Lesson #8: Music Map!

December 19th: Creating and Following a Music Map

Today we began class by singing the Hebrew song we learned last class period--"Ha'Sukkah Mah Yafah." After reviewing the song, I asked the class to put a finger in the air and pretend to draw along with the flow of the music while we sang the song several more times. Then I directed all the students to draw an "X" on their papers. This "X" marked where the beginning of the song would be. As we sang it this time, the students drew on their papers how they thought the music flowed. The students' drawings were all different, but most of the lines were similar in that the beginning of the song started lower, then rose to a peak, and then fell back down. We then put this aside for a couple of minutes.

I pulled up on my projector several pictures of random sheet music--a piano piece and a song for the recorder (the students have been learning to play the recorder with their regular music teacher). I explained this kind of music notation is familiar to us. Oral tradition is another way to record and pass on music (like how the Ancient Egyptians would have done before music was notated). Then I showed a picture of a music map. This is kind of notation that is different in that it does not show the regular notes, staves, key signatures, and so on. The class had just barely drawn a mini version of a music map, but this one is much more complex! This music map is for the Overture in "The Marriage of Figaro," an opera by Mozart. 

With this map shown on the projector, I held a pointing stick to follow the music map while we listened to the piece. For the second listening of the song, the students joined in following the map with their finger in the air. The kids were so quiet and focused! Then we split the song/music map into three chunks and had three students come up and follow along during their assigned chunk. The students were really enthusiastic about this and several students participated at the front of the classroom. 

Afterwards I asked the class what might some advantages be from using a music map instead of regular notation. About ten hands went up--all the students had good comments! We talked about expressive qualities: tempo, dynamics, style. We talked about the melody as well as form. The class caught some small little details and were excited to share them! A couple students even mentioned what instruments were playing when I asked about specific sections. This was a really fun lesson that the kids and I enjoyed!

Music Standards Met:

6.M.R.1

6.M.R.2

6.M.R.6

6.M.P.8

6.M.P.5

6.M.CR.3