Lesson Title:
Introduction to Melodic Notation: Sol-Mi
Grade Level or Course:
Second Grade Music
Time Allotment:
35-40 minutes
Targeted Goals and Objectives from the 2000 North Carolina Arts Education
Standard Course
of Study and Grade Level Competencies, K-12:
Targeted Goals and Objectives from the North Carolina Standard Course
of Study and Grade
Level Competencies, K-12 for other content areas:
Students will be introduced to the musical element of Melody by listening to melodies and simultaneously moving to, tracing icons to and ultimately reading symbols of melodies.
Materials/Equipment Needed:
Flashlight; transparency of iconic representation of a short piece of classical music e.g."Waltz of the Doll" as used in Silver Burdett Gr. 3 and recording of piece;? recorder or other melody instrument for teacher use;? chart or transparency of staff;? individual slates/dry erase boards with writing implement.
Review melodic direction as up, down and same. Refer to song they are familiar with i.e.Fiddle-I-Fee. In this lesson we will focus on writing down our melodies.
Activity 1: Flashlight traces contours on board or wall.
As teacher shows up and down on wall with beam, students sing melody on nonsense
syllables. Choose 2-3 other student leaders for more examples.
Activity 2: Tracing melodic contour from chart.
Display transparency of prepared contour of classical piece like "Waltz
of the Doll" from Silver Burdett, The Music Connection, Grade 3. Students
will trace contour in the air as the recording plays. As lights are turned back
on, discuss if there is a record of what just occurred. How would a concrete
visual representation help us?
Activity 3: Staff Activity showing specific high and low sounds.
Display chart of a music staff. Show how notes can be placed on lines or spaces.
Name the higher pitch sol and the lower pitch mi. Choose 2-3 students to write
mi after the teacher has written where sol is located. Pass out slates and
chalk. Have students individually do problems where they copy sol and fill
in mi then reverse. Teacher monitors student answers throughout.
Activity 4: Evaluate/Synthesize
Display transparency of sol-mi songs such as "Rain, Rain." Have students
sing on pitch with proper head voice. Extend by having them make up words to
sol-mi melodies.
Special Considerations:
Students should have had previous experience in melodic movement such as: higher, lower and repeating tones. These are then refined to upward and downward motions. This lesson focuses on iconic representations of melodies and then moves to basic symbolic notation of two pitches.
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