Music Theory

Basics of Music Notation

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Music Theory
Basics of Music Notation
Online Lesson Plan
Classroom Lesson Plan
Classroom Lesson Plan
Online Lesson Plan
Classroom Lesson Plan
Classroom Lesson Plan

Summary

In this lesson, students will take their first steps into the world of music notation. They will learn how the staff, clef, measures, notes and ledger lines look like and what their function is. They will do short and fun exercises involving body movements to better incorporate the new knowledge.

 

⏰ Time: 45 min

🎓 Grades: 5-7

🎯 Objective(s): As a result of this lesson students will be able to...

  • Understand different musical elements and building blocks;
  • Understand what staff, clef, measures, notes and ledger lines are;
  • Understand the concept of 'high'/'low' in musical pitch;
  • Express musical elements with body movements;
  • Draw notes and treble clef.

💡 Required Prior Knowledge and Skills:

  • None

💻 Materials:

  • Solfeg.io app best used with Chrome browser
  • Projector or computer and access to Wi-Fi
  • Piano, guitar or any other instrument with a wide melodic range (optional)

 

Visual presentation

 

Song suggestions:

 

Inspiration

🕐 5 min - Notation best

  • Shortly talk about musical notation in general.
    • What, in your opinion, musical notation is?
      • A way to write down music.
      • A set of symbols that represent sound.
    • Why is musical notation needed?
      • For composers: to have their pieces performed by other musicians.
      • Before sound recording was possible, musical scores were the only way to distribute music. We wouldn't know much about music history, if music was never notated!
      • To learn to play an instrument more efficiently.
  • Explore the Song Library and select a song together with the class, for example, 'Sunday Best' by Surfaces. (This song is suggested because it doesn't feature notes on ledger lines.)
  • Listen to an excerpt from the song, for example, from Verse 1 until the end of Chorus 2. Invite the students to sing along!

 

Warm-Up

🕐 10 min - Let's slide through the notes and lines!

  • Make sure 'Notation' is selected under 'Tools' - 'Visuals'.
  • Show the staff on the screen and explain what it is. (In Western notation a set of lines on, between, above and below which notes of music are written. - Grove Music Online)
    • How many lines are there in the staff? (A five-line staff has been the most widely used type since north French manuscripts of the early 13th century containing polyphony. - Grove Music Online)
  • Show how the notes look like. They are the actual representation of the musical pitches, so the higher the note is, the higher it is placed on the staff.
  • Explain what 'high' and 'low' is regarding the pitch. To help understand it better, do a short and fun task:
    • The class does a vocal glissando together - each student slides from the lowest pitch they can sing to the highest!
    • Add the body movement: students start with the low notes squatting down and then, with the pitch going upwards, gradually stand up and lift their arms.

 

Practice

🕐 15 min - Exercise 1 - Beyond the staff

  • Keeping in mind that notes can be written on, between, above and below the lines, ask students to count how many notes they can write on a staff! (11)
    • Try to write the notes on a staff paper!
    • Remember - from the third line upwards, the stems of separate notes should go downwards!
  • Demonstrate on an instrument you have available - there are much more than 11 notes!
    • Do you have any ideas how the notes outside the range of the staff could be notated?
  • Listen to Pre-Chorus 1 and Chorus 1 of 'Falling Slowly' by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova.
    • Show students where the 1st vocal line is and how the notes on ledger lines look like.
  • Listen to the same excerpt once again and invite students to do movements along the song:
    • They start in a standing position.
    • Everytime the red line on the screen reaches a note on a ledger line below the staff, they should squat down.
      • They can remain squatting down only if there are two or more notes on a ledger line below the staff in a row.
      • Whenever there is a note on the five staff lines, they should stand up again!
    • Everytime the red line on the screen reaches a note on a ledger line above the staff, they should lift their arms - and then lower them once the notes are back on the staff!

🕐 5 min - Exercise 2 - The very beginning

  • Rewind the song to the beginning.
  • Show the clef and explain that it is a sign that indicates the pitch of one of its lines (and hence of the other lines).
    • There are several different clefs.
    • This particular one is called treble or G clef - see how it's curved around the 2nd line where the G note is located!
  • Ask students to take their staff paper again and practice drawing the treble clef!

🕐 5 min - Exercise 3 - Clap-line

  • Select another song from the Song Library, preferably, something in a quicker tempo. It could be 'Sunday Best' by Surfaces again or any other song students vote for!
  • Show how the song is divided in units, each of them of the same duration. They are called measures.They are marked by the vertical lines drawn through the staff, called bar-lines.
  • Invite students to listen to the song, follow the notation and clap (or do any other body percussion) every time the red line on the screen reaches a bar-line.

