6+ Kids’ Piano Games for Learning Piano Music

Is your child struggling to stay focused when they’re practicing the piano? That’s normal–it just means it might be time to add something new to the routine! Get some great ideas for music games for kids in this guest post by Santa Cruz, CA teacher John S...

Did you know that kids can learn to play the piano at a young age? It’s true! In fact, there are many benefits to learning to play music. Not only does it help with hand-eye coordination and math skills, but it also helps with focus and discipline. 

If you’re looking for ways to help your child learn how to play the piano, check out these fun piano games!

What Are Some Free Piano Games?

Some of the best piano games are those that require zero technology, including:

• Be an animal
• Use a picture book
• Make up a story
• Pick four pitch classes 
• Repeat after me – rhythm
• Repeat after you – three pitches

We’ll go into greater detail about all these fun piano games below. For now, check with your child’s piano instructor to find out what else you should be doing to foster your child’s love of playing the piano. You can get a better idea of the skills piano lessons and piano games might build by checking out the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah-fdExgBrY 

Play These Piano Games for Free

Can your 4- to 6-year-old keep her focus through the entirety of a traditional piano practice? Music demands a tremendous amount of attention, in several different areas at once: reading music, being careful about pitch, rhythm, and fingering, and much more! Some children have no trouble keeping on task with all these endeavors. However, if your young child is like the vast majority, you may need to break up their practice with other activities. In between their private lessons, playing music games for kids can certainly help–and most of these you can play with your child even if you don’t have much of a music background!

1. Be an animal

Most young children love pretending to be different animals. Not only that, but the intuitive connection of musical features with an animal’s characteristics comes quickly and effortlessly to most kids. Try something like the following, perhaps while looking at a picture with lots of different animals:

You: Ok, which animal would you like to be?
Child: A snake!
You: A snake, wow! What would snake music sound like?

The child may immediately have a sense of snake music. If so, let ’em play! It may not fit your idea of snake music in any way, but if they’re engaging with their imaginations, let them be.

If a child isn’t sure what to do, you might make a suggestion like the following:

You: To me, a snake is a slithery thing. (Play a stepwise melody that moves up and down the piano in a sinuous fashion.) Do you think this sounds like a snake? What do you think would sound more like a snake?

2. Use a picture book

Books for young children that have great pictures are a nice way to guide an improvisation that progresses through a beginning, middle, and end. Many children will respond immediately when you ask them to look at the picture and think about what it would sound like.

If they get stuck, you can point out specific features in the pictures. For instance, “See the twinkling stars? Can you make a twinkling sound like those stars might make?” or “Those are some big, hairy monsters! How can you make a big, hairy sound on the piano?” You can always play them a little example to get them started. Chances are, they will be impatient for you to stop so that they can get their hands on the piano keys.

3. Make up a story

This is a great game for kids if you know how to play piano as well. Start off by thinking of a story, like the following:

“A man was walking down the street” (play ambling, rhythmic music at an andante tempo) ”when suddenly,” (stop playing) “he saw an elephant right in front of him.” (pounding, ponderous bass line perhaps with circus-like qualities) “The elephant was dressed in royal finery, and being ridden by a man in a suit of armor.” (fanfare, clanking sounds) Let your imagination run wild with bold, big images that you can translate into music.

Next, you can ask them to contribute, either with story ideas, or by playing the piano. Gradually, you can encourage them to do the whole thing, story and music, by themselves.

4. Pick four pitch classes

Restricting the available pitches is a great way to make improvisation sound better. It turns out that four is a perfect number, because all combinations of four pitches can sound musical.

You: Let’s take turns choosing the pitches we’re going to use for this song. You can choose any letter A through G, and you can make it sharp or flat if you want.
Child: A-flat!
You: Good, so you can play any A-flat you want. (play all of the A-flats on the piano) You can be sure you have an A-flat when it’s the middle black key in a group of three.

Then it’s your turn to choose a note, and alternate until four pitches are chosen. Even if it is a cluster, the group of pitches can sound good.

Let your child play on those pitches in any rhythm they like. If they play a note that’s not one of the four you selected, tell and show them exactly what note they played by mistake, and remind them of the notes that were chosen.

5. Repeat after me – Rhythm 

This is another great game if you don’t know much about the piano, because you can play it away from the piano, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Here’s how I play with my students: “Me first, and then you,” I say, then start with simple rhythms, banging the floor or clapping while saying the counts aloud. I chant, “One and Two and Three and Four and,” while alternating hands pounding the floor, L-R-L-R on the main beats.