Fun Review of Expression Marks with Image Cards

When reviewing expression marks with our students it can be easy to fall into the trap of just drilling them. Over. And over.

But what about giving our students a deeper connection to the Italian terms? How can we teach them in a new way and embed them in our students’ memories?

I was pondering that for some intermediate students of mine lately, and I thought up the idea of these photo flashcards. Instead of just translating the Italian terms to English, I have instead chosen a photo to represent each of these terms.

You could carry this through to so many different aspects of theory. Search the web for a good representation and make that photo the front of the flashcard.

Simple, but I think, beautiful.

You can download the expression image flashcards using the form below. I printed my Italian terms on tracing paper to achieve the effect you see here, but you could do them back to back or as a memory game also (on separate sheets).

Download the free expression image cards

Vibrant Music Teaching members, you can access this resource inside the VMT library. Not a member yet? Find out more about becoming a member here.

Expression & Articulation Flipped Learning Video

In these videos, I teach students about several articulation and expression marks, giving strong visual cues and explaining the notation. Feel free to send these videos to parents for their kids to watch, use it in group lessons or as part of lab time.

These videos are designed to be clear and concise so that students can watch them – and then get on with some writing work for reinforcement. Saving you time to do fun activities during the lesson time.

These videos correlate directly to Thinking Theory Book Two page 20 & 27. View the full Thinking Theory series here and see what makes these workbooks so special.

More Flipped Thinking Theory

If you liked this music theory video, you might also like these others:

• Flipped Basic Note Values
• Flipped Beginning Solfa
• Flip and Gameify Landmark Notes
• Flipped Time Signatures
• Flipped Note & Rest Values
• Flipped Dynamics
• Flipped Accidentals, Tones & Semitones
• Flipped Articulation Marks
• Flipped C and G Major Scales
• Flipped Tempo Marks
• Flipped Ledger Line Landmark Notes
• Flipped Intermediate Note Values
• Flipped Note Stem Rules
• Flipped Solfa Scale Singing
• Flipped D & F Major Scales
• Flipped Note Grouping/Beaming

Do you make use of visual cues in your studio?

What role do images have in your teaching? Share your thoughts in the Vibrant Music Studio Teachers community on Facebook or in the comments below.