 

Reflection

🕐 5 min - Discussion

  • What new terms have you learned?
  • If you invented musical notation, how would it look like?

 

Beyond the Lesson

Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by...

  • Exploring the Song Library and finding staff, clef, bars and notes on ledger lines in a different song.
Capture.PNG
  • Assigning the chatbot classes 'Reading and Singing the Notes' to them as homework.

 

Summary

This lesson is about staff, treble clef, measures, notes and ledger lines. Students will learn what they look like and what their function is. They will use the online class “Basics of Music Notation” with chatbot guidance to practice during the online lesson. The lesson consists of setting up the online class, explaining theory fundamentals, and guiding your students to do practical exercises with the help of a chatbot.

 

⏰ Time: 45 min

🎓 Grades: 5-7

🎯 Objective(s): As a result of this lesson students will be able to...

  • Understand different musical elements and building blocks;
  • Understand what staff, clef, measures, notes and ledger lines are;
  • Understand the concept of 'high'/'low' in musical pitch.

💡 Required Prior Knowledge and Skills: none

💻 Materials:

  • Solfeg.io app best used with Chrome browser
  • Projector or computer and access to Wi-Fi

 

Song suggestions:

 

!!! If this is the first online setup lesson for your class, we recommend starting with an onboarding lesson using this presentation explaining how solfeg.io works. Download it here. If the class is more than 10 students, this may take around 30 minutes to register and go through the app.

🤳 Video conference call provider:

  • Google Hangouts is recommended, as students only need a Google account and won’t need to install the program in advance. You can share a link however best works for you. Read how to set it up here.

 

Before the lesson

🕐 5 min - Announcement for Students

  • Instructions for your next lesson...
    • Open this Google video call link via phone: Insert your unique Google Hangouts invite link here
    • Access your Solfeg.io account via desktop: Insert your unique Solfeg.io invite link here
    • The online class will be 45 minutes. For optimal learning, find a room with little background noise.
    • We will be learning how to recognize different clefs, tempo and dynamic signs.

🕐 5 min - Setting Up an Online Classroom

  • Send your video conference call link to students. For best results:
    • Encourage them to make this call via mobile device for optimal sound management
    • Make sure everyone can hear and see you.
  • Students log into Solfeg.io on their desktop
  • Students mute their microphone to hear you clearly. They should unmute if they want to ask a question.
  • Teacher preloads one of the suggested songs for this lesson.

 

Warm-Up

🕐 5 min - Music notation

  • Share your screen, pull up the suggested song on Solfeg.io and discuss the music notation in general.
    • What, in your opinion, musical notation is?
      • A way to write down music.
      • A set of symbols that represent sound.
    • Why is musical notation needed?
      • For composers: to have their pieces performed by other musicians.
      • Before sound recording was possible, musical scores were the only way to distribute music. We wouldn't know much about music history, if music was never notated!
      • To learn to play an instrument more efficiently.

🕐 5 min - Introduction

  • Give a short introduction to the basic symbols of music notation: staff, treble clef, measures (bars), notes and ledger lines.

 

Practice

🕐 30 min - Learn basics of music notation with chatbot guidance

  • Lead students to the Classes section in Solfeg.io;
Capture.PNG
  • Show them where the “Basics of Music Notation” class is located;
  • Tell them to take the class to learn more about staff, treble clef, measures (bars), notes and ledger lines.

 

Reflection

Check if your students understood the material by testing their knowledge at the start of the next lesson!

🕐 5 min - Exercise 1

  • Show the musical score of a song to students;
  • Ask them to identify staff, treble clef, measures and notes;
  • Ask them to tell what is the function of the clef;
  • Ask them to tell how many lines are there in the staff.

🕐 3 min - Exercise 2

  • Ask students to tell how the notes outside the range of the staff can be notated;
  • Ask them to identify notes on ledger lines above and below the staff in a musical score.

🕐 3 min - Exercise 3

  • Ask students to count the measures in a musical score.

 

Beyond the Lesson

Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by...

  • Exploring the Song Library and finding staff, clef, bars and notes on ledger lines in a different song;
  • Imagining what music notation would look like if they invented it.

 

Summary

In this lesson, students will take their first steps into the world of music notation. They will learn how the staff, clef, measures, notes and ledger lines look like and what their function is. They will do short and fun exercises involving body movements to better incorporate the new knowledge.

