As you probably know, every year, we design a new color scheme for our 30 and 40 Piece Challenge Charts, punch cards, and certificates. And for the last 3-4 years, I’ve tried to make the color scheme have significance in some way.
I’ve always consulted the Pantone color of the year and a for a few years, that was a lovely design. However, this year’s color of the year was not my favorite and too much like another one we have done.
So then I decided to look at other “colors of the year” including some of the beautiful home decor colors including Benjamin Moore’s color of the year here. That will look so beautiful on someone’s wall but after trying it on these charts, ugh. It looked a little like puke.
The Color Was Right Under My Nose!
But then it hit me! We’re bringing out something really cool at our August 23rd webinar and a few of the colors in that were absolutely perfect for the 2022 30 and 40 Piece Challenge Charts!
Would you like to guess what we’re releasing in August from where I got these color ideas? Just comment below!
Get the New 2022 30 and 40 Piece Challenge Charts Here
We’ve included all the improvements we’ve made in the past. Including:
- Type in students’ names on the wall chart
- Type in students’ names on the certificates and print 10 at a time.
The teacher name and date will stay the same once you type it once. Then, you can type 10 different names on the 10 different certificates and print. You can print more as well by making a copy of the file and doing it again. - A separate student chart so you can just email it to the students. You can email the 30/40 piece challenge chart to students to print and put in their notebook. This is especially handy if you’re teaching students online.
- A second page for the wall chart in case you have lots of students.
Get them here:
What Is the 30/40 Piece Challenge?
Elissa Milne created this wonderful challenge, and it can easily be used year after year. The general idea is that when students are learning lengthy, challenging pieces, it can mean they’re stuck with the same piece for weeks on end. This leads to students becoming stagnant, and even falling behind in other areas. Challenging students to learn 30 or 40 pieces during the school year helps students learn more pieces; it exposes them to different types of music; and it helps their sight reading just by being given more opportunities to sight read! Students want to “finish” pieces, and this is a way to give them the momentum to do so.
The key to the 30/40 piece challenge is to mix in music that is at students’ level, slightly above their level (for a challenge), and slightly below their level so they have quicker wins. Short Sheets® make wonderful 30/40 piece challenge pieces because they’re only one page, but are pedagogically sound! (Find all of our Short Sheets® and other fun pieces perfect for the challenge in our Student Solutions Catalog here!)
Should I Use Rewards?
Students are often motivated just by seeing how they (and other students) are progressing. It’s a good mix of personal motivation and friendly studio-wide competition! However, it’s also perfectly appropriate to celebrate benchmarks along the way. This particular challenge covers a span of several months – which can feel like forever when you’re young!
but they are part of the package in case you want to use them!
I typically have extra incentives at the 10, 20, 30, and 40 piece mark. Here are some incentive ideas:
- These gel highlighters. I don’t know what it is about these things, but students are obsessed with them! Even my 19 month old wants to draw with them constantly. They’re a gel consistency, glide across the paper, and don’t dry out if you leave the cap off (huge bonus!). I’ve tried a few brands, and students always tell me they like the Sharpie brand highlighters best.
- Allowing students to pick the order in which we do things during lessons. Students get a kick out of getting to choose the cadence of the lesson themselves.
- One teacher said she planned to give her students a new music book (you could also do a ComposeCreate® gift card). It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and a wonderful idea!
- Elissa has suggested giving medals out to students who complete the challenge at a spring recital.
- Ice Cream Parties – Some teachers have told us that they throw parties at the end of the year or midway through the year to those who have completed the goal.
- Give in to a weird request. When I used to teach in students’ homes, a student was dying to bring his pet bird to a lesson, because the bird would watch him practice at home. This is something I would never usually do – but it was a free, and made him practice like you wouldn’t believe! He was so excited to have that bird in his lesson – and the bird was very happy to sing along. When a student has been wanting to do something goofy in lessons, it can make a wonderful incentive!
If you’re looking for a way to put a spin on the 30/40 piece challenge, Elissa suggests having a new theme each year. She eventually ties the theme into the spring recital – it’s such a creative idea!
Have You Done the Challenge? Let Us Know!
Teachers are always asking specific questions about how to do this challenge, so if you have already done this challenge with your students, please leave a comment with any tips or ideas you have!
Read More About the Challenge:
I love this challenge and have used it for quite a few years. The students of all ages love it!
I use an individual Passport system to record the pieces and after each 10 pieces they received a small reward. At 40 pieces they receive a $10 gift card!
The most pieces for the year earns a Trophy. The highest Number has been 80! Let me explain how this works:
To make it equitable, each entry has to be 16 bars. So, it works for beginners through to advanced.
Thanks for telling us more about how you do this and the fact that students of all ages love it. I think a $10 gift card is pretty motivating and I love that you have rewards for everyone who completes the challenge and then another for those who want to go over and above and be competitive about it!
Thanks for sharing the charts and certificates! This is a great idea that I think I’ll be adding to my curriculum this year.
Sure thing, Sally! So glad you can use them!
I have a few questions. A lot of beginner pieces are only 8 measures. Will that count as 1 piece? More advanced students will be playing music that is several pages long. Do I count each page as a piece? Finally, how well does a student need to play a piece to get credit on the chart?
Thank you.
Hi Mary,
These are great questions! I and other teachers have had good success with requiring that a piece be at least 16 measures to count. Otherwise, you’ll have very young students getting 4 pieces per week! Granted those first few months of lessons, you don’t see too many 16 measure pieces, so you could use different criteria for those youngest of beginners. But soon, after they’ll be getting into method book pieces that are this length. Also, it’s really important that your more advanced students have their normal music that is challenging or at their level (which are the longer pieces you reference), but also easier pieces that are just beneath their level that they can learn and perfect in 1-2 weeks. Short Sheets™ are great for this since they are basically one page pieces that are still pedagogical but shorter. https://composecreate.com/short-sheets
The student does NOT have to memorize the piece to get credit. They just need to play it accurately and musically. I always told my students though that they are not machines, but humans, so a mistake here and there is not a big deal. But incorrect rhythms or notes or major pauses and such things (things that get in the way of musicality) would be things they would need to work on longer to get credit.
I hope that helps!
Most of my students enjoyed working above and beyond their lesson book assignments. My older students working with different repertoire, performance and judging situations were introduced to many different composers that they probably would not have. My reward was a gift card to a local music store. They thought that was cool. Thanks Wendy!