Building Melodic Understanding

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Overview

This activity builds upon the Introduction to Melody activity and is intended for students at the novice level of ensemble participation. In this activity, students will develop their melodic listening skills and learn to transcribe melodies into graphic representations. It builds and reinforces their knowledge of pitch, step and skip intervals, and melodic contour.

This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.

Phase

During/Explore/Explain
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 06-12 - Music

AE17.MU.TEE.N.2

Select and draft melodic and rhythmic ideas or motives that demonstrate understanding of thecharacteristics of music or texts studied in rehearsal.

UP:AE17.MU.TEE.N.2

Vocabulary

Choral
Rhythm
  • Measure
  • Bar line
  • Time signature
  • Simple meter
  • Common time
  • 2/4 time
  • Whole note/ rest
  • Half note/ rest
  • Quarter note/ rest
  • Eighth note/ rest
  • Tempo
Melody
  • Head voice/ chest voice
  • Staff
  • Clef (treble and bass)
  • Major key signature
  • Diatonic major scale
  • Tonic major arpeggio
  • Pitch
  • Stepwise motion
  • Skip motion
Harmony
  • Unison
  • 2-part singing
  • Vocal ostinati
  • Imitative harmony (canon, etc.)
Form
  • Phrase
  • Verse
  • Chorus
  • Section
  • AB
  • ABA
  • Repeat sign
Expression
  • Balance/ blend
  • Phrasing
  • Dynamics: pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo, crescendo, decrescendo, diminuendo
  • Uniform vowels
  • Fermata
Other
  • Sharps
  • Flats
  • Naturals
  • Diction
  • Posture
  • Performance etiquette
  • Correct breathing

Instrumental
Rhythm
  • Beat
  • Tempo
    • Adagio
    • Andante
    • Moderato
  • Counting System
  • Simple Meter
  • Time Signature
    • 4/4
    • Common
    • 2/4
    • 3/4
  • Barline
  • Measure/ Bar
  • Whole Note & Rest
  • Half Note & Rest
  • Quarter Note & Rest
  • Eighth Note & Rest
  • Dotted Half Note
  • Tie
  • Pick-up Note
  • Rudiment
Melody
  • Staff
  • Clef
    • Treble
    • Bass
    • Alto
  • Key Signature
  • Sharp
  • Flat
  • Natural
  • Accidental
  • Pitch
  • Range
  • Register
  • Middle Register
  • Tonality
  • Major
  • Diatonic
  • Chromatic
  • Scale
  • Arpeggio
  • Half-Step
  • Whole-Step
  • Stepwise Motion
  • Intervals
Harmony
  • Unison
  • Solo
  • Duet
  • Tutti
  • Chord
  • Progression
Form
  • Phrase
  • Repeats/ Repeat Sign
  • Double Bar Line
Expression
  • Dynamic
    • Piano
    • Mezzo Piano
    • Mezzo Forte
    • Forte
  • Articulation
    • Tonguing
    • Slurring
    • Accent
    • Legato
    • Staccato
    • Detaché
    • Pizzicato
  • Breath Mark
Other
  • Posture
  • Instrument Carriage
  • Instrument Assembly
  • Instrument Maintenance
  • Embouchure
  • Grip
  • Characteristic Tone Quality
  • Tone Color
  • Range
  • Timbre
  • Breathing
  • Support
  • Sustain
  • Release
  • Intonation
  • Balance

Essential Questions

EU: The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians' work emerge from a variety of sources.
EQ: How do musicians generate creative ideas?

Skills Examples

Choral
Performing
  • Read rhythmic notation aloud using a consistent system (e.g., counting, neutral syllables, etc.).
  • Read melodic notation aloud using a consistent system (e.g., numbers, solfege, etc.).
    • Creating
    • Improvise 4-8 beat rhythms using body percussion and call/ response.
    • Improvise 4-beat melodic patterns using visual stimuli and call/ response.
    • Collaborate to synthesize original compositions with peers using improvised elements.
      • Reading/ Writing
      • Create and share 8-16 measure unison rhythmic and melodic exercises using standard notation within teacher-provided guidelines.
        • Responding/ Evaluating
        • Identify thematic elements and repetition in notated music.
        • Identify challenging elements in notated music.

