Music: Melody, Pitch, and Musical Notation
Reading simple notes and describing how melodies move
Music: Melody, Pitch, and Musical Notation
Reading simple notes and describing how melodies move
Music - Grade 2-3
- 1
Look at the two notes. Note A is placed low on the staff, and Note B is placed higher on the staff. Which note has the higher pitch?
Higher on the staff means a higher sound.
Note B has the higher pitch because notes that are placed higher on the staff usually sound higher. - 2
A melody goes from a low note to a middle note to a high note. Describe the direction of the melody.
The melody moves upward because the notes go from low to middle to high. - 3
Circle the note that is on a line, not in a space.
A line note has a staff line passing through it.
The circled note should be the note with the line going through the middle of the note head. - 4
Fill in the blank: Pitch tells how high or low a sound is. A bird chirp usually has a ______ pitch than a drum boom.
A bird chirp usually has a higher pitch than a drum boom. - 5
Look at the notes. Do they move up, move down, or stay the same?
Follow the note heads from left to right.
The notes move down because each note is placed lower than the note before it. - 6
A song has this pattern of pitches: high, high, low, low. Which pitches repeat?
The high pitch repeats two times, and the low pitch repeats two times. - 7
The treble clef is a sign that appears at the beginning of many music staffs. What does it help musicians do?
It is like a signpost at the start of the music.
The treble clef helps musicians know how to read the notes on the staff. - 8
Clap this rhythm: ta, ta, ta-a. If ta is 1 beat and ta-a is 2 beats, how many beats are in the whole rhythm?
Add the beats for each sound.
The whole rhythm has 4 beats because 1 beat plus 1 beat plus 2 beats equals 4 beats. - 9
A melody uses the notes C, D, E, then E, D, C. Describe what happens to the melody.
The melody goes up from C to E, then goes back down from E to C. - 10
Look at the staff. How many spaces are between the five lines?
Count the open areas between the lines.
There are 4 spaces between the five lines of the staff. - 11
A singer sings one note, then sings the same note again. Did the pitch go up, go down, or stay the same?
The pitch stayed the same because the singer repeated the same note. - 12
Look at the two note heads. One note is in a space and one note is on a line. Write one sentence explaining the difference.
Look at where the round note head is placed.
A space note sits between two staff lines, while a line note has a staff line going through it. - 13
Write H for high or L for low: A tiny bell makes a bright, high sound. A large bass drum makes a deep, low sound.
The tiny bell should be marked H because it has a high pitch, and the large bass drum should be marked L because it has a low pitch. - 14
Look at the melody shape. The notes go up, then stay the same, then go down. Describe the melody in your own words.
Use the words up, same, and down.
The melody rises first, then repeats the same pitch, and then falls to a lower pitch. - 15
Why do musicians use musical notation instead of only listening and remembering?
Think about music notation as written directions for a song.
Musicians use musical notation because it helps them remember what to play or sing and shows the pitches and rhythms in the music.