Note Team Builder

* Prefer to play the Note Team Builder game as part of an app? Get the Scale and SticKey music theory app on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or Amazon Appstore. *

Ever have a student struggle to understand why some notes become sharp or flat in different key signatures? Let them discover the answer for themselves using this hands-on, interactive game.

Also available as part of the Scale and Key Bundle.

Game description: 

Team Stickey^TM needs your help! Help the 7 players decide who needs to move to keep a valid Note Team^TM formation.

• Spin the solfa wheel to show 7 circles on the pitch wheel.
• Start each player on his assigned absolute pitch, then move the players one position clockwise (and change to sharp) or counterclockwise (and change to flat) as needed to fill the solfa positions.
• Once all the positions are filled, you have your Note Team! The player on do is the name of the major key; the player on la is the name of the minor key.

You will need a color printer, scissors and a brad (or paper fastener) to assemble.

Learning objectives:

This games teaches how the concepts of absolute pitch and relative pitch overlap to define a key signature.

Students will see how each key signature contains notes that correspond to the 7 solfa positions: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la and ti.

They will see how, because only 7 of 12 absolute pitches are named (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), some notes may need to become sharp or flat to maintain the relative spacing of the solfa positions.

They will also discover that all players must move in the same direction, so that a Note Team can have sharps or flats, but never both.

Extension Activity - Apply to the keyboard
Use our At-the-piano Activities for Beginner Students to build Note Teams on your keyboard.  The Guide has 3 pages, with page 3 specifically relating to Note Teams.

Extension Activity - Apply to playing scales
Use our Solfa Slider to apply the Note Team Builder to playing scales on the piano! 

1. After building your Note Team, find the note name of the character on do.
2. Position the Solfa Slider so that do is behind a piano key that plays that note.
3. Play the scale for your Note Team by playing every key in a solfa position. Start on do for major scales; la for natural minor scales.

Check out these related products in our store:

Zigzag of Fifths