Rep Decks Keyboard Series Games Manual

Rep Recall

Team Rep Recall Coop

Team Rep Recall Relay

Rep Recall Challenge

Team Rep Recall Challenge

Rep Decks Simple Keyboard Poker

Rep Rendition

Team Rep Rendition Runaway

Team Rep Retrospect

Rep One Eye on the Conductor

Rep Recall Prestissimo

Rep Recital Roulette

Rep Recital Roundabout

Rep Decks Ultimate Keyboard Poker

Introduction and Use

With Rep Decks™ you have an entertaining and educational way to play cards and test your knowledge of music repertoire.

First, Rep Decks™ can be used as a regular deck of playing cards as it contains the customary thirteen ranks in four different suits plus two jokers that you would find in a normal 54–card deck. This allows you to use Rep Decks™ to play any card game that utilizes the standard deck of cards.

However, what make Rep Decks™ unique is that they can be used to play fun and engaging games that test, challenge and improve players’ knowledge of the musical repertoire that musicians and music lovers have come to cherish over the years.

In this manual you will find over a dozen exciting games involving varying degrees of strategy, cooperation, difficulty and rivalry.

It is the designer's wish that the players customize the game play to make the experience as compelling as possible for their mood, level of experience, confidence and competitiveness.

In addition to many fun games, Rep Decks™ can be used as flash cards, study aids or a randomizing tool for competition or audition preparation.

Rep Decks™ designed by Kenneth Amis
Rep Deck games created by Kenneth Amis
Art & Graphic Design by Kenneth Amis
Special Thanks to Jason Amis and Sean Amis

Rep Deck Games

Since many of the games described below center around naming people and musical works, before game play begins, players should decide on what constitutes an acceptable identification and how much time each player has to make the identification (10 seconds seems a reasonable length of time). A wall clock or timer on a mobile phone can be used to assure fair timekeeping.

Rep Recall

Rep Recall is a simple game of identifying the composer and work from which the musical excerpt on a card is taken.

Play The player with the shortest hair begins by drawing a card from the top of the deck and attempting to identify its musical excerpt.

Prevail If the player attempts to identify the excerpt he must reveal the card to all other players to get confirmation that his answer is correct and in accordance with the prescribed response. If correct, he keeps the card and play continues clockwise to the next player.

Fail If he fails to correctly identify the excerpt in the prescribed manner, he puts the card face down in a discard pile. If he declines to make an attempt to identify the excerpt or runs out of time, he does not show the card to anyone else before placing it face down in the discard pile. Play continues clockwise to the next player.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the player with the most cards wins!

Tie In the event of a draw, the players who are tied work their way through the discard pile in the same manner under “sudden death” rules. In other words, a player who fails to identify a musical excerpt is eliminated if an opposing player is successful in the same round. This continues until a round ends with only one player answering correctly or there are no more cards left. At that point a winner or tie is declared.

Team Rep Recall Coop

Team Rep Recall Coop is a game where teammates confer to identify the composer and work from which the musical excerpt on a card is taken.

Play Players are divided into two or more evenly skilled teams. The team with the youngest player begins by drawing a card from the top of the deck. As a team, they try to identify its musical excerpt.

Prevail If the team attempts to identify the excerpt they must reveal the card to all other players to get confirmation that their answer is correct and in accordance with the prescribed response. If correct, they keep the card and play continues clockwise to the next team.

Fail If a team fails to correctly identify the excerpt, they put the card face down in a discard pile. If they decline to make an attempt to identify the excerpt or run out of time, they do not show the card to anyone else before placing it face down in the discard pile. Play continues clockwise to the next team.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the team with the most cards wins!

Tie In the event of a draw, the teams who are tied work their way through the discard pile in the same manner under “sudden death” rules. In other words, a team who fails to identify a musical excerpt is eliminated if an opposing team is successful in the same round. This continues until a round ends with only one team answering correctly or there are no more cards left. At that point a winner or tie is declared.

Team Rep Recall Relay

Team Rep Recall Relay is a game where individual teammates identify the composer and work from which the musical excerpt on a card is taken.

Play Players are divided into two or more evenly skilled teams. The player with the longest hair begins by drawing a card from the top of the deck and attempting to identify its musical excerpt. She cannot show the card to her teammates and must make the identification on her own (i.e., without assistance from her teammates).

