Music Mind Games

Rating:
Summary: A MUST for elementary and preschool music teachers
Review: As a teacher of music students in grades 3-6, I have found this book to be extremely helpful. The games are designed to help students learn to read, write, dictate music, etc. The "Blue Jello" game and its variations alone are worth the price of the book. Although this is not a band or orchestra method book, students who spend time playing these games will certainly be more prepared when they begin to learn more advanced instruments.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST for elementary and preschool music teachers
Review: As a teacher of music students in grades 3-6, I have found this book to be extremely helpful. The games are designed to help students learn to read, write, dictate music, etc. The "Blue Jello" game and its variations alone are worth the price of the book. Although this is not a band or orchestra method book, students who spend time playing these games will certainly be more prepared when they begin to learn more advanced instruments.

Rating:
Summary: Great book for teachers!
Review: Based on 19 years of game-play testing, Music Mind Games is an extraordinary book full of sensational games for learning music reading and theory and can be used at an elementary, intermediate or advanced level. The 430 page book contains more than 200 creative gaames and includes 575 photographs and 325 illustrations.

Rating:
Summary: Not Practical
Review: I agree with the other review in that this book requires way too much preparation before each activity. Although the activies probably to do work well, the materials that you need to either create or buy are necessary in order to present an effective activity. I think I used about two lessons in my classroom, not practical at all.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I am extremely picky about teaching resources and activities, and I cannot say enough good things about this book. The main thing that sets it apart is that everything is incredibly thought-out and organized, and there is a *philopsophy* behind everything. A lot of music teacher activity books are just a bunch of random games carelessly thrown together with little or no thought about what the purpose is, or WHY that approach is best.

Believe it or not, I read this book years after completing a music degree, and it helped me realize and understand some things about music theory for the first time. I have used these activities with grades k-8 and also in private piano lessons. It is truly excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Bought with enthusiasm, hasn't worked for me
Review: I was motivated to buy this book by the positive comments I've seen. I can certainly recommend this book for teachers who may be inspired by Mrs. Yurko's philosophies about children and music education. But unfortunately, most of the activities in this book require proprietary supplimental items (sold by Mrs. Yurko, if I remember correctly) and only a few of these activities can be pulled out to use without a good deal of preparation and materials. If this isn't a problem for you, I can definitely recommend this book. It is a problem for me, and though I flip through it from time to time, I've never used it in the classroom.