Melody
 Melody - A logical succession of musical pitches arranged in a rhythmic pattern.  An
important part of melody is rhythm.  The notes vary in pitch and duration.  Form also applies
to melody.  Melodies include repetition as well as contrast.  Pitch characteristics of melodies
include:
o Direction - up, down, stay the same
o Range - wide or narrow spectrum of notes ranging from low to high
o Position - Maybe use notes of high pitches or transposed to low pitches, but as long
as the intervals between notes is consistent, the melody can be placed with the total
pitch continuum.
o Intervals - The distance between the pitches of the melody may be steps from one
note to an adjacent note, or skips where pitches leap from one to another skipping a
tone or tones.
 Melody Instruments
o Playing Bells
o Singing Melodies with Solfege - The Voice
o Playing Melodies on the Piano
o Playing Melodies on the Recorder
 The Musical Alphabet - ABCDEFG
 Scales - Major and Minor - Melodies are made up of the tones in a scale.  Most
children's melodies are major scales, but some are minor scales.  Major and minor scales
include 8 notes moving step by step from one pitch to the same pitch an octave higher (8
notes above).  The scale is named by the first note.  The first and last notes of the scale
indicate the "key" of the melody or song.   Scales can begin on any note, but the intervals
between each note remain consistent with the type of scale used in the melody.  Generally,
the melody will have a "tonal" center or home base.  This is the first note of the scale and the
melody will often end on that note.  
 C Major Scale - For the purpose of this lesson, we will use the C major scale since it uses
only the white keys on a piano. I have included a color coded set of materials that can be
used with a colored bell set I found very useful for teaching beginning music reading.  

Melodic Notation
Staff
5 Lines
and 4
Spaces
The staff is a musical timeline reading from left to
Musical right.
notes on
the staff sit
either on a
line or in a
space.
The
placement
on the
staff
indicates
pitch. 
Reading
music
involves
understan
ding
rhythmic
notation as
well as
melodic
notation. 

 
The
Treble
Clef 

Treble Clef - or G Clef

The treble
clef tells
us which
line is
going to
be which
note or
pitch.  The
treble clef
is also
known as
G Clef. 
The
bottom of
the sign
encircles
the 2nd
line from
the bottom
of the
staff  - G
The C The C Scale - Stepping from middle C on the piano up
Scale
The notes
of the C
Scale
begin
below the
staff. 
Middle C 8 notes to the next C on the keyboard or staff.
resides on
an extra
line called
a ledger
line.  The
notes
reside on
the staff
either on a
line or on
a space. 
Notes on a
line have
encircle
the line. 
Notes on
the space
encompas
s the
whole
space.
The  
White
Keys
The notes
of the C
Major
Scale use
only the
white
keys.  If
you start
on any  
other note
and want
to build a
major
scale, you
would
have to
use some
of the
black keys
as well.  If
you were
to go from
one key to
the next
including
 all the
black
keys, you
would be
playing a
chromatic
scale
rather than
a major
scale.
The Musical Alphabet is: a b c d e f g

Middle C has its own ledger line. The notes move up and down the staff from one
line to the next space and so on.  Remember:  This staff only represents the treble
clef. The treble clef is also known as the "G" clef because the bottom of the sign
circles around the second line - G. The Grand Staff includes the bass clef below the
treble clef. The note in between the bass and treble clefs is middle C. The bass clef
is also known as the "F" clef because the line in between the two dots (on the fourth
line) is an F

The lines of the staff are: E G B D F

Some people like to use this sentence to help them remember the names of the
notes on the lines of the staff.

Every Good Boy Does Fine  

The bottom line is known as the first line - E. The second line is G, the third line is B,
the fourth line is D, and the fifth line is F.
 The spaces of the staff are: F A C E

Some people like to remember that the spaces spell 

FACE
The bottom space is known as the first space - F. The second space is A, the third
space is C, and the fourth space is E.
 

Auditory - Visual - Kinesthetic Bell Activities

When teaching children the beginnings of reading melodies....

I like to use inexpensive colored bells when I teach melody.  The

children can "read" the music of basic songs easily when the color
cues are provided.  I begin with laminated bell songs that include
colored rectangles with just the rhythm note values.  I then move
to colored melodic notation on the staff.  I also like to use bell
step ladders so they can visualize the concept of moving from low
C up step by step to high C.  See song guides and additional
resources in course documents.
 C Scale Colored Bells
http://www.musiciselementary.com/ct_CG13931474.htm 

The C Scale Step Ladder

The C Scale Piano Keyboard

The C Scale Notated on the Staff

 Bells are available in a variety of configurations.  Bell ladders can demonstrate the
steps from low to high pitch.  The size of the metal bars provides a great visual for
demonstrating that larger bells have lower pitch than smaller bars.  Some bell sets
allow you you separate single bells so you can use only those needed for a particular
song or ostinato.  For higher quality instruments and a more sophisticated use of
bells, xylophones, metallophones, glockenspiel, etc. read about Orff music instruction
in the music methods document in unit three.

