The Highs and Lows of PITCH Presented By Chris McVay Grade 3-General Music

What Is Pitch? Highness or lowness of a sound We can hear the highs and lows of the sound with our ears We can see the highs and lows of the pitches when the notes are placed on the music staff We can sing the high and lows of pitch with our voices

Things That Make High or Low Sounds

Create your own list of things that make high or low sounds. Do these things create high or low pitches? Electric saw Thunder Cats’ meow Dentist drill Fog horn Lions’ roar Tea kettle whistle High Low High Low High

Some instruments make only high or low sounds, but most instruments can do both.  The flute makes mostly high sounds  The bass drum makes low sounds  The piano can make high and low sounds, even at the same time

Pitch Can Be Notated on the Music Staff If a note is placed near the top of the staff, it will be a high pitch If a note is placed near the bottom of the staff, it will be a low pitch If a note is placed near the middle of the staff, it will be a medium pitch Let’s look at some examples

Here are some examples of High, Medium, and Low pitches

Is It a Line or a Space Note? Notes that are placed in the line are called “Line Notes” Notes that are placed in the space are called “Space Notes” Let’s look at an example of Line and Space notes

Line Notes Space Notes

Which Way Do We Go? We read notes on the music staff going in the direction from LEFT to RIGHT When we read, play or sing the pitches on the staff, we have to look from one note to the next to see if the next note will be higher, lower, or the same

Repeated Pitches Notes that are in the same line will have the same pitch Notes that are in the same space will have the same pitch

Stepping Notes Stepping notes are notes that go from a line to the next space or a space to the next line When notes step up, the pitches go higher When notes step down, the pitches go lower

Skipping Notes Skipping notes are notes that go from a line to the next line, or a space to the next space When notes skip up, the pitches go higher When notes skip down, the pitches go lower

Roller Coaster Ride of Pitches Music can go up and down

QUIZ: 1.Identify if these notes are: stepping up or down; skipping up or down; or staying the same (repeated). 2.Identify if the pitches are: high; medium; or low. Stay the same Skipping down Stepping down Stepping up Medium Low High Low

Remember: Musicians are like detectives, they have to:  Look for repeated notes  Look for stepping notes  Look for skipping notes  Look for how the notes move up and down  Enjoy the music !