If you're one who's been checking back occasionally, you'll see that I'm circle obsessed. February (2025) is the Heart Circle. (You can download February's circle below) The picture above has major on the outside, minor on the inside, and the numbers of a 12 sided die in the center.
I've been using the circle with 100% of my students consistently for the last two years. This year I'm doing a different one for each month. My students range in age from 5 to 50+ and they all can play 5 note scales in all of the major and minor keys. At the beginning of each lesson we use this with a 12 sided die as a warm-up. They roll the die, and whatever number comes up is the key they play.
Depending on the age and what we're doing at the time we do different things. Here's a sample:
find the key (great for beginners)
play the five note scale with either hand
play chords with either hand
play one of the pieces that is in all 12 keys (Saints, Joy to the World, Polovetzian Dance theme. . .)
Play an octave scale (major or minor)
Because any one of the 12 keys comes up, they students have to know all 12 of them.
Sometimes we go around the whole circle doing something from start to finish. That's pretty interesting too. I think my students would say that it's more fun to play 12 keys once than 1 key 12 times. I'm curious to here what your students think.
Changing the look of the Circle each month is also encouraging. Personally, I think the hearts are adorable. By the end of the year, there will be 12 different versions.
Having key finder cards handy makes it easy to get students started playing more. Try going around the circle with the cadence cards, or check out some of the posts with pieces transposed into different keys.
Where do I find the Polovetsian Dances music? Is this the tune to go with the February Circle of Hearts, er, 5ths? 😊. Thanks for the great inspirations for all of us!
Hello? I can’t find the Polovetsian music and Circle of 5ths paper anywhere on your site. Is there one? I can come up with writing the notes but your page design for the previous 4 months is great and keeps the activity more organized. Thanks for these terrific ideas!