Unit 3 – Pitch
Activity 1 – High and Low Pitch (Five Little Froggies)
The teacher is to encourage pupils to experiment with their voice sounds. In this way students develop an awareness and control of pitch. The teacher shows students an enlarged copy of High / Low Frogs and indicates with his/her hand or with a small toy frog the up and down movement. S/he continues to indicate high and low movements on the picture with the hand or toy as s/he sings the song. The students are then encouraged to sing the song together, all gesturing with hands to show the pitch movement. For the first exercise the teacher plays on the piano or xylophone high notes, middle and low notes, and students have to indicate the range of notes (if they were high, middle or low range). Prior to this exercise the teacher explains the topic by showing them illustrations of frogs jumping high, staying still or jumping down.
Students listen to high and low notes on percussion instruments and the piano. Recordings of short musical extracts can also be included. The teacher is to explain that the lower frogs correspond to low pitch whereas high frogs to high notes.
Activity 2 – High and Low Pitch (Humpty Dumpty)
The teacher plays and sings the rhyme ‘Humpty Dumpty’. Then, s/he plays high notes (above C4) for the first line, and low notes (below C2) for the second line so that students can relate the high and low notes to ‘Humpty Dumpty’ on the wall and ‘Humpty Dumpty’ on the ground respectively.
Activity 3 – Where did the hen lay her egg?
Students learn to make a difference between high-pitched and low-pitched notes by listening to high and low pitched notes played on the piano or any other instrument available in the class. In this exercise, students have to draw where the egg fell: either in the nest which is in the coop (representing high-pitched notes) or the nest which is on the grass (standing for low-pitched notes). As a follow-up students listen to short extracts on CD.
Activity 4 – The Window Pane
Students learn to recognise whether a note is in a high register (above the C5), middle register (between Middle C3 and the C5) and low register (below C2). The raindrops on the window pane mark the register to be played and/or sung.
This exercise can be delivered in two ways:
- The teacher copies the window pane template on an A3 page (preferably laminated) and puts the 4 raindrops in a pattern. Students will then sing notes according to where the raindrops are placed. This exercise can be repeated at will.
- Students are provided with a template of the window-pane and also 4 raindrops each. The teacher plays a note in high, middle or low register and each student puts the raindrop in the appropriate pane (this exercise can also be done in groups).
Activity 5 – Up, down, same
Students learn to recognise whether notes are going up, down or being repeated. Not more than 3 notes are to be played by the teacher. The notes should be part of a major scale with narrow intervals and are to be played on the piano or any other available pitched percussion instruments.
Activity 6 – High and low pitch
The teacher shows pictures of objects on the ground and others in the sky then asks students if they can find any similarities between any of the pictures. The teacher explains to students that the pictures show some objects that are found high up in the air and some that are found low down on the ground just as in music there are high and low sounds.
Students are asked to come up with ways in which they could use their whole body to show the high and low sounds in music. They are instructed to stand tall on tiptoe and reach for the sky for high notes and to squat for low notes.
Activity 7 – Music Notation
Students are introduced to music notation by using rhythmic examples from Unit 1. The timing of the notes is to be referred to as Ta and Ti-Ti. The teacher explains that in music we play and sing according to the notes. Visuals such as charts, posters, flash cards and also computer presentations can be used. The two notes to be introduced at this stage are Soh and Mi. Students start following rhythmic and melodic simple patterns. They are also encouraged to sing and play rhythmic and melodic patterns on percussion instruments and also to write their own patterns.