Grade 12 - Structure (Elements of Melody)

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

notate pitch using a variety of traditional and non-traditional techniques
identify increasingly complex intervals within a melodic pattern
apply increasingly complex melodic contour to their own compositions
use appropriate terminology to describe melodic patterns

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SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Introduce the intervals within a musical context. Have students use computer-assisted-instruction (CAI) software to further develop pitch awareness. Then begin regular melodic dictation, using actual melodies.
Ask students to identify the pitches of a variety of environmental sounds, then compose melodies from a collection of those sounds.
Have students analyse the melodic contours and intervalic movements of a variety of melodies. Ask them to relate these aspects of melody to tension, release, inferred modulation, inversion, retrograde, and so on.
Suggest that students keep portfolios of melodies they create. Have them analyse some of the melodies for intervalic movement and structure.
Have each student invert or retrograde a famous melody, then compare the new version to the original. Does it work?
As a class, listen to J.S. Bach's "Crab Canon" from The Musical Offering. Analyse the two parts before revealing the retrograde. Then ask students to select known melodies and use computer manipulation to produce "crab canons" of their own. Have them alter the parts to improve the sound.
Create a musical jigsaw puzzle by cutting a long melody into small sections of at least two bars in length. Divide the class into groups and give each group a section. Ask groups to identify the original melody or use their sections to construct new melodies, which they then present to the class.
Ask students to research historical and non-traditional methods to identify pitch (e.g., tablature). Then have them each transcribe a piece using one of the methods researched.
As a class, listen to traditional music from Hindu, Balinese, and Aboriginal Canadian cultures and analyse the scales and tuning used.
Invite students to create and perform five-note melodies in which they use retrograde, inversion, and modulation. Have them identify the melodic techniques they used.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

When students are familiar with intervals, have them use a computer-assisted ear-training program to practise pitch awareness. Print out achievement reports for each student and have them keep the reports in their journals or portfolios.
When students work to reassemble the parts of musical jigsaw puzzles, ask each group to assign one person to keep a log of the strategies the group used to solve the problem. Review the logs for evidence that students are:
- applying their definitions of melody to help them discover the original melody
- identifying two or three effective strategies they used to discover the melody, and one strategy they did not use that might have helped
- speculating about what additional information they might need to identify the melody (if they were unable to solve the problem)
Ask students to organize their portfolios for a specific purpose (e.g., postsecondary entrance, job rÈsumÈ, jingle portfolio). Portfolios could be organized according to melodic or rhythmic elements used, emotional content, style, composition method, function (e.g., dance music, jingles), length and complexity, etc. Have students present the portfolios in individual student conferences. Look for evidence that they:
- have included musical compositions notated in a variety of traditional and non-traditional styles (these could include computer-generated examples)
- have consistently applied their organizational categories
- have organized their portfolios in ways consistent with the purposes they had in mind
- understand the relationship of the portfolio categories to the melodic styles of the pieces in it
- can analyse the relationship of intervalic movement and structure to the function of a composition