Still thinking about Melody, the kids practiced playing short melodies from the song "Pick a Little, Talk a Little" from the Music Man. After listening several times, they identified how the pitches moved on each "cheap, cheap, cheap" part. One melody part had repeated notes, or notes that stayed the same, while another part had steps that went up and down, and finally the ending of the song had big jumps from low to high and back low again. Finally, the students worked in pairs to learn how to play the melodies on xylophones. These melodies were pretty tricky, however, the faster the song went! But the kids love it, and challenged themselves to play it faster and faster, like the song!
0 Comments
We are now beginning an extensive unit on melody. A melody, or the tune of a song, is made by a combination of pitches that move high and low and long and short. Or as Buddy the Elf defines singing, "it’s just like talking, except longer and louder, and you move your voice up and down!"
Throughout this unit, we will discuss the many ways melodies are constructed. Sometimes melodies move up and down by pitches that step from one pitch to the next. Sometimes melodies will skip and jump around, and sometimes melodies will even stay on the same pitch for a while, defined as repeated notes. Finally, many melodies consist of repeated patterns. Once the students listen to and perform several different melodies, they will be asked to create their very own melodies on xylophones to perform for their class! I'm looking forward to it! This week, the students learned the song "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little" from the classic musical "The Music Man." This tongue-twister song was a blast to learn! The students listened carefully to the melody, figuring out patterns and moving their bodies with the sound of their voices. Below are a few pictures of the students moving up and down as they sing. They found repeated notes, steps, and jumps in this particular song. I think we definitely got a workout in this song! |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2019
Categories |