A Better Way To Teach Kids How To Read Music
As a music teacher, I’m always looking for creative ways to teach kids how to read music. I have become a fan of music mnemonics—it’s an effective way to quickly identify a note in the music staff. I have watched my piano students gain confidence when reading music as they use this tool. By associating information with a familiar or catchy phrase, students enhance their retention and recall. From this they gain confidence and momentum to be able to sight read.
After years of teaching piano, I found a way to take the traditional music mnemonics to the next level, making it easier to remember which memory phrase to use for each clef and set of notes. Let me show you how…
A Structure That Makes Sense
First, let me point out the structure of the Memory Phrases page. I have my students color the treble clef blue because blue is the color of the sky—this helps them remember high notes. The bass clef is colored green, the color of the grass, to remember low notes.
The cartoons on the page all tie together, from the face up high in the treble clef to the bug down low in the bass clef. The cartoons that represent the high notes are the sun and the bird (things you’d find up high in the sky). The cartoons that represent the low notes are the cow and the bug (things you’d find down low on the ground). Thus, the mnemonics aren’t random, but help students know which memory phrase to use by determining if the characters are found up high (treble clef) or down low (bass clef).
Which memory phrase should I use for line notes and which one for space notes?
Here are fun ways I help students remember:
Treble clef spaces: The sun up high with the face is in space. The word FACE spells out the treble clef space notes—face in space!
Treble clef lines: The bird flies up in the sky and lands on the lines. The bird is blue like the treble clef.
Bass clef spaces: The cow down low needs lots of space when he eats all that grass. Grass is green like the bass clef.
Bass clef lines: The green bug digs for a line of ants, helps us remember it’s for the bass clef line notes. The bug is also green like the bass clef.
When is it appropriate to start teaching mnemonics?
Once a student can read/play beginner piano music, moving up and down the staff from note to note in the right direction, and is able to distinguish between line and space notes- that is a good indicator that they are ready to understand this concept. It’s also best if they are already reading intervals of seconds and thirds. Once they understand the concept of skipping notes (playing thirds), then the mnemonic tool can be used interchangeably with reading by intervals. Mnemonics are never to replace the need to learn reading music by intervals, but both tools are to be used together, based on the student’s learning needs.
Beginner music example below: This music excerpt moves up and down the staff without skipping notes, one note apart from the other, which makes reading easier. It also stays in one hand position, making note identification less complicated. If a student is playing music at his level all they need is the starting note, and from there, just move up and down from note to note as they follow the music. Image credit 8notes.com
Harder music example below: This music excerpt moves up and down the staff in intervals (skipping notes). This can be harder for the student to track, and therefore, beneficial to use a mnemonic tool to identify certain notes. This song also moves beyond one hand position, which can make note identification trickier. Image credit 8notes.com
Climb up the staff like a ladder
When learning the mnemonics it is beneficial to think of the staff like a ladder. We climb up either the spaces or the lines, saying the appropriate memory phrase out loud until we reach our note. For example, if we are trying to figure out a space note in the treble clef, we start from the bottom space of the staff and climb up each treble space, reciting the memory phrase until we reach the note. See the video for a demonstration.
Worksheets to cement the concept
Do you remember when you were a kid and you would count on your fingers to figure out a math problem? It was slow and tedious. But then you discovered skip counting or other math tricks and how that made it faster to figure out the answer.
It takes repetition to make something stick, otherwise we go back to our old “finger counting” habits. The same goes for music mnemonics. A mnemonic only works if you use it consistently. That’s why I created the worksheets. I use these during private lessons or send them home for practice. See the video for a demonstration.
We’ve all benefited from creative association
Memory phrases have truly become one of the fastest and most effective ways I’ve found to teach note reading to kids. Music is a creative art form, so why not add creativity back into note reading?
Final Recap
| Pillar | What It Means for Your Students |
|---|---|
| Systematic approach | Gives students a consistent procedure to identify notes in their music. |
| Creative memorization | The Memory Phrases picture works as one cohesive scene that helps students remember each set of notes |
| Reinforcement | Worksheets offers repetition which reinforces concepts |
| Builds independence | Once learned, students can navigate the staff without teacher prompting. |
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