Practice Games

— Applicable for All Ages! —

Quest

This game puts you on the spot, challenging your memory while on the clock!
Your goal is to RECORD yourself playing through the piece from start to finish, and then (from memory) circle ALL the spots where you made a mistake! You have 1 minute per page to identify your mistakes. Once you run out of time, watch your practice video to see if you remembered right!
This game helps build self-awareness, and also helps you learn to actively listen to yourself while practicing.

The goal of this game is to memorize ONE problem spot.
Play through the spot once to ensure you know how it sounds. Then, using a post-it note, cover up one note at a time & try to play the entire problem spot (including the hidden notes)!
This game helps you learn memorization skills, and also is just a fun challenge!

The goal of this game is to play a problem spot 5x through, PERFECTLY.
Any time you make a mistake, your count resets at zero! Once you successfully play the spot 5x through with no mistakes, you get a reward!
For me, this is a food-motivated game; however, your reward could be Social Media time, game time, money, etc.

This game is a fun reading challenge that recontextualizes rhythms & challenges you to think outside the box. Your goal? To read your music backwards, from finish to start, right to left, note by note.

This game, like Reverse Reverse, involves reading your music from start to finish – however, it’s not quite the same. For Rewind, read the last measure of your music first – then build by playing the previous measure, then the one before that. For each measure you add, play from the start of that measure until you reach the end of the piece.
This game helps you focus on the end of the piece, which often is neglected by accident.

This game is one of my absolute favorites, because it’s incredibly challenging!
If you've never seen a bell choir perform, check out this video: Amazing Grace
- Bell choirs traditionally have all musicians play between 1-4 bells -- meaning each person can only play a handful of notes! The performers collaborate to perform a song together, with each person playing their bell(s) at just the right moment.
For the Bell Choir game, pick ONE pitch, and read your music along with a recording. Your job is to play ONLY that ONE pitch, whenever you see it – but nothing else.
If you can do it with a recording, try doing it with nothing but a metronome.
This game helps you focus on timing, keeping a steady tempo, counting rhythms, and “hearing” a melody in your head.

On the Clock is a time-sensitive game that works perfectly when you don’t have much time to practice! Set a SMALL, SPECIFIC goal for yourself, and assign yourself a set number of minutes to achieve that goal.
- For example: Learn measures 1-8 in 5 minutes.
- For example: Increase the tempo from 80bpm to 100bpm in 10 mins.
- For example: Play a passage 8 times with correct bowings in 4 mins.
This game helps you fast-track your learning to maximize your time.

Flip the bow around so you’re holding the wrong end and try to play a short passage in your music! See what you can do to achieve the best sound you can, despite the bow weight being out of whack.
This game helps you build strength & consistency in your bow hand. And, it’s fun!

Play the first measure of your music – then stop, and verbally say the rhythms in the next measure! Continue working through your music, playing the odd measures & saying the even ones. You can also flip-flop the Play-Say game, so that you say the odd measures & play the even ones.
This game helps you get better at counting rhythms, and also gives you the chance to catch any rhythm mistakes you might be making!

Play the first pitch of your piece, and try to match that pitch with your voice! Then, try to play the whole piece in chunks (give yourself time to breathe) while droning that pitch with your voice.
- You can also try playing this game with a friend, if you’re not comfortable singing while playing!
This game helps develop a stronger sense of pitch relativity, and also helps students learn about intervals.