Submitted by Elissa Reichstein-Saperstein, Otsego Elementary, New York
Idea posted August 1, 2006
For my student who was color-blind and dyslexic, I used shapes to teach the note names. I made g a circle; a was a square, b was a triangle, c (high) was a diamond, and d (high) was an oval. When he learned those, I was able to use the "traditional" note head, then I transferred the shapes to the lower f, e, d, and c.
It took a LLLLLLOOONNNNGGG time, but SO very worth it. He was thrilled, it really helped his tracking, and he has turned out to be a GREAT musician in middle school.