Baseball Piano Game

by john aschenbrenner August 5, 2023

Baseball Piano Game

I often compare baseball and piano chords when I'm trying to give kids an idea of how chords work together in groups. There isn't a kid around who doesn't understand the bases of baseball.

Home plate, first base, second, third, and the final mad dash for home plate again. Children readily understand the idea of home plate, and see the similarity of home plate, Middle C and the C chord.

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Music Begins And Ends In The Same Place

Middle C is the place we always start from, no matter where we go. And that's where we always end up. In terms of chords, that would be a C chord. That's why every beginner's piano piece starts out with Middle C.

It's like starting the alphabet with A so you know how to get started. Giving things a familiar beginning makes it easier for kids to start over and try the piece again. They are fairly sure that the piece is going to begin on Middle C.

Using the Baseball Game

Most songs are based on a group of chords, (chords are three notes played simultaneously with the left hand) sometimes as few as two chords. These groups are called "chord progressions" and songs share many of the same progressions.

Here's one of the most used progressions in millions of songs. The letters refer to chords:

C Am F G (Am means A minor)

Use two note chords (a simplification for kids) to play the game.

Home Plate is C chord.

First Base is the A minor chord

Second Base is the F chord

Third Base is the G chord

Go Around The Bases

Chord Progression In Two Note Chords

C = 1 and 3

Am = 6 and 8

F = 4 and 6

G = 5 and 7

Kids Don't Concentrate On Detail

You have no idea how hard it is for kids to familiarize themselves with the minutiae of sheet music until you have actually done so for hours a day. You'll begin to see what is possible and what is not. And how long it will take for each individual child.

Every single child can be taught the rudiments of simple sheet music, if you are patient enough. I'm not certain of is how long any individual child will take to reach that goal. Every kid is so vastly different, in age, in temperament, in ability, in desire.

Finding Middle C

Finding Middle C securely in both the sheet music and on the piano can take kids months and sometimes years. Think of it in terms of baseball: some kids can hit and some can't. But with piano, those who can't hit right away can be taught how. In baseball, you seem to have far less of a chance of finding an infinitely patient teacher.

You have to keep trying to find Middle C again and again, just as you did with the ABCs. It is a ledge on which the child can rest, a bit of security in a sea of uncertain notes on the page. Luckily, there are many fascinating things about the piano you can interest a child with while they are learning where home plate and Middle C is.

There are four chords, just like the bases. Home, 1, 2, 3 are the same as C Dm F G. There are four steps to completing the circle, in baseball just as it is in music. Make a game of everything at the piano, and you will have a child's interest at all times.