Games for Group Instruction
Who says skill-building can't be fun? Jessica and Janet share their favorite orchestra classroom games—activities that energize students while sneakily improving their musical abilities. Your students will be learning without even realizing it.
Episode Overview
Sometimes the best way to drill a skill is to disguise it as play. In this episode, Jessica and Janet open up their game collections and share the activities that consistently get their students excited while building real musical competence.
What You'll Learn
- Games for rhythm, pitch, and technical skill development
- How to adapt games for different skill levels in the same class
- Timing and pacing—when games help and when they hurt
- Creating your own games tailored to your curriculum
Key Takeaways
Effective games aren't just time-fillers—they're targeted learning experiences wrapped in engagement. The best orchestra games improve skills while building community and keeping energy high.
Show Notes
- A great example of an elementary Orchestra Olympics choice board is here. This particular example utilizes tunes from the Essential Elements series.
- Our middle/high school Orchestra Olympics activity looked something like this (shout out to Carl Davick for these ideas!):
- Speedy Scale relay: each person will play a 2 octave G or D scale up and down and then tap the person next to them to begin
- Fingerboard Long Jump/luge: each person will slide up and down the length of the fingerboard and then tap the person next to them to begin
- Ear training hurdles: as a team, figure out the Olympic theme song. When your section is ready, collectively pluck or bow it for the class. It's in Key of D; starting note is mi (F#)
- Bow hold sprints: choose four team members to spider crawl their bow from frog to tip
- Bow hold relay: pass the "baton" (paper cup) from bow tip to bow tip. If the "baton" drops, start over with the first person
- This thread on the SOST Facebook page has some great ideas for quick-hitter games. We discuss a few in the episode.
- Janet's Orchestra Wheel of Destiny is here. A slightly more serious practice strategies version can be found here. Or make your own with the template!
- Kahoot, Wayground, and more online educational game sites build community and generate excitement. Search for ready-made quizzes, or make your own! (The interfaces are very user-friendly.)
- The card game Orchestras Are Awful is fun for your oldest students - or playing with your string teacher colleagues!
- Find Jessica's emoji groups here and a slideshow of Strings Mountain here.
References
Droste, D. (2013). High school orchestras: new ideas and old reminders for the new school year. American String Teacher, 63(3), 36–39. doi.org/10.1177/000313131306300307
Horvath, K. A. (2003). Muscle-ship: the overlooked foundational element of stringed instrument performance technique. American String Teacher, 53(3), 68–73. doi.org/10.1177/000313130305300313
Stott, A., & Neustadter, C. (2013). Analysis of gamification in education. Simon Fraser University. Retrieved from clab.iat.sfu.ca/pubs/Stott-Gamification.pdf