          • Instrumental
          Performing
          • Assemble, disassemble, and perform routine maintenance on the assigned instrument(s).
          • Hold the assigned instrument(s) with appropriate posture.
          • Using the proper embouchure, breath support, articulation, and release, produce a characteristic tone in the middle register at dynamic ranges between piano and forte (Winds).
          • Perform pizzicato, up and down bows with a detaché bow stroke with 2 to 4 slurred notes (Strings).
          • On a steady beat and at slow to medium tempi, clap, speak on neutral syllables, count aloud, and play on instruments given rhythmic patterns using whole, half, quarter, eighth notes and rests and dotted half notes in 4/4, common, 2/4, and 3/4 meters.
          • On a steady beat and at slow to medium, speak the letter names of and sing on pitch and/or using solfege melodic notation within a given range.
          • Play the concert Bb, Eb, and Ab scales with arpeggios (winds and percussion). Play a one octave concert C, G, D, and A scales with arpeggios (strings).
            • Play five-stroke roll, nine-stroke rolls, flam, single paradiddle, and flamacue rudiments (percussion). Play a one octave chromatic scale (winds and percussion).
          • Play alone and with others, music graded .5 to 1 and beginner to very easy.
          Creating
          • Complete unfinished compositions using standard music notation.
          • Improvise simple rhythmic and melodic patterns of 1-2 measures within given parameters.
          • Compose simple rhythmic and melodic patterns of 1-2 measures within given parameters using standard music notation.
          Reading/ Writing
          • Read given rhythmic notation using whole, half, quarter, eighth, and dotted half notes and rests in 4/4, common, 2/4, and 3/4 meters.
          • Read melodic notation within the middle register of the assigned instruments(s).
          • Identify by name and notate common musical elements (staff, clefs, rhythms, etc.).
          Responding/ Evaluating
          • Identify parts of the assigned instrument(s).
          • Listen to and identify intervals by ear.
          • Listen to and echo simple rhythmic and melodic patterns 1 to 2 measures in length using body percussion, the voice, and instruments.
          • Listen to and dictate simple rhythmic patterns 1 to 2 measures in length using whole, half, quarter, eighth, and dotted half notes and rests in 4/4, common, 2/4, and 3/4 meters.
          • Listen to and dictate simple melodic patterns 1 to 2 measures in length within a given range.
          • Listen to a variety of live and recorded music performed by self, peers, instructors, and professional soloists and ensembles.
          • Listen to live and recorded music from a variety of time periods and cultures, of varying styles, from various composers.
          • Recognize conducting patterns used in 4/4, common, 2/4, and 3/4 meters.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

  • identify melodic motion as ascending or descending.
  • transcribe the contour of simple melodies into graphic representations.

Activity Details

Opening Strategy

  • The students will open a blank document in Microsoft Word (or take out a blank sheet of paper).
  • From the Insert menu, they will go to the Shapes submenu and select the Freeform: Scribble line (second row, first selection on the left).
  • Students will practice inserting the Scribble line and manipulating it in their document.

Core Strategy

  • The teacher will explain that melodies ascend, descend, and repeat the same pitches.
  • The teacher will play melodic examples of each and ask the student to draw the direction of each example using the Scribble line in their document.
  • The teacher will play a familiar melody and ask the students to draw the contour of the melody using the Scribble line.
  • The teacher will acknowledge that a melody ascends, descends, and sometimes remains the same.
  • (transition) The students will then go to the Insert menu in Word and select Shapes.
  • The students will select the oval shape and insert it into their document.
  • The students will adjust the oval so that it is small.
  • The students will copy the small oval shape and paste it several times (5-10) along the bottom of their document (end of transition).
  • The teacher will then ask the students to move their ovals (as in the Introduction to Melody activity) along their Scribble line so that the ovals approximate the shape of the line.
  • The teacher asks the students to imagine that the oval shapes are notes on a musical staff.
  • The teacher then gives each student a piece of staff paper and asks the student to draw oval shapes on the lines and spaces of the staff so that they have the same contour as in the Word document.

Closing Strategy 

  • The teacher will play one final melody that clearly presents the ascending, descending, and repetitive qualities of melodies.
  • To demonstrate mastery, students will once again draw the contour of the melody with the Scribble line, add the oval shapes, and then transfer the melody to the staff paper as oval shapes on the lines and spaces while maintaining the same melodic contour.

Assessment Strategies

Teachers will evaluate the Word documents and staff paper approximations produced by the students for their ability to draw melodic contour and to transfer that contour to a traditional music staff.

Variation Tips

This activity can be completed using paper and pencils if no similar software is available.

Background / Preparation

Materials for this lesson are:

  • computers, iPads, or blank paper for all students.
  • prior knowledge of simple melodies.
  • staff paper.

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

mzelenak
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