- Level: Elementary, intermediate, and advanced
- Concepts covered: Any musical term you know is probably in the deck! Includes everything from composer names to theory terms.
- Number: 270 cards total, divided into primary and secondary level
- Format: PDF instant download (1 minute timer not included)
Affirm-a-term is a fast-paced game that can help music students understand:
- Music theory
- Music terms
- All things related to music
Affirm-a-term requires students to describe terms related to music in a way that their teammates can identify the term. This often reveals to the teacher whether or not the student really understands music theory concepts. You’ll learn a lot about your music and piano students with this fun game! It works for all ages, but is especially fun and effective for teenagers and adults!
How to assemble Affirm-a-term
After purchasing, you will receive an email to download your Affirm-a-term game cards. Simply print these on card stock. To help keep the levels separate, print the elementary cards on one color and the early intermediate cards on another color. To keep cards lasting longer, laminate them.
What you need to play Affirm-a-term
- Affirm-a-term cards
- Card stock paper
- Laminator (optional)
- A 1 minute timer
How to play Affirm-a-term:
Affirm-a-term is best played in groups of students.
- Divide the students into teams.
- Designate one player from one team to be the “caller.” This player will go through the deck of cards and try to describe as many as possible (without using the word on the card or any form of the word.
- Players from the caller’s team yell out answers. When they get the answer, the caller moves to another card.
- The object is to see how many terms the caller and their teammates can describe and answer correctly.
- Play moves to the next team after the 1 minute timer is done.
- Continue playing for a specified amount of time. The team with the most cards correct wins.
More details on what to do when the caller doesn’t know a term, etc. are included in the directions.
This is a great way to know whether your music or piano students really understand music!
Aviva S. Enoch –
I used this as an icebreaker game on Zoom with a small group of middle schoolers at our virtual piano party. I adapted the game for my situation. I sent one student the term in the chat box and had the others use the chat box for their guesses . We didn’t do teams. Instead, I just ask each student to act out or define their term without using it. Some were pretty easy for them–like “staccato”–since they were seated at the piano. Others were surprisingly challenging. It was especially fun to watch them try to describe simple terms like “singing” or “rhythm”.