Beginnings of Pitch Awareness

• As children move through their music education, it is important for them to start to understand why two pitches or two melodies are different.
• Approaches to kickstart discrimination and contour awareness in early childhood:
• Use words to describe similar and contrasting melodies or intervals such as “same” or “different”
• Shape the direction of the melody while singing and have students imitate.
• Draw on the board or on paper the contour of the melody, and have children trace the line with their voices.
• Dance with scarves to music, moving them up and down based on the contour of the melodies.