Snakes and Frogs

This lesson is so fun when teaching Legato and Staccato! It's also a good fall-back when you need to fill a few extra minutes at the end of the lesson once your student has gotten the hang of staccato and legato. Here are a few different ways of introducing and teaching this concept. Try some! (I've found that even if you stay on the same topic but have lots of different games, young students will continue to give you their attention.)

Here's what you'll need:

• White board/Paper/Poster Board
• Printed and Cut pieces of paper with snakes and frogs
• Small cut pieces with lily pads
• Small cut legato slurs

Lesson:

On the white board/paper/poster board, draw a frog on top of a staccato note. Then draw a snake under the legato slur. Explain to your student that the staccato notes should be played like a frog (very bouncy) and the slurred notes should be played like a snake (slithering).

**Note: If you have a large floor piano pad, pull it out now. Have your student practice hopping and slithering whenever you yell out Staccato or Legato.

Demonstrate the difference between these two, and then have your student try. Then play a game by saying staccato or legato and have them play it.

Tape the lily pads and the slur to the keyboard (see pic). Have your student "race" up the piano by playing every key. Whenever they get to a lily pad, they have to "hop" on it. When they reach a slur, they have to "slither" across. Time them to see if they can get faster the second time.

Hide the pieces of paper with snakes and frogs throughout the room. Have your student find them. Every time a piece of paper is found, your student has to run back to the piano and play either staccato or legato (depending on if they find a frog or a snake).

Have you tried this? How did it go? Do you have other ways of teaching legato vs staccato? Let us know in the comments below!