Teaching musical scales can be difficult, especially if you're focusing on shape notes/solfege.

This Velcro board is adapted from the Rudiments class at Camp FaSoLa, a summer camp focused on teaching the American tradition of Sacred Harp music. http://campfasola.org/

This lightweight board can be used with regular round notes as well as shaped notes.

Step 1: Materials

For one board:

1 20"x30"x3/4" white foam board
1 white poster board
150" 1-inch adhesive black Velcro, either hook or loop side
120" 1-inch adhesive white Velcro, either hook or loop side
enough black and white Velcro (opposite of what is on the board)
yardstick/measuring tape
pencil
Sharpies
scissors

*buying adhesive Velcro in bulk online seems to be MUCH cheaper, we spent only a few dollars on both black/white from eBay

For two boards:
2 20"x30"x3/4" white foam board
1 white poster board
150" 1-inch adhesive black Velcro,both hook or loop side
120" 1-inch adhesive white Velcro, both hook or loop side
yardstick/measuring tape
pencil
Sharpies
scissors

Step 2: Instructions

1. Cut five 30" long black Velcro pieces, and four 30" long white Velcro pieces.

2. Mark line on board, starting at 2" from the top, then 7/8", then 1" and so on to mark spaces for the nine staff lines.

3. Stick adhesive Velcro strips in alternating order 7/8" apart from each other, starting with black Velcro.

Step 3:

4. If making regular circular notes, draw and cut out 2.5" diameter circles from poster board.
If making 1 four-shaped-note board, draw and cut out 2 ovals (sol), 2 diamonds (mi), 3 rectangles (la), and 3 triangles (fa).
If making 2 four-shaped-note board, draw and cut out 4 ovals (sol), 4 diamonds (mi), 6 rectangles (la), and 6 triangles (fa).

5. If making treble and/or bass clefs, draw and cut out clefs of desired shape/size from poster board.

6. If making sharps/flats, draw and cut out desired size/shape from poster board.

7. Adhere remaining opposite-side Velcro to the backs of these shapes.
*We made two boards, so on the back of each shape, we placed one of each (hook/look) type of Velcro.