Learn About the Whole Note with an Easy and Fun Song

Children can remember just about anything if they learn it in a song!

I love to make up songs to help my students remember the names and beats of musical notes.

Watch the video to hear my Whole Note Song!

Whole Note

By Tonya Dirksen

Tune of Daisy, Daisy

Whole note

Whole note

Nice and round and fat

You look like a donut or a tire that went flat

You are often in a song

You are 4 beats long

Whole note

Round and fat

You are 4 beats long

Enjoy!

Easy Half Note Chant

Learn the name and beat of the half note in a super easy song!

This chant is a super easy way to remember and learn the name and beat of a half note.

Half notes are musical notes that are held for 2 beats.  They are white or not colored in, compared to the quarter note that is completely filled in black.

Children remember best if the words are clear and rhythmic.

Trouble viewing the video?  Click here.




Easy Half Note Chant
By Tonya Dirksen

Half note, two
Half note, two
One, two,
Half note, two!

Carolyn, at Wise Owl Factory, has a fun  Free Do You Know Your Music Notes Power Point.  This is a great way to practice the names and beats of the notes as well as seeing how all the notes compare with one another.

Musical Twister Hopscotch is another fun way to reinforce note names and beats.  My students love playing it whenever we get a chance.  They spin and have to tell the name and beat of the note the spinner lands on.  Then they get to hop to the correct colored circle. 

Musical Twister Hopscotch

 



Check out the Easy Quarter Note Chant!

 

 

Enjoy!

 



An Easy Quarter Note Chant

Children's Song to help them learn the quarter note.

One of the first musical notes my students learn is the Quarter Note.  I made up a chant to help them remember its name and its number of beats.

Quarter note = 1 Beat

I have made a video to demonstrate the chant.  If you have trouble viewing the video click here.

Quarter Note

By Tonya Dirksen

 

 

Quarter note

Quarter note

Tap your knee

 

Quarter note

Quarter note

Black and neat

 

Quarter note

Quarter note

Has one beat!

 

 Carolyn, at Wise Owl Factory, has a fun Free Do You Know Your Music Notes Power Point  This is perfect for learning and reviewing notes.  It also shows the relationships between the different notes.  Be sure to check it out!

"Follow the Musical Notes"

I am always on the look out for fun games that also teach.  Last month I came across Letter Treasure Maps on Reading Confetti and I knew this would be a great way to reinforce musical notes to beginning music students.

I started out by creating pathways using colored circle stickers.  Then I drew one kind of note from the "Start" sticker to the "You Win" sticker.  I filled in the other circles with different types of notes.

I made 4 different maps:

Quarter Notes

Half Notes

Dotted Half Notes

Whole Notes

These treasure maps are for all my students to use so instead of using a pencil, the students use a little heart eraser  to move along the pathway.

This game teaches note recognition in a fun, easy way.

Musical Twister Hopscotch!

Children learn best using their entire bodies.  This game is a fun way to learn the names and beats of musical notes.

One of my daughters received the Twister Hopscotch game for one of her birthdays.  I just knew there was some way to use it in my music classes.  A bit later I found the perfect idea at Notable Music Studio.

Preparation:

Twister Hopscotch can be bought at any large retail store such as Walmart or Target.

I used colored circle stickers on the spinner.  The colors match each of the circles from the game.  On each sticker I drew a note.
      quarter note-1 beat
      half note-2 beats
      dotted half note-3 beats
      whole note-4 beats

The rings for the hopscotch can be put together in a bunch of different ways.  I usually make a simple wiggly line with the colors all mixed up.

How to Play:

Each child takes a turn spinning the spinner and saying the name and beat of the note on the sticker.  After that he can hop to the ring matching the color on the sticker.

Whoever reaches the last circle first is the winner!

We usually play several times so everyone gets a chance to win.  It is amazing how quickly the children learn the names and beats of each note.  I'm sure there are other versions that could be played with this concept.  Let me know if you think of any!

Have fun!