Prevail If the player attempts to identify the excerpt she must reveal the card to all other players to get confirmation that her answer is correct and in accordance with the prescribed response. If correct, her team keeps the card and another player on her team takes a turn. The players on a team continue to alternate turns until one of them fails to make a correct identification or there are no more cards left to draw.

Fail If a player fails to correctly identify the excerpt, she puts the card face down in a discard pile. If she declines to make an attempt to identify the excerpt or runs out of time, she does not show the card to anyone else before placing it face down in the discard pile. Play then continues clockwise to the next team where the player with the longest hair takes the first turn.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the team(s) with the most cards wins!

Rep Recall Challenge

Skill Level Moderately Challenging
# Of Players 2+
Objective Collect the fewest cards.

Rep Recall Challenge is a simple game where one player challenges another’s ability to identify the composer and work from which the musical excerpt on a card is taken.

Play The player with the youngest sibling begins by drawing and viewing a card from the top of the deck. He becomes a challenger and, before revealing the card, challenges any player of his choice to identify the card's musical excerpt in the prescribed manner. Once the challenge is made the card is shown to the person that was challenged who then has the opportunity to meet the challenge in the usual time frame.

Prevail If the challenged player fails to correctly identify the excerpt in the prescribed manner, declines to make an attempt or runs out of time, the challenged player must keep the card. Play continues clockwise with the player to the left of the challenger drawing a card and becoming the new challenger.

Fail If the challenged player attempts to identify the excerpt and gets the answer correct, the challenger must keep the card. Play continues clockwise with the player to the left of the challenger drawing a card and becoming the new challenger.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the player(s) with the fewest cards wins!

Team Rep Recall Challenge

Skill Level Moderately Challenging
# Of Players 4+
Objective Collect the fewest cards.

Team Rep Recall Challenge is a simple game where a team challenges another team’s ability to identify the composer and work from which the musical excerpt on a card is taken.

Play Players are divided into two or more evenly skilled teams. The team with the player with the oldest sibling begins by drawing a card from the top of the deck. They become the challengers and, before revealing the card, they challenge any team of their choice to identify the card’s musical excerpt in the prescribed manner. Once the challenge is made the card is shown to the team that was challenged who then has the opportunity to meet the challenge in the usual time frame.

Prevail If the challenged team fails to correctly identify the excerpt in the prescribed manner, declines to make an attempt or runs out of time they keep the card. The challengers retain control of the game and take another turn by drawing another card and placing another challenge to the same or a different team. They continue to take turns until their challenge is met by an opposing team.

Fail If the challenged team attempts to identify the excerpt and gets the answer correct, the challengers must keep the card. Play then continues clockwise with the team to the left of the challengers drawing a card and becoming the new challengers.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the team(s) with the fewest cards wins!

Rep Decks Simple Keyboard Poker

Skill Level Challenging
# Of Players 2–6
Objective Acquire the best poker hand or bluff your way to victory.

Rep Decks Simple Keyboard Poker is a way of playing any number of poker games (e.g., Five Card Draw, Seven Card Stud, Texas Hold’em, etc.) using one’s knowledge of music repertoire to validate a winning poker hand.

Play Players play any poker game they choose as normal—complete with any drawing of cards and betting. However, in order to have a valid winning hand each player must be able to identify the composer and work on each card that makes up his winning hand when the time comes to show his cards. For example, if a player has three of a kind in his hand he must be able to identify the composer and work from which the musical excerpt on each of those three cards is taken for the hand to be a valid winning hand. If he can only identify the composer and the excerpted work on two of the three cards, then the hand only counts as a pair. Cards that a player has that are not used to create a winning hand can be ignored. If a player can win the game without having to show his cards (e.g., all of his opponents fold) he does not have to identify any cards.

Rep Rendition

Skill Level Moderately Challenging
# Of Players 3+
Objective Collect the most cards.

Rep Rendition is a game of singing the complete phrase from which the musical excerpt on a card is taken in the style of the original work.

Play The player with the most recent birthday begins by drawing a card from the top of the deck. She then attempts to accurately sing the complete phrase from which the excerpt on the card taken. She doesn’t have to identify its composer or title but must begin her rendition in the allotted time.

