As part of a Primary or Elementary Music approach, the hand stave can be a useful tool to learn to identify notes in the treble (or other clef) clef.
Learning to identify steps and skips in the stave is best done firstly through physically engaging in a floor stave where the students can actually stand in the stave, positioning themselves as the sounds and notes.
The hand stave is a kinesthetic, 5-line teaching tool using fingers as lines and spaces as gaps to visualize music notation, notes, and intervals. It boosts musical literacy by enabling, for example, instant, paperless drills in note naming, solfège, and key signatures.
When learning anything new, it’s best to see it, feel it, hear it and physically engage with it.
The music stave can be better understood in this way also. If you use a hand with 5 fingers to represent the 5 lines and the 4 spaces in between, this can represent the music stave.
Play a game of ‘Frog’ so the teacher can easily see how students are coping with this new learning tool.
See Take Note Music website for other useful teaching resources: https://www.takenotemusic.com.au/store/giant-floor-stave-kit/ Giant Floor Stave Kit Xylomags Chime Bar Magnets Magnetic Sol-fa Staircase
Hi colleagues, thanks for joining me. “Girls and boys, did you realize that we’ve actually got a music house? We have five lines. Line 1 2 3 4 5 and four spaces. Space 1, space 2, space 3, space 4.”
Now, I like the students to show the notes at the end of the finger rather than going in like this because it’s not very fast. it doesn’t create nice smooth movements. So the students get to know the idea of a step and a skip and you could play a um frog jumping game. So if we are in the first space, can you go up a step, up a step, up a skip, down a step, etc. Okay, you can make up your own games and have a bit of fun and then see where you land where the um where the frog ends up and the students can show their learning and using it as formative assessment just by pointing. Okay. So, point a finger just point at the at the teacher with their dominant hand and set up the handstave so that the it’s at right angles with the handstave. You don’t want this sort of thing going on or here or going up to the end. Have you seen a music stave on the board that looks like that? I don’t think so. Okay. So have a bit of fun with it. But it’s really great relate it obviously to the board as well to the manuscript on the board so that the students are really putting one and one together and coming up with two because it’s quite a conceptual idea. Happy teaching.
If you are a music teacher, Take Note Music has the resources you need to ensure your students are successful.
We have tools for every stage of the learning process, from planning overviews and lesson plans to assessment tools.
Our material will broaden students’ understanding of music, enhance musicianship skills, promote joyful engagement through listening, reading, writing, creating, and responding.
We also offer fun teaching aids, such as puppets and visual tools.
We have created educational resources that lead to an engaging learning experience, develop a student’s interest in music, and improve their musical abilities.
Take Note Music was founded by very experienced music educators to provide fellow teachers with resources to teach music more effectively to children. We’ve built a place for music teachers to go for all their needs.
Ep 45 – Teaching the use of the Hand Stave
As part of a Primary or Elementary Music approach, the hand stave can be a useful tool to learn to identify notes in the treble (or other clef) clef.
Ep 44 – Melodic Dictation Pt 2 – Extension Strategies
Following on from Ep 43 – Melodic Dictation Pt 1… While other students in the class are having further listenings to the dictation, those who have finished are encouraged
Ep 43 – Melodic Dictation Pt 1 – Assessment Strategies
A great way for students to ascertain their level of understanding of melodic concepts is to undertake a Melodic Dictation – a write what you hear task. In our Music
Ep 42 – Favourite Melodic Game – Solfa Knockout Pt 2
One of my students’ most favourite games and mine too….part 2. A superb game to confirm and develop aural skills using solfege hand-signs. Ensure you watch Ep 41 first
Ep 41 – Favourite Melodic Game – Solfa Knockout Pt 1
One of my students’ most favourite games and mine too….you’ll see why! A superb game to confirm and develop aural skills using solfege hand-signs. Start with a song using the
Ep 40 – Student Attention Grabbers
A few effective ways to grab students’ attention when you want to bring them back from individual practise (which I call “bubble time”) or small group work. These ‘attention grabbers’
