Lesson(s) Sequence

 

1. Play YMCA as students are finding their seats (most of the time at least one person will start singing the chorus).

 

 

 

 

 

2. Ask students to take out their Classroom Notes Worksheet (CNW) binder.  An example of the CNW is below.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Ask students if they know any musical terms that describe what they just sang.  If yes, discuss.  If not, let them know that by the end of

the lesson they will know some music terms that describe what they just sang.

 

 

4. Introduce the term Pitch and ask students to write the definition in their CNW.

 

Definition: Pitch is the relative lowness or highness that we hear in a sound. 

 

 

5. Sing Happy Birthday and ask students to diagram the Pitch of the song (see CNW Activity #1). 

 

Directions: The starting pitch is on the line, and all other pitches should be either on, above, or below this line

   (i.e., the melodic contour).

 

 

6. Ask students to compare their Pitch diagrams. Do they look the similar?  Show a copy of the Pitch diagram below

for comparison. Explain how this type of diagram illustrates the lowness and highness of the Pitches in this song.