Are you looking for a fun music dynamics game? This quick music game is designed to teach your students about musical dynamics in an engaging and entertaining way!
Music students must test their knowledge of music dynamics by outsmarting the hyenas and getting the lion pack in their den safely.
What is taught in Dynamic Den
- Foritssimo
- Forte
- Mezzo-forte
- Mezzo-piano
- Piano
- Pianissimo
In addition to learning the common dynamic terms (and how to pronounce them!), music students are required to know the order of “softest to loudest” in order to win the game.
And if you’re playing with two or more music students, they have to know them quickly!
What’s included in this music dynamics game download:
Here’s what you’ll get with the Dynamic Den printable download:
- Dynamic Den game in 2 sizes: US letter & A4
- Dynamic Den game board
- 12 lion dynamics cards (1 fortissimo, 1 forte, 2 mezzo-forte, 2 mezzo-piano, 3 piano, 3 pianissimo)
- 2 hyena cards
- Dynamic Den success poster
- Print release
- How to Play tutorial video
You will get the digital file to print and laminate (optional) for your music studio in both letter size (US) and A4 size (international)
Music Game Club members will also get:
- Dynamic Den activity sheets in 2 sizes: US Letter & A4
- Tutorial videos with bonus gameplay ideas
Membership is only open twice a year. Check out our membership page here for more details.
Set-up is super simple.
- Print the game board
- Print the cards (front & back)
- Cut the cards
- Laminate (optional)
How this music dynamics game is played
This music dynamics game can be played individually or in a group for roaring fun!
We’ll tell you how it’s played, but if you’re a visual learner, here is a video of Rebekah and her daughter, Ava, playing Dynamic Den.
Individual game play directions
Place the Dynamic Den game board on the playing zone (table, floor, piano bench, or other flat surface).
Shuffle all Dynamic Den cards (lions and hyenas) and place the draw pile face-down.
Student draws one card at a time and places it on the correct dynamic volume on the game board (e.g. mp goes on moderately soft).
But there’s a twist!
If a hyena is picked and there is no Lion King (fortissimo) on the board, the hyena scares the pride away!
All cards go back in the draw pile and are reshuffled.
Only when a Lion King (fortissimo) is on the game board is the pack safe from the hyenas.
When all the dynamics are on the board, the player wins.
2-Player music game play instructions
Dynamic Den can be played with either teacher-student or student-student in this 2-player game variation.
Print multiple copies of the game board so each student has their own board and cards.
Each player shuffles their deck of cards and places them face-down.
Players flip the top card at the same time. Whoever’s dynamic is the loudest wins and places their dynamic on the board. The losing card is placed in the player’s discard pile.
If a hyena is drawn by either player, no one places anything on the board (both cards go in their respective discard piles).
If a match is drawn, both players get to place their dynamics on the board.
If the winning card is already on the player’s board, just stack the extra cards.
When draw pile is used up, reshuffle the discard pile & keep going/
First player to fill their board with accurate music dynamics wins!
Want to shake it up even more?
Instead of multiple students taking turns and “battling” each other, it’s a race!
All the students pick cards at the same time and race to see who can fill their board first.
Students can only pick one card at a time and must place it on their board or discard it before picking another card.
Hyenas and Lion Kings (fortissimo) have the same rules as individual game instructions.
First player to fill their board with accurate music dynamics wins!
Online game play options
If you’re like me and you have online piano students, you can easily adapt this music dynamics game so your long-distance piano students can join the fun.
Place your camera where the student can see the game board.
Shuffle the cards and pick one for your student.
Show the card to your student and have the student tell you what you drew and where to put it.
You can play both single-player and two-player games this way.
Boardless music dynamics game option
Print two sets of the Dynamic Den game cards. This will give you an even amount of all the cards.
Shuffle all the cards and play “Go Fish” style (this will really help students learn how to pronounce the dynamics!).
Lay the cards face down and play “Memory Match” style.
Gameplay without hyenas
If your student needs to learn the order of dynamics without the stress of hyena attack, challenge them to fill the board from pianissimo to fortissimo in order (or fortissimo down to pianissimo).
The student draws cards one at a time.
If it’s the next on the list, they can use it.
If not, they have to discard it, mix up the cards, and pick again.
When they have placed all the cards in order on the board, they win.
Simplified game play
If you have young students who get easily discouraged with the hyenas attacking, change the rules to where a “mommy or daddy” lion (Lioness and King; forte and fortissimo) are both able to protect the board from hyenas.
Have more gameplay ideas?
Comment and let us know how you played this game in your music studio!
Behind the scenes of developing Dynamic Den
I love behind the scenes so I’ve got to share them for all the other nerds out there.
Dynamic Den went through various stages of development.
Being our first music game, we learned a lot about how to best develop and test a game.
First, I sketched out a super rough idea (trust me, I leave all the design up to our artist, Kristen McHenry!) and wrote out the game details.
Kristen took the idea and transformed it into this beautiful, timeless artistic game.
And then we tested it (first big lesson: we are going to test game play before designing in the future!).
My four-year-old niece (whose only exposure to dynamics is from Little Einsteins) and her mom tested it first.
And while my niece definitely learned her dynamics, they found some flaws.
Our original rules had that a “daddy or mommy” lion could protect the board (that is an option if you need easy play for young students who like to win).
We also had just one card of each dynamic marking and only two hyenas.
Well, apparently my niece is slightly blood-thirsty, because her board was always protected too soon and she really, really loved it when the hyenas scared off the baby lions.
So we added more dynamic cards, more hyenas, changed the rules, and my niece is happily scaring off the baby lions with hyenas as she learns her music dynamics.
Our next step was to test group-game play.
I talked my sister into playing a few rounds with me (this time, we had the extra cards and only the Lion King as safety).
We did the “race” version where we madly picked up cards (one at a time) to fill our boards first.
I learned a few things.
- Just because you pick the Lion King (fortissimo) first, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win
- We needed to still work on our hyena-lion cub ratio
- It was fun!
The last part actually surprised me.
I’ve known my dynamics for over twenty years. However, I found the game fun.
Maybe I’m just that competitive (and yes, I did win all the rounds we played).
Needless to say, I’m excited to get this game out in the world and I can’t wait to hear all YOUR stories about playing it with your music students!
Did you enjoy this music dynamics game?
If you and your students love this game, please share on social media and tag us @musicgameclub.
Also, tell your music teacher friends about this game so they can enjoy it too!
For more music game ideas
Check out our blog post: 5 Low-Prep Music Game Ideas
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