Prevail After revealing her card, all players judge her rendition on accuracy of rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamic and style. A vote is taken and, if approved, she keeps the card. Play continues clockwise to the next player.

Fail If her rendition is rejected she puts the card face down in a discard pile. If she declines to make a singing attempt or does not begin singing before time expires, she does not show the card to anyone else before placing it face down in the discard pile. Play continues clockwise to the next player.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the player(s) with the most cards wins!

Team Rep Rendition Runaway

Skill Level Moderately Challenging
# Of Players 6+
Objective Collect the most cards.

Team Rep Rendition Runaway is a game where teammates sing the complete phrase from which the musical excerpt on a card is taken in the style of the original work.

Play Players are divided into two or more evenly skilled teams. The team with the tallest player begins by drawing a card from the top of the deck. The whole team attempts to accurately sing the complete phrase from which the excerpt on the card taken together. They don’t have to identify its composer or title but must begin their rendition in the allotted time.

Prevail After revealing their card, all teams judge the rendition for accuracy of rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamic and style. A vote is taken and, if approved, the team keeps the card. Play continues clockwise to the next team.

However, if a team wishes to retain control of the game and take another turn immediately, instead of singing only the musical excerpt on the card they can attempt to sing one or more musical lines that accompany the music excerpt in the original work (only if such polyphony actually exists). Unisons and octaves don’t count. Again, everyone present judges the entire performance on the accuracy of rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamic and style of all sung lines and, if approved by majority vote, the singing team not only keeps the card but immediately takes another turn. A team may continue using this strategy as long as they choose.

Fail If either a monophonic or polyphonic rendition is rejected the team puts the card face down in a discard pile. If the team declines to make a singing attempt or does not begin singing before time expires, they do not show the card to anyone else before placing it face down in the discard pile. Play continues clockwise to the next team.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the team(s) with the most cards wins!

Team Rep Retrospect

Skill Level Moderately Challenging
# Of Players 4+
Objective Collect the most cards.

Team Rep Retrospect is a game of deception where your team tries to trick an opposing team into misidentifying the composer, the pieces title and the instrument that the musical excerpt shown on the card was originally written for. (Virginals, spinets, clavichords, clavicytheria and the like may be grouped as harpsichords. Likewise, pianofortes and fortepianos may be grouped as pianos. Mechanical organs, pipe organs and other types of organs may be grouped together.)

Play Players are divided into two or more evenly skilled teams. The team with the shortest player begins by drawing a card from the top of the deck. As a team they have 20 seconds to secretly decide whether they can and will give the team to their right correct information pertaining to the identification of the musical excerpt’s composer, original title and original instrument. They are free to give all correct information (if they can), some correct information (if they can) or all bogus information.

The team receiving this information then examines the card and, as a group, has 15 seconds to determine which of the three facts they have been given are true and which are false. They do not have to give the correct information themselves; they simply have to state whether each piece of information given to them by the other team is true or false and in accordance with the prescribed response. Players are welcome to examine and discuss the accuracy of answers using original sources.

Prevail If the team receiving the information fails to put an accurate truth value on each of the three facts given to them, declines to make an attempt or runs out of time, the team giving the information gets to keep the card. Play continues with the team to the left of the team that offered the information.

Fail If the team receiving the information accurately determines the truth or falsity of all three pieces of information offer by the other team, then the receiving team gets to keep the card. Play continues with the team to the left of the team that offered the information.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the team with the most cards wins! If multiple teams have the same number of cards the game is declared a draw.

Rep One Eye on the Conductor

Skill Level Moderately Challenging
# Of Players 6–12
Objective Be the first to collect three musical excerpts written by the same composer/orchestrator. Don’t be the last player to look up!

Rep One Eye on the Conductor is a quick thinking game for a larger group where players match cards that contain musical excerpts written by the same composer. It is like a musical version of the card game Spoons, Pig or Tongue where composers substitute for a card’s rank (i.e., number).

Deal The cards are shuffled and each player is dealt five cards if there are nine players or fewer; four cards if there are more than nine players. Any remaining cards are place face down in a small exchange deck.

