Customer Reviews

Complete Color Coded Flash Cards for All Beginning Music Students

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This economical, but well-designed set of Flash Cards is targeted for all beginning music students. It is especially helpful for those (children and adults) who are learning keyboards, harps, or beginning band instruments. Music teachers and homeschooling parents may enjoy having this little set as a fun, "go-to" activity that builds music theory, critical thinking, sight-reading, and vocabulary. Games using the cards can create interest and opportunities for additional practice.

In my quest to learn the harp and to share music with others, I wanted a quick, non-electronic, and easy-to-read method to learn / review musical notes, terms, and symbols. At the time, Amazon had several types of products in this area. I took some time to decide which product would be best for me. I selected this set, and that choice has proven to be a good one! This is a nice, easy-to-read / easy-to-understand set of flash cards, and the colors do seem to stimulate one's mind, memory. Eye-glass wearers will appreciate the big, dark fonts on these cards.

What's nice is that the cards are two-sided with the teaching item on front and its answer on back. Apparently, some flash card sets in music do not have the answers on back; I read this in one Amazon review. What's the point of having the card if you don't have the meaning with it? Fortunately, this 89 Color-Coded Flash Card set gives the learner and teacher both sides of the situation, which is most appreciated!) Cards 3 through 36 show the named notes as they would appear on the musical staff as well as their location on piano / keyboard.

This set contains the following information:

Canary Cards (1-36): Clef Signs, Notes on Staff, Low C through Middle C through High C

Pink Cards (37-50): Note Values, Rest Values, Time Signature

White Cards (51-65): Tempo Marks, Dynamic Signs

Green Cards (66-77): Musical Symbols

Blue Cards (78-89): Melodic & Harmonic Intervals; Key Signatures

I'm well pleased with these cards and highly recommend them for beginning students and for those who want a refresher in music. Teachers: if you are using these in a classroom setting, buy one of those little "Page Up" stands that people use for typing. You can then display your note of the day / week.

I purchased "Complete Color Coded Flash Cards for All Beginning Music Students" (5.25 x 4.125 x 2.875, 89 cards) by Alfred Publishing, "Music Flash Cards Set A (Hal Leonard Student Piano Library)" ( 6 x 3 x 1.125, 126 cards) by Jeff Schroedl Blake, and "Music Flash Cards set B (Educational Piano Library)" (6 x 3 x 1.125, 138 cards) by Hal Leonard Corp. Henceforth these will be referred to as "Complete Set," "Set A," and "Set B," respectively.

Each sells for full retail on Amazon, $4.95. None are laminated. None come in a box; each has only a cardboard wrap (secured with a rubber band) that covers where the face, spine, and back of book would be. All have answers on back along with card numbers. All are color coded for different areas of study. The Complete Set and Set A both show the notes on the piano keyboard relative to Middle C.

Complete Set (89 cards)
* cards 1-36 (yellow): Bass Clef; Treble Clef; Bass clef notes Low C through E above Middle C; Treble clef notes A below Middle C through High C.
* cards 37-50 (pink): Eighth though whole note including dotted fourth and dotted half; Eight rest through whole rest; time signatures 2/4, 3/4, 4/4.
* cards 51-65 (white): Words and symbols describing the tempo and volume of music.
* cards 66-77 (green): special music notations (sharp, flat, natural, fermata, pedal sign, 8va, staccato, slur, tied, repeat, repeats, D.C. al Fine).
* cards 78-89 (blue): harmonic and melodic intervals (treble clef only), key signatures

Set A (120 cards)
* cards 1-26 (pink): musical notations, symbols and words for tempo and loudness
* cards 27-40 (pink): intervals (separate cards for treble and bass clefs)
* cards 1-33 (white): Low C through High C on joined Treble and Bass clef; Middle ledger B below Middle C to D above Middle C (shows two lines between clefs in a confusing manner).
* cards 34-40: (white): explanatory card, three note reading patterns (whole notes on two lines, no staff)
* cards 1-10 (yellow): explanatory card, quarter through whole note, quarter through whole rest, dotted half note, 4/4 time, 3/4 time
* cards 11-27 (yellow): Two-measure rhythm patterns
* cards 28-40 (yellow): Four-measure rhythm patterns

Set B (120 cards)
* cards 41-80 (pink): musical terms (for tempo and loudness).
* cards 41-80 (white): Scales, chords, and progressions
* cards 41-51 (yellow): Eighth notes and rests, dotted quarter, triplet, 2/4, 3/8, 6/8, common time, cut time
* cards 52-80 (yellow): Four-measure rhythm patterns

For the beginner piano student or someone who just wants to read music to play a harmonica or melodica, the Complete Set is probably more than adequate. I'll be putting Set A and Set B into a drawer and using the Complete Set.

