Grade by Grade
A. Dance / C. Music · Music and Dance

Music: Melody, Do-Re-Mi and the Pentatonic Scale

C1.1 C1.2 C1.5About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can sing and hear when a melody goes up, goes down or stays the same.
  • I can sing do, re, mi, so, la and high do, and show them with hand signs.
  • I can sing a short melodic pattern and repeat it as an ostinato.
  • I can sing a song in tune and play a simple melody on a home-made instrument.

Words to know

pitch
How high or low a sound is.
melody
A tune: a line of pitches, one after another, that goes up, down and stays the same.
solfa
Singing names for pitches: do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do. Some people spell so as sol.
pentatonic scale
A scale with five pitches. In Grade 2 we use do, re, mi, so, la.
high do
The do that is higher than la. It sounds like do, but higher.
melodic pattern
A short group of pitches, like so-mi-la-so-mi.
ostinato
A short pattern that repeats over and over during a song.

The cuckoo call

Sing "Cuck-oo!" like a bird. Your voice goes high, then lower. Musicians call those two pitches so and mi.

In Grade 1 you learned high and low sounds. This year you will give pitches names and sing them as melodies.

Melodies move

A melody is a tune. Each sound in it has a pitch (how high or low it is). A melody can:

  • go up ⬆
  • go down ⬇
  • stay the same ➡
  • move by a step (to the very next pitch) or a skip (jumping over a pitch).

The pitch staircase

Musicians name pitches with solfa: do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do.

In Grade 2 we use five of them: do, re, mi, so, la, plus high do (written do′). A scale with five pitches is called a pentatonic scale (penta means five). Many folk songs from all over the world use pentatonic scales.

A wooden classroom xylophone whose bars get shorter from left to right, with two mallets resting on it.
On a xylophone, the long bars play low pitches and the short bars play high pitches. The bars climb from low to high like a pitch staircase. AI-generated image
doremisolado’skip faskip ti
The pentatonic staircase. Notice the bigger steps between mi and so (we skip fa) and between la and high do (we skip ti).
PitchHand sign
doa closed fist, low in front of your tummy
reflat hand, fingers slanting up, palm down
miflat hand, palm facing the floor, held level
soflat hand, palm facing your chest, thumb up
lahand drooping down from the wrist, relaxed
high doa closed fist again, held higher, at your eyes
Hand signs help you see and feel the pitch. Higher pitches are shown higher up.
Worked example

Example: Hot Cross Buns

Sing "Hot Cross Buns" with solfa and hand signs.

  1. Hot cross buns → mi re do (going down by steps).
  2. Hot cross buns → mi re do again.
  3. One a pen-ny, two a pen-ny → do do do do, re re re re (staying the same, then a step up).
  4. Hot cross buns → mi re do.

The melody uses only mi, re and do. It goes down by steps at "hot cross buns" and stays the same on "one a penny". The last phrase is the same as the first.

doremiHotcrossbunsHotcrossbunsOneapen-ny,twoapen-ny,Hotcrossbuns
The melody of "Hot Cross Buns" drawn as dots. It steps down mi-re-do, stays the same on "one a penny", then steps up to re.
Worked example

Example: Mary Had a Little Lamb

Sing the first line: Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb, lit-tle lamb, lit-tle lamb.

  1. Ma-ry had a → mi re do re (down, then up a step).
  2. lit-tle lamb → mi mi mi (same).
  3. lit-tle lamb → re re re (same, one step lower).
  4. lit-tle lamb → mi so so (a skip up from mi to so!).

The line uses do, re, mi and so, all from the pentatonic scale. Most moves are steps, with one skip up from mi to so.

Just for fun

What is a cat's favourite pitch?

Mi-ow!

Melodic ostinato

An ostinato is a pattern that repeats over and over. A melodic ostinato uses pitches.

Try this while a grown-up sings "Hot Cross Buns": you sing do so, do so, do so over and over (low, high, low, high). Now there are two parts at once!

Hands-on activity

Water-glass xylophone

You need: 5 to 6 matching glasses or jars, water, and a metal spoon. A grown-up should help with the glass.

  1. Put a little water in the first glass, a bit more in the next, and so on.
  2. Tap each glass gently on the side with the spoon. More water makes a lower pitch. Less water makes a higher pitch.
  3. Line them up from low to high and tap them in order: that is a scale!
  4. Add or pour out water to tune three glasses to do, re, mi, then play "Hot Cross Buns" (mi re do, mi re do, do do do do, re re re re, mi re do).
  5. Sing the song while you play. Can you match your voice to the glasses?

Singing tips: stand tall, take a quiet breath before each phrase, and sing in your singing voice (light and clear, not shouting).

Your turn

1

Sing "Cuck-oo". Which two pitches are they?

2

Does mi re do go up, down or stay the same?

3

Which five pitches make the Grade 2 pentatonic scale?

4

Which pitch is skipped between mi and so?

5

Show the hand sign for do.

6

Sing "Hot Cross Buns" with solfa.

7

What is an ostinato?

More practice: warm-up

1

What is a melody?

2

Is la higher or lower than so?

3

Is do higher or lower than mi?

4

What does penta mean?

5

Sing do re mi. Up or down?

More practice: on your own

1

Sing so mi so mi. Then show it with hand signs.

2

Is mi to so a step or a skip? Explain.

3

A melody goes: do re mi so la. Then la so mi re do. Describe it.

4

In the water-glass xylophone, which glass sounds lowest: the one with the most water or the least?

5

Make up a 4-note melodic pattern using so, mi and la. Sing it twice.

Challenge

1

Sing the first line of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with solfa. Where is the skip?

2

Sing do so as an ostinato while a grown-up sings "Hot Cross Buns". What do you have to do to stay together?

3

Write a short melody of 6 notes using only do, re, mi, so, la. Draw it as dots going up and down, then sing it.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

How high or low a sound is is called ___.

2.

Which pitches are in the Grade 2 pentatonic scale?

3.

mi re do goes ___.

4.

The hand sign for do is ___.

5.

A pattern that repeats over and over is an ___.

6.

Moving from mi up to so is a ___.

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 2 students explore pitch using solfa names (do, re, mi, so, la and high do), notice melodic patterns moving up, down and staying the same, sing a melodic ostinato, and sing in tune and play simple melodies (C1.1). Many Ontario teachers use solfa and Curwen hand signs; your child's class may use slightly different signs or spell so as sol.

How to help:

  • Sing together every day: in the car, during chores, at bedtime. Singing in tune grows with practice.
  • Use "so-mi" calls instead of shouting: sing "Din-ner time!" on so-mi.
  • Make the water-glass xylophone and let your child explore. Supervise glass use.

Common difficulties:

  • Speaking instead of singing. Model a light "singing voice"; avoid shouting, which makes pitch harder to control.
  • Singing too low. Children's voices are naturally higher than adult voices. Start songs a little higher than feels comfortable for you.
  • Mixing up up and down. Use the hand signs and the staircase drawing; move your whole body up and down with the pitch.