Free Note Identification Worksheets

FreebiesWorksheets

Nov 12

Free Note Identification Worksheets

*Perfect for your music students. Download sign-up below!*

I’m a special case. I loved all things music when I was in school. Music was my “thing”. I started band in 5th grade, was always in choir, and joined every music extra-curricular under the sun. I decided I wanted to be a music educator when I was a sophomore in high school.

I also didn’t learn how to read notes until college.

Reason? I wasn’t dumb. I was a solid A-B student in school. I just never had to. I was a “drummer”. I was fantastic at reading rhythms, but put a pitch in front of me and I would stare at it until finally remembering “Every Good Boy Does Fine”. It wasn’t even that I never put the time in to learn. I took four years of piano lessons, but my teacher taught me by rote and I was quick enough to pick it up from her. Looking back people used to compliment me on my ability to learn “by ear”. I didn’t deserve compliments.

What I “deserved” was someone to sit me down, and force me to learn to read music. This finally happened at college, when in my first week of music theory my instructor gave us a music note reading speed test, and I only got about 8 notes in by the time the clock ran out. I was promptly sat down and told that I either needed to fix that NOW, or I needed to change my major. Thankfully I chose the former.

That kid who couldn’t read notes, performing a piece he composed 2 years later.

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Nobody “wants” to be music illiterate.

That student you have that struggles? The one that you’ve gone over notes with countless times but they still don’t get it? They WANT to be able to read music. The problem is they just haven’t been given enough practice. They need a reason to be forced to sit in front of a sheet of paper, and focus on reading. This is SO IMPORTANT.

Think of how many math problems a student needs to do before they start to understand the concepts. They are drilled over and over on the same skills. Music is harder. That moment a student falls behind in a full group exercise because they can’t read the notes fast enough? That’s the pebble that starts the avalanche.

The moment they fall behind just enough to not keep up, it becomes harder and harder for them to get back with the group. Every time you run an exercise with your group that they can’t keep up with makes them that little bit less practiced than their classmates. This compounds over time.

The students need a chance to work at their own pace on their reading skills.

And lets face it, they probably aren’t working outside of your rehearsal on these skills. They may play seven nation army at home or learn baby shark, but they’re probably not purposefully practicing their reading skills.

Give them a chance to catch up.

I’ll get to the point. I created a set of worksheets to help these students. The ones you may have written off, or the ones that make you beat your head against the music room wall. The students like me. These worksheets will help them to realize their potential. This is why I also made them free.

I want you to take these note identification worksheets and use them to help those kids who are currently struggling in your program. Use them to help ALL of your students. I tried to make them as easy as possible to print, find, organize, grade, etc. They are also great for substitutes. Repetition is key.

You could say that my struggles with reading pitches lead me to create Mad Music to begin with. I’m passionate about helping music students that are struggling with this. They want to learn to read. Help them.

These work well for elementary music, beginner band, orchestra, choir, music theory, etc.
There are three difficulty levels
108 worksheets
4 clefs
Line specific worksheets, space specific worksheets, worksheets with all the notes.
It’s free