This is a simple game that helps younger students identify whether a series of pitches are getting higher or lower or remaining the same. Explain to your class that pitch is how low or high a sound is. Play various pitches on a melodic instrument, such as a xylophone or keyboard. Demonstrate how some pitches move upward or higher as they go, some move lower and some can stay the same. Place a barrier, such as a chair, in front of your hand so that the students cannot see the notes that you are playing. Divide the class into two teams. Instruct each member to point upward if they hear the pitches getting higher and downward if the are getting lower. Tell them to hold their hands level (parallel to the floor) if the pitches are staying the same. Choose a team to go first and play two or three pitches in a row. Be sure that all the pitches are getting progressively higher, lower or staying the same. The team must come to a unanimous decision regarding the movement of the pitches that you played. If they are correct, they earn a point. Continue playing, alternating between teams, until you reach a certain point level or a certain time limit.
This game is patterned after the old television show "Name That Tune." It allows students to identify various songs by recognizing the pitches in the melody. Divide your class into two or three groups. During each group's turn, play two pitches of a familiar tune on a piano or keyboard. Allow the team to guess the title of the song twice. If they guess correctly, they earn a point. If they cannot name the melody, repeat the two notes and give the next team a guess. If none of the teams can guess the song with only two notes, go back to the first team and play three notes for the next round. Continue in this manner, adding a note with each new round. Once a team guesses a song correctly, they earn a point. You also can have a graduated point system in which a team earns more points if they guess the song with less notes. For instance, a team might earn five points if they guess the tune in two notes, four points if they guess it in with three notes, and so on.
This is a slightly more advanced game that helps students to identify various chord progressions. Have your students stand beside their desks or in a circle, and give each student a small dry-erase board, a dry-erase marker and a paper towel for erasing. Play a chord progression (three or four chords) on a keyboard or guitar. Be sure that the students cannot see the progression that you are playing so that they must rely solely on their hearing. Instruct the students to write the progression on their boards. The students must label the progressions with the standard Roman numeral system, in which major chords receive uppercase Roman numerals and minor chords receive lowercase Roman numerals. Have the students hold their boards outward so that everyone can see what they've written. Disclose the correct progression. The students who wrote the progression correctly remain standing, whereas the ones who did not get the progression correct must sit down. The last student standing wins the game.