Orff-Schulwerk Websites

 American Orff-Schulwerk Association (AOSA) - http://www.aosa.org/ 

 Australian National Council Of Orff Schulwerk (ANCOS) -
http://www.ancos.org.au/ 
 Carl Orff Canada - http://www.orffcanada.ca/ 
 History of Studio 49 - Orff Instruments -
http://www.mmbmusic.com/MMB/s49_1.html 
 Orff 101 - http://www.classicsforkids.com/teachers/training/orff101.asp 
 Classics for Kids - Orff Instruments -
http://www.classicsforkids.com/teachers/training/orffinstruments.asp 
 Singing and Solfege
Your students can learn about melodies and how to read music by using the one instrument we all
have free access to - the voice!  Kodaly, Mary Helen Richards, Education through Music, and other
music methodologies utilize hand signals along with learning to sing and read music.  Typically, music
in Kodaly starts with the pentatonic (5-note) scale - do, re, mi, sol, la.  If you play just the black keys
on your piano, you'll hear a pentatonic scale.  Below is an example of the hand signals used in a
major scale.  "Do" is movable meaning that the key or home base of a scale is always do - but do can
be any note.  

C Scale in Solfege

Kodaly Websites

 Kodaly 101 - Classics for Kids -

http://www.classicsforkids.com/teachers/training/Kodaly101.asp 
 Hand Signals - http://www.classicsforkids.com/teachers/training/handsigns.asp 
 Pentatonic Music Collection - http://www.pentatonika.com/ - A great source of songs and
activities for teachers!
 Websites for Melody and Music Theory

 See more in course documents - Playing the Recorder

 Powerpoint presentations are included on the Circle of Fifths and Major Scales, Intervals, and
Minor Scales.
 Learn to play the piano
o Piano Lessons online - http://www.pianolessonsonline.com/Default.htm
o Piano Nanny -  http://www.pianonanny.com/
o Flash Piano - http://www.primezero.com/en/pzp.html - Flash Piano
o Flash Instruments
- http://members.surfeu.at/alex.mayr/00000092c113f693d/00000092c610e480d/0000
0092c610e4810.html
o Flash piano - http://www.musictechteacher.com/lessons/flashmx_piano_lesson.htm 
o Piano Graphique - http://www.pianographique.com/datas/inter_uk.php 
o Free Online Piano - http://www.gopiano.com/ 
o Free piano lessons online - http://www.gopiano.com/pianokeyboard.swf  
 More on Musical Elements
o The Elements of Music - http://www.lessontutor.com/musicgenhome.html 
o Elements of Music Courseware -
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/liske/musicalelements/ (not available)
o Elements of Music - http://www.rubycliff.com/TheoryManual/TableOfContents.html 
o Elements of Music Quiz
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/the.fosters/games/keywords/elements/elements_of_mu
sic_quiz.htm 
o Elements of Music - http://www.alientravelguide.com/art/music/elementm/ 
o Elements of Music - http://www.blissland.net/SoundLab/II1.htm 
o Music Theory Web - http://www.teoria.com/  Interactive quizzes plus very thorough
definitions - Reference - http://www.teoria.com/reference/index.htm 
o Music Theory Online - http://www.societymusictheory.org/mto/ 
o Online Music Theory - http://web1.hamilton.edu/javamusic/default.html is now
http://www.emusictheory.com/ 
o Piano Key Finder - http://web1.hamilton.edu/javamusic/PianoKeyFinder.html 
o Music Theory Online - http://music-theory.com/ 
o Mibac - http://www.mibac.com/Pages/Theory/Main_Theory.htm 
o Music Theory Online -
http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/faculty/~cdeering/public_html/web139/coursecont
ent/musictheoryonline/
o Musician's New -
http://www.musiciansnews.com/70/ultimate_music_theory_reference_online_now.sht
ml
o Music Theory Online - http://www.dolmetsch.com/theoryintro.htm 

 
 Copyright 2003 by Carla Piper, Ed. D.

B est m atches f or l essons o nt eaching k

odaly h and s igns