Play When everyone is ready to start, everyone begins a slow, repetitive chant of “Pass, two, three, four. Pass, two, three, four.” The tempo should be metronomic. On the word “Pass” everyone places one unwanted card face down to their left. During the “two, three, four” they pick up the card that the player to their right has placed down, see if they have a match and decide which card they will next pass to the left. Cards must only be passed one at a time, and you must never have more than four cards (four cards for groups larger than nine players) in your hand at one time—you are not allowed to pick up a new card from your right-hand neighbor until you have discarded one to your left. If the tempo of the chant is too fast, everyone can agree to chant more slowly or change the time signature to give everyone more time to think through their play.

This chanting and passing continues until someone is able to collect three musical excerpts written by the same composer/orchestrator.

SPECIAL CARDS The King of Diamonds, Jack of Hearts and Jack of Spades (the classic, one-eyed cards) are wild. They can be used to complete or create any “composer three of a kind”.

Once a player collects this “composer three of a kind” she covertly closes one eye and sticks out her tongue. She should continue to participate in the game as though nothing has happened, passing along the odd card out, receiving another to take its place and chanting as best she can with her tongue stuck out. Once a player sticks out her tongue, all the other players must do the same, even if they themselves do not have three of a kind. They continue to chant and trade cards until only one player has not stuck out his tongue and closed one eye. When the last player finally notices his tardiness the round is over. The last player to stick out his tongue and close one eye is barred from trading cards in the remaining rounds.

If multiple players cannot agree on which of them was the last player to stick out their tongue and close one eye they are barred from trading cards in the remaining rounds.

Once the barred player(s) has been identified, the player who first stuck out her tongue and closed one eye reveals her cards for confirmation that she is holding a valid hand. If she is, she gets to sit out for one round and re-enter play after someone else is barred from trading. If her hand is invalid she is barred from trading instead of the player(s) who was last to stick out his tongue and close one eye.

Players who are barred from trading should still chant, stick their tongue out and close one eye at the appropriate times but they do not participate in card swapping.

To start the next round, the winner of the last round has her cards exchanged for an equal number of cards from the exchange deck. The cards are shuffled and, again, each player is dealt five cards if there are nine or fewer players; four cards if there are more than nine players.

The game continues in this way until only four players remain (including the player who is sitting out for only one round). They are the winners of the game.

Rep Recall Prestissimo

Skill Level Moderately Challenging
# Of Players 2–6
Objective Collect the fewest cards.

Rep Recall Prestissimo is a game of speed identification of the composer, key and title of the musical excerpt displayed on a card.

Deal The cards are shuffled and placed face down in the center of the table so that they are clearly visible to all players. Since some players will have the disadvantage of viewing the cards upside down, it is important that the deal rotates.

Play The player wearing the most expensive wristwatch begins as the dealer by flipping over the top card of the deck. The first player to correctly shout out the key that the revealed musical excerpt is in wins the opportunity to take a turn trying to identify the musical excerpt. The excerpt could be in a major key, a minor key, “in transition” or in “no key” at the time the excerpt is performed. Players are welcome to examine and discuss the accuracy of answers using original sources.

Players who shout out an incorrect key must draw one card from the deck into their hand face down for every incorrect key they proclaim. The turn for the player who first correctly identified the key of the excerpt begins immediately after everyone confirms the correct key of the excerpt. The player then has the usual amount of time allotted to identify the musical excerpt’s composer and title in the prescribed manner.

Prevail If the player correctly identifies the excerpt all other players draw one card from the deck into their hand face down. Play continues with the player to the left of the dealer becoming the new dealer.

Fail If a player fails to correctly identify the excerpt in the prescribed manner she draws four cards from the deck into her hand face down. Play continues clockwise with the player to the left of the dealer becoming the new dealer of the next round.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the player with the fewest cards wins!

Tie In the event of a draw, the players who are tied continue to play in the same manner using the cards collected by all the losing players under “sudden death” rules. In other words, a player who fails to correctly identify a musical excerpt’s key, composer and title is eliminated if an opposing player has a successful turn in the same round. This continues until a round ends with one player having more cards than the others or there are no more cards left. At that point a winner or tie is declared.

Rep Recital Roulette

Rep Recital Roulette is a game of performing on an instrument the complete phrase from which the excerpt on a card is taken.

Deal The cards are shuffled and placed face down in the center of the table. A suitable keyboard is made available for all players to use.