Set A and Set B seem more appropriate for the advanced piano student (or aspiring advanced piano student) who not only wants to learn to read music but also play complicated piano pieces. It is unfortunate that both sets A and B must be purchased just to get all the basic notes/rests eighth through whole. Beginners probably do not need to know the additional 40 foreign words that subjectively describe the tempo or loudness of music, nor the scales, chords, and progressions, nor the 4-measure rhythm patterns that are included in Set B.

The flashcards review many topics but my favorite was how they handled teaching reading of notes. They had a range of notes treble and bass clef from leger lines above to leger lines below. On the front of the card is just the note, but on the back, on a far more basic level is the note in the staff with the letter name of the note in the quarter note bubble. And below is a keyboard graphic with the note highlighted again- where to play it. Teaching beginning piano these have been great because the kids have all the reminders with them at home if they forgot from the lesson or are unsure as to which key, note, placement, etc.

I purchased these cards for my husband, who as a boy always memorized his piano music before he actually learned how to read it. He has been a play-by-ear pianist ever since, and his lack of basic musical language has been debilitating in our marriage! ;) These cards were just right. Not only can we shuffle the note flashcards so that he can't memorize the order, but they introduced/reintroduced most of the more common musical symbols.

As a musician, I am able to flesh out the cards with more information; thus, these are the only tool we've used thus far. After DH learned the notes flash-card style, I had him start adding the octave (not just "A", but "A3"). Later, I would flash the cards at him and he would play the correct note on the piano. Then we started recording the time it took him to finish that portion of the deck. Worked like a charm.

The cards are well made, and the color-coding has been very useful in the execution of our informal lessons. The cover is also a nice little touch, and keeps the deck fresh and clean. Overall, I'd say these are perfect -- and _definitely_ worth five bucks!

I looked around for music flash cards for awhile and I had finally narrowed it down to this product. It is a complete set with the answers on the back. The deck includes 89 cards. The cards are numbered throughout which helps progress easily without worrying about shuffling and losing the order of the cards. They're also divided into five subject categories where each subject has its own colour code. At the moment my children are using the yellow and pink cards, and they will gradually be using the rest of the cards. One downfall is that the cards are not laminated and they're not thick enough to be handled by children, so I will be definitely laminating them. I'm very happy with the size of the set. Once my children are confident with this, I will be making my own flash cards based on instruments especially Muslim Turkish instruments, using the same methodology.
I recommend this product to everyone. It will complete homeschoolers and schoolers music curriculum and music teachers would surely delight in them.

Everything but the yellow cards are a little basic for our daughter who has been playing for two years, but picked up theory pretty easily along the way. What we needed was help with recognizing notes by sight and these are serving that purpose well. Both G and F clef, with notes shown 2 lines above and below each staff.

The other cards show rests, key signatures, and basic terms (piano, adagio, etc.).

Cards come fastened together with a rubber band, with one bent over piece of cardstock holding the stack together.

Love these flashcards and use them in my classes for everything you can imagine. They are the perfect size and have information in bold letters so all can see easily. Also love that they are color coded so I can separate the cards that i really want to use from the whole stack.

good product
i recommend! - the color coding is really helpful for my students. It also helps to give them something to hold and read.

As far as the information covered in the cards, I think it's excellent. The only improvement I would make would be for the cards to be laminated; as are, they are simply printed on cardstock. If they were laminated or had some sort of plastic coating (like playing cards), they would be easier to handle and flip through when holding them up to quiz someone.

I buy these for all of my beginning students. A great way for them to learn notes and notation, and fun for students to use at home with a sibling or parent. Great review for students going into 2nd and 3rd year lessons....