would rarely play in Beginning Band and not be improving the recall of the notes that they see frequently.
Failure #4
I keep all my Recorder Mad Minute sheets in a page protector because some classes are further along than others. Before we get started I would always say, "Pull out BAG Mad Minute and make sure it's on the top." And then there are always the few students who would not do that and would get super confused when we take up the solutions because none of their answers were correct.
My Solution
- There are still separate Treble and Bass Clef sheets but I designed the Mad Minutes so that when I am taking up the answers each clef has the same letter name. If it's an A in the Treble Clef the Bass Clef sheet would also have an A, just on a different line or space
- I didn't want to deal with separate instrument sheets. The logistics of passing out sheets just to flutes or clarinets or trombones wasn't something I was interested in. What that means is that each Mad Minute would have a few notes that each instrument (except for probably the Tuba - sorry!) would see in their music along with some notes they would not see.
- To help with the confusion of which sheet we were doing I used some clipart to make it easier for students to distinguish. Now I say, "Pull out Mad Minute #1, the one with the taco on the top" or "Pull out Mad Minute #3. It's the one with the football on it. Check the sheet of the person sitting next to you and make sure they have the correct picture on the top." Plus they are now super cute!
Mad Minute Tips
- Print off the Mad Minute sheets on different colours of paper for each clef. That helps prevent the sheets from getting mixed up when handing them out to the Bass Clef players.
- Use page protectors and dry erase markers. The students write on the page protector and it saves many, many trees.
- Put all 6 of the Mad Minutes in the same page protector. With the handy-dandy clipart it is super easy for students to find the sheet they need.
- Use a graph to track student progress. This becomes a visual representation of their growth and progress over time as they become more familiar with recognizing notes on the staff. Click here for what I use. These graphs are included in the Band Mad Minutes resource, too!
- Do Mad Minutes at the start of each class. It becomes a routine that students look forward to. When students are done filling out their graphs they go and get their instruments and books (silently - because that's how I roll).
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