Play Before play begins, players decide if the use of sheet music is allowed or if they will play phrases from memory. The player wearing the most expensive wristwatch begins by flipping over the top card of the deck for everyone to view. She then attempts to accurately play the complete phrase of the musical excerpt on her instrument.† She does not have to identify its composer or title but must play the entire phrase. This will usually be longer than what appears on the card and may lead to interesting discussions pertaining to phrasing and cadence. She must begin her performance within the allotted time.

Prevail All players judge her performance on accuracy of rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamic, style and phrase length . A vote is taken and, if approved, she keeps the card. Play continues clockwise to the next player.

Fail If her performance is rejected or declines to make a performance attempt, she places the card face down in a discard pile. Play continues clockwise to the next player.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the player with the most cards wins! If no players have earned cards, nobody wins.

Tie In the event of a draw, the players who are tied work their way through the discard pile in the same manner under “sudden death” rules. In other words, a player is immediately eliminated if she fails to give a performance that is approved by majority vote (included the votes of non-competing players). This continues until a round ends with one player having more cards than the others, everyone is eliminated or there are no more cards left.

If a tie still exists after the discard pile has been exhausted, non-competing players consolidate all of the cards that they collected into a new stock pile for the tied competitors to work through.

If a tie still exists after all 54 cards have been used, the winner is decided by a coin toss.

† Since Rep Decks™ Keyboard Series contains organ excerpts, players may want to consider two alternate game mechanics to accommodate any melodic figures in the pedals. If non-organists are playing or the instrument that players are using for the game does not have pitched pedals, players may choose to allow the omission of the pedal staff when performing. this should only be allow when the pedal line is not or primary or secondary importance to the phrase. If it is, one of the other, less important lines should be left out of the performance. Conversely, players may require the pedal line to be sung while the right and left hand lines are played.

Rep Recital Roundabout

Rep Recital Roundabout is a game of performing on an instrument the complete phrase from which the excerpt on a card is taken .

Deal The cards are shuffled and placed face down in the center of the table. Each player has their instrument at the ready.

Play Before play begins, players decide whether the use of sheet music is allowed or they will play phrases from memory. The tallest player begins by drawing and viewing a card from the top of the deck. He then attempts to accurately play the complete phrase of the musical excerpt on his instrument.† He does not have to identify its composer or title but must play the entire phrase. This will usually be longer than what appears on the card and may lead to interesting discussions pertaining to phrasing and cadence. He must begin to play in the allotted time .

Prevail All players judge his performance on accuracy of rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamic, style and phrase length . A vote is taken and, if approved, he keeps the card and the player to his left takes a turn.

Fail If his performance is rejected or he declines to make a performance attempt, he passes the card to the player to his left. The player receiving the card then has the option to attempt to play the complete excerpt or decline the attempt. If she fails to perform the excerpt to the group’s standards or declines to make a performance attempt, she passes the card to the player to her left. The card travels clockwise in this manner until a successful performance is given. If no player can give an approved performance the card is placed in the discard pile and the next round is started by the first player from the last round drawing a new card.

When there are no more cards left in the deck the player with the most cards wins! If no players have earned cards, nobody wins.

Tie In the event of a draw, the players who are tied work their way through the discard pile in the same manner under “sudden death” rules. In other words, a player is immediately eliminated if he fails to give a performance that is approved by majority vote (included the votes of non-competing players). This continues until a round ends with one player having more cards than the others, everyone is eliminated or there are no more cards left.

If a tie still exists after the discard pile has been exhausted, non-competing players consolidate all of the cards that they collected into a new stock pile for the tied competitors to work through.

If a tie still exists after all 54 cards have been used, the winner is decided by a coin toss.

Rep Decks Ultimate Keyboard Poker

Skill Level Very Challenging
# Of Players 2–6
Objective Acquire the best poker hand or bluff your way to victory.

Rep Decks Ultimate Keyboard Poker is a way of playing any number of poker games (e.g., Five Card Draw, Seven Card Stud, Texas Hold’em, etc.) using one’s knowledge of music repertoire to substitute for card ranks and suits.

Play The list below describes options for what a player must hold in their hand to achieve the familiar poker hands. They are listed from lowest ranking to highest.

Rep Decks

Keyboard Series Games Manual

Contents