MELODY

A very important element of music!

Music 4th-6th grades Stephenie Wheeler

DEFINITION OF MELODY

A tune

A line of single tones that move upward, move downward, or repeat

The Staff

The musical staff is made up of five horizontal lines and four spaces.

There is a direct relationship between playing consecutive white keys on the piano, writing notes on the musical staff, and the letters of the musical alphabet.

LINES & SPACES

Treble Clef Names

The treble clef is also called the G clef because the clef symbol curls around the line that represents the G above middle C.

The names of the treble clef lines can be remembered by the saying "Every Good Boy Does Fine." The spaces spell "F A C E."

Notes can move upward

If you think of the lines as a ladder, it is easier to understand them. The higher you climb on the ladder of lines, the higher the notes will sound. The spaces count as steps on the ladder too.

Notes can move downward

Notes can repeat or stay the same

Notes can move by step

This means there will be a note on every line and space, consecutively

Notes can move by skip

This means that notes are placed on the staff, or sounded by a pattern of skipping every other note.

*In the example below, the space notes are skipped, so the notes move up by skip.

Notes can move by leap

This means that the distance between the notes is farther than a skip.

Notes that move by leap will sound far apart as well.