From Magpies to Messiaen: Birds in Music
Part I - Music Theory & Aural Skills
Before working with
recordings of bird calls, students work on various aspects of music theory and
aural skills in the first part of this project. The knowledge and skills
developed in this part of the lesson will provide students with the ability to
hear and understand melody or melodic fragments from a new perspective. This
page will review material covered in class and provide additional resources as
well.
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Topics covered in
this part of the lesson:
-How to identify
intervals both visually and aurally
-How to read and
notate pitches in standard notation
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| Identifying Intervals: |
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Step 1- An interval is the
distance between two pitches.
In order to find the interval
between two notes, you need to add the half and whole steps between the
two notes.
Using your knowledge of half
and whole steps to find the intervals between the pitches on the handout
that has been given to you. |
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| Look at the
following chords and find the intervals between the lowest-middle note and
then the middle-highest note. |
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| Highest |
F |
D |
F# |
Eb |
Bb |
G |
E |
A |
C |
D |
| Middle |
C# |
C |
D |
C |
A |
F |
B |
E |
B |
B |
| Lowest |
A |
G |
Bb |
A |
D |
E |
F |
C |
G |
D# |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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| Step 2 - Using the
keyboards in class, create 12 chords and label the intervals. |
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| Step 3 - We will
be working on identifying intervals by ear over the next several classes.
Try to think of pieces of music you know that start of with particuluar
intervals to help you remember them. Use the resources to the right to
practice identifying intervals aurally. |
Try "Big Ears" an
interval"drill" program
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| (extra credit opportunity - Use "Big Ears" on a
computer either at home or in school. Click all the boxes from P1 to P8.
If you correctly identify 10 intervals in a row you will receive a 100% as
an extra quiz grade. You must copy the text in the big ears box and paste
it in a word program to print it out. The print out must be signed by a
parent or teacher that was present for you to receive your 100%
) |
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Step 4 - We
will now be learning how to write the pitches out in "standard notation".
Review your notes on "notation". Make sure you know the purpose of each of
the following as well as what each thing looks like:
Staff, Treble
Clef, Bass Clef, G Clef, F Clef, Line, Space, Sharp, Flat, Note |
A quick review of the staff, clefs, and note names |
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Homework - Download a
piece of music that includes both treble and bass clef. You may need to
try a couple of different pieces before you find one.
Print out the
music and label all of the pitches for at least 12 bars.
(extra
credit opportunity - If you can perform the pitches on a keyboard of
one of the clefs I will give you extra credit. You do not have to play
accurate rhythms for this particular exercise.) |
Want to
practice identifying notes on a staff?
Download free sheet
music that is in public domain. |
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Step 6 - Use Finalenotepad to
create a 12 bar original piece of music in either treble or bass clef. Use
the rules I gave out in class. You may use whole notes, half notes and
quarter notes.
Make sure to constantly
listen to what you are composing!
Try to "hear" the intervals
as you play what you have written.
When you are happy with what
you have written, print it out.
Label the note names and
write down the intervals between all of the notes.
(extra
credit opportunity - Now that you have done this in class, write a 12
bar piece for piano. This will require you to use both treble and bass
clef. Follow the same procedure you did in class and hand it in for extra
credit. - feel free to experiment with 8th and 16th notes as well if you
would like!) |
Download
Finalenotepad |
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