Kitchen Rock

When I am cooking dinner I have found that the best activity to keep my children entertained is letting them bang on pots. We call this activity Kitchen Rock and play it often, so I decided to make it a learning experience to help teach my children about music.

Here are a few ideas to help spice up Kitchen Rock:

1. Get out a variety of pans, bowls, and pitchers. You can use metal, plastic, or anything else that won't break.

2. Get out a variety of utensils for your child to hit the pans with (each utensil produces a different sound.)

3. Teach your child about tempo by demonstrating the difference between largo and presto. For an older child you can teach him or her the 7 basic tempo markings:

• Largo -- very slow (40 - 60 beats per minute)


• Larghetto -- rather broadly (60 - 66 beats per minute)

• Adagio -- slow and stately (66 - 76 bpm)


• Andante -- at a walking pace (76 - 108 bpm)
  


• Moderato -- Moderately (108 - 120 bpm)
  


• Allegro -- fast and bright (120 - 168 bpm)
  


• Presto -- very fast (168 - 200 bpm)

Once your child learns the tempo markings you can quiz your child by calling out a tempo and having him or her play that tempo.

4. Teach your child about dynamics by demonstrating the difference between piano and forte. Quiz your child by asking him or her to demonstrate the difference between the two dynamics.

For an older child you can teach him or her about the 6 different dynamic markings:

1. pianissimo/pp (very soft)

2. piano/p (soft)

3. mezzo-piano/mp (moderately soft)

4. mezzo-forte/mf (moderately loud)

5. forte/f (loud)

6. fortissimo/ff (very loud)

5. Turn on different styles of music and let your child play along. Show your child how you would play the pan differently while listening to slow/soft music vs. fast/loud music.

6. Have fun!