Lesson Plans from Edumate
Grade 6
Lesson 2 – Pitch, Melody, and Harmony
Period1 - Bilingual/International
(G) - Musical Tic Tac Toe (20 minutes)
In the middle of the classroom, the teacher will place 9 chairs, 3 in a row and 3 in a column each forming a giant
Tic-Tac-Toe box.
The class will be grouped into two.
Members from the two groups will be assigned with solfege names (lower do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-higher do).
One group will be assigned with X, and the other group will be O...
When then the teacher will say Ready, Get Set - RE! -
Then the person assigned with RE on both teams will both scurry to the chair while making their assigned symbol
(X or O).
The first person to sit down will remain on the sit and start forming their pattern. The game continues until one
group is a forms a pattern (straight or diagonal).
There will be three rounds of the game, applying variations to the 2nd and 3rd rounds (like not allowing the team
on the right to sit on the rightmost lane, and the team on the left to sit on the leftmost lane).
The group that gets the most number of points win. In case one group wins for the 1st and 2nd round, the game
they already become the winner.
The teacher will then ask the students what they learned in the game and what should have been their strategy
to win.
(W) Discussion on Pitch, Melody, and Harmony (20 minutes)
The teacher will then ask the students how they did in the game, and if they did their assigned task as pitch
names in the solfege.
The teacher will then relate the musical tic-tac-toe to melody and harmony. When they formed diagonal
patterns, they were forming melody.
Then the teacher will explain that this is actually what happens in Melody Making, there are different directions
(melodic contour) and varying styles (melodic motion) by which the composer arranges the different pitches
to make his song or composition unique.
When they formed diagonal patterns, they were forming melody.
The teacher will then show a visual representation of the notes that he has called in the game, as he acted like a
composer calling in on notes in his empty musical sheet.
When they formed straight patterns, they were forming harmony.
Period 2 - International
(G) Group Aural Exercise on Melodic Contour (20 minutes)
The class will will be divided into three groups with equal number of members.
The students will be provided with a cardboard where they can write their answer.
The teacher will play combinations of pitches on the keyboard and what the members of the team should do is
to draw the melodic contour (shape) of the sounds by drawing 5 or 7 blobs (depending on the pressed keys), and
then connecting them with a line.
After 3 rounds, the teacher will then call one member of a group and ask him to play the keys on the keyboard,
and let the other groups guess the correct answer. (On that round, the group giving the pattern will not get any
point). Then the teacher will ask the 2nd, and then the 3rd group to give the patterns.
(W) Discussion on Melodic Contour and Melodic Motion (20 minutes)
The teacher will then explain to the class that the activity is an application of what we call melodic contour and
melodic motion.
The pitches played on the keyboard were either ASCENDING (if it was moving up), or DESCENDING (if it was
moving down), or static/steady or unchanged (if ilt is on the level).
The pitches played on the keyboard were also either STEP (if the notes are on consecutive lines and spaces);
SKIP (if it is on consecutive lines or spaces);
REPEATED (if they are on the same line); and,
LEAP (if there are 2 or more spaces between consecutive pitches).
Core Tactic – Group Games
This tactic is one that many of the Grade 6 students are looking for. They want activities that will involve
movements. The Musical Tic Tac Toe Game is something that will some involve some amount of running and
scurrying. But at the end of the group game, there are clear connections that can be seen between the activity
and the lesson, without mentioning to the students that the teacher is moving now to the discussion part (some
students are allergic of the word discussion). This tactic shows how different pitches should work together to
form a wonderful melody and harmony.