 

⏰ Time: 45 min

🎓 Grades: 5-7

🎯 Objective(s): As a result of this lesson students will be able to...

  • Understand different musical elements and building blocks;
  • Understand what staff, clef, measures, notes and ledger lines are;
  • Understand the concept of 'high'/'low' in musical pitch;
  • Express musical elements with body movements;
  • Draw notes and treble clef.

💡 Required Prior Knowledge and Skills:

  • None

💻 Materials:

  • Solfeg.io app best used with Chrome browser
  • Projector or computer and access to Wi-Fi
  • Piano, guitar or any other instrument with a wide melodic range (optional)

 

Visual presentation

 

Song suggestions:

 

Inspiration

🕐 5 min - Notation best

  • Shortly talk about musical notation in general.
    • What, in your opinion, musical notation is?
      • A way to write down music.
      • A set of symbols that represent sound.
    • Why is musical notation needed?
      • For composers: to have their pieces performed by other musicians.
      • Before sound recording was possible, musical scores were the only way to distribute music. We wouldn't know much about music history, if music was never notated!
      • To learn to play an instrument more efficiently.
  • Explore the Song Library and select a song together with the class, for example, 'Sunday Best' by Surfaces. (This song is suggested because it doesn't feature notes on ledger lines.)
  • Listen to an excerpt from the song, for example, from Verse 1 until the end of Chorus 2. Invite the students to sing along!

 

Warm-Up

🕐 10 min - Let's slide through the notes and lines!

  • Make sure 'Notation' is selected under 'Tools' - 'Visuals'.
  • Show the staff on the screen and explain what it is. (In Western notation a set of lines on, between, above and below which notes of music are written. - Grove Music Online)
    • How many lines are there in the staff? (A five-line staff has been the most widely used type since north French manuscripts of the early 13th century containing polyphony. - Grove Music Online)
  • Show how the notes look like. They are the actual representation of the musical pitches, so the higher the note is, the higher it is placed on the staff.
  • Explain what 'high' and 'low' is regarding the pitch. To help understand it better, do a short and fun task:
    • The class does a vocal glissando together - each student slides from the lowest pitch they can sing to the highest!
    • Add the body movement: students start with the low notes squatting down and then, with the pitch going upwards, gradually stand up and lift their arms.

 

Practice

🕐 15 min - Exercise 1 - Beyond the staff

  • Keeping in mind that notes can be written on, between, above and below the lines, ask students to count how many notes they can write on a staff! (11)
    • Try to write the notes on a staff paper!
    • Remember - from the third line upwards, the stems of separate notes should go downwards!
  • Demonstrate on an instrument you have available - there are much more than 11 notes!
    • Do you have any ideas how the notes outside the range of the staff could be notated?
  • Listen to Pre-Chorus 1 and Chorus 1 of 'Falling Slowly' by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova.
    • Show students where the 1st vocal line is and how the notes on ledger lines look like.
  • Listen to the same excerpt once again and invite students to do movements along the song:
    • They start in a standing position.
    • Everytime the red line on the screen reaches a note on a ledger line below the staff, they should squat down.
      • They can remain squatting down only if there are two or more notes on a ledger line below the staff in a row.
      • Whenever there is a note on the five staff lines, they should stand up again!
    • Everytime the red line on the screen reaches a note on a ledger line above the staff, they should lift their arms - and then lower them once the notes are back on the staff!

🕐 5 min - Exercise 2 - The very beginning

  • Rewind the song to the beginning.
  • Show the clef and explain that it is a sign that indicates the pitch of one of its lines (and hence of the other lines).
    • There are several different clefs.
    • This particular one is called treble or G clef - see how it's curved around the 2nd line where the G note is located!
  • Ask students to take their staff paper again and practice drawing the treble clef!

🕐 5 min - Exercise 3 - Clap-line

  • Select another song from the Song Library, preferably, something in a quicker tempo. It could be 'Sunday Best' by Surfaces again or any other song students vote for!
  • Show how the song is divided in units, each of them of the same duration. They are called measures.They are marked by the vertical lines drawn through the staff, called bar-lines.
  • Invite students to listen to the song, follow the notation and clap (or do any other body percussion) every time the red line on the screen reaches a bar-line.

 

Reflection

🕐 5 min - Discussion

  • What new terms have you learned?
  • If you invented musical notation, how would it look like?

 

Beyond the Lesson

Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by...

  • Exploring the Song Library and finding staff, clef, bars and notes on ledger lines in a different song.
Capture.PNG
  • Assigning the chatbot classes 'Reading and Singing the Notes' to them as homework.

 

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