Submitted by Dan Leopold, Riverdale, New York
Idea posted October 14, 2002
Objectives:1. Students will be able to experience, understand, and explain the concept of melody.
2. Students will be able to creatively express melodic contours.
Materials: Xylophone and one mallet, Keyboard
Procedure:
1. Teacher will review the definition of a melody.
2. Students sing a melody they are familiar with while the other students have to guess the name of the song.
3. Teacher will review the solfège hand signals.
4. Teacher will introduce the xylophone as a melody instrument with solfège symbols on the keys.
5. Students will express different melodies on the xylophone and receive observations from fellow students.
6. Teacher will play theme from familiar ballad and show how the contour of the melody can be expressed visually and through hand movements.
7. Students will choose to visually or physically express the melodic contour of the song of their choice.
8. Students will explain in their own words the concept of melodic contour.