CHOOSE THE RIGHT: Melody Map

2/5/12 UPDATE: Because of the unexpected high traffic volume this weekend, the current links to the melody map and pictures are temporarily out of order.  They should be back up in a day or two.  I have added other links just below.  Remember, the files may take some time to download depending on your internet speed.


Melody Map
Melody Map Pictures  (I would suggest to click on the "Download original" button for better resolution pictures instead of printing directly from the first screen.)


WOW!  This week is going by at a rapid pace.  I can’t believe it is February already.  Didn’t we just have Christmas?????  Well, I’m a little behind schedule on things, but here it is, the melody map for “Choose the Right”.  It was a little bit of a bugger—such a BIG song to replicate in a melody chart format.  The first melody map I posted, “As a Child of God” was a basic melody map.  I thought on this one I would show a more in-depth version.  I wasn't planning on doing a melody map this month since I did one last month, but after looking over the song, I realized this song lends itself nicely to a melody map with it's "rolling hill" pattern.  So, here goes again but with a little variation on the activities we'll do.

On this melody map, you will notice that there are different colors and sizes of the CTR shield, each representing a different type of note, e.g. whole, half, quarter, etc.  I also added a line connecting the “notes” to help more visually show the movement of the notes.  I’ve also included some pictures and words here if you want to use them as an addition to the map.  You don’t have to use all of them.  Use what you feel you want to teach or emphasize in the song.  I just wanted to include a good variety for all three verses.  Click here for the explanation I gave on melody maps last month as well as some suggestions for use.   

I always ask what they notice about the map and receive their responses.  If they are slow on the uptake, ask more questions to help get their thinking going, such as:

• What is the same in these patterns?
• What is different in these patterns?
• [some shields are the same color, there are different sizes of shields, each color is the same size, the shapes go up and down like mountains, there is a dip or valley in this part, there are more orange shields than any other color, there are less blue shields than any other color, there are 11 big purple shields, etc.]

Continue to encourage the children to look for more relationships if they aren’t picking them up by saying “What else?” or “What more can you see?” (If this is new to your children, they may be hesitant at first but will start picking things up with some extra encouragement. The children happily surprised me the very first time I used a melody map--they can be very perceptive.)

Ask the children to listen to you sing the song and tell you what all the "note" shapes have to do with the song. 

• The small blue shields are the shortest notes.
• The big purple shields are the longest notes.
• Essentially, the smaller the shield the shorter the note.

You could put just the pics that say "CTR" on the chart at first and see if they notice that is where you sing the words “Choose the Right”.

Remember, you may have to sing the song 2-3 times before the children discover all or most of the relationships, but that is good because that gives the children a chance to hear the song a few times to become familiar with it.  You can also give hints by pointing as you sing or singing louder on the certain words or areas you want them to notice.

Sing it again and ask the children to sing only the words “Choose the Right” with you. 

Learn the phrases by showing a picture or two and asking the children to listen to see where on the map the pictures should go.  Let the child that answers correctly come and place the picture on the map.  (I am planning on taking a little folding stepladder—2-3 steps—so the JR children can climb up and put it up themselves.  They like that and it saves my back from picking them up.  Maybe you could point out that they are stepping up the ladder and down just like the song.)  Then have them sing it with you.

A few other examples of singing discovery questions you can ask are:

• This picture or word(s) goes where it looks like it is going down a slide.  Listen and tell me which slide it goes on. [various answers like shining, heart confides, etc.]
• What two words begin on the highest note in this 2nd phrase and then slides down? [“Holy Spirit”]
• This word "Evermore" is sung on three different notes in this last phrase. What are the three notes it is sung on?  [the very last three notes] Is it going up or down when we sing it? [down]
• Did you notice a couple of places that the song dips down?  Listen and tell me what words are sung in those dips. [Wisdom and God]
• Do any sections/parts of this map look exactly the same? [1st and 3rd phrase]

Other Suggestions

• Explain the pictures as you go and how they relate to the message of the song.
• Have them clap the rhythm pattern with you.
• Use rhythm sticks to tap out the rhythm or only when they sing the “Choose the Right” words. (I’m planning on using rhythm sticks.  I borrowed them from my sister’s school where she works, but dowels or unsharpened pencils are inexpensive alternatives—and much quieter.)
• Use the CTR shields to pitch lead or just have them hold them up on the words “Right”.
• Have them also stand up when they sing the words “you” or “your”.  (I just thought of something, maybe I should have made a few more "you" pics to place on the map or at least the word "you" and "your".  Maybe I will try and add some to the file and repost the pics Friday night.  If not, Oh, well.)
• Have them use their bodies to pitch lead raising themselves higher as they sing higher and lowering their bodies as they sing lower.
• When you have sung it with them a few times you could sing the first half of the phrase and then have them finish the phrase.  Point out that you are singing the parts going up the mountain and they are singing the parts going down the mountain.
• Don't forget to share your testimony of the message.

I often try and use a variety of activities to keep them interested before they get bored otherwise I could lose their attention.  Children learn by repetition, but they also need variety—sounds like an oxymoron to me.  So, you may sing the song over-and-over again (repetition), but by using different methods as you sing (variety), it helps to keep the children engaged as well as you are sure to capture the different learning styles the various children may have.

HOW TO ASSEMBLE THE MELODY MAP (Also see post for "As a Child of God" melody map and above pic for reference)

• I think this should print in the order of the song this time.
• Cut off about 1/2" on the letter side (the letters are only for reference in making the chart) and cut off about the same on the other side depending on the minimum settings your printer needs for margins, being careful to not cut off any of the shields. 
• Tape them together leaving a slight gap between pages for easier folding.  
• The last four rows on the map are for the chorus.  I put each of the two sections together to make two rows or "stanzas" for the chorus by cutting pretty close to the shield on the right section and then lining it up to the left side and making a tick mark for where I needed to cut (where it looked good for the black line coming into the right side—part of the black line you will cut off.) You could take a black marker to help better connect the black line if you want.  
• Oooo, is this all confusing?    
• So each phrase will be three pages and both sections of the chorus will have 5 pages each with the second page of each for the chorus a smaller width size as well as the third page will be slightly smaller. Look at the picture above for reference.  There will also be 2 blank pages that will print out, but you don't need those.  Just part of the "poster" effect.  Don't forget to number the backside so you know which order to put them up on your board.

AS A CHILD OF GOD: Melody Map

I have on occasion used a melody map to help reinforce the melody of a song either when I introduce a new song or on a repeat week in teaching the song.  Getting children to pay attention to the music seems to help them learn the words to the song faster.  Don’t you find that when you are listening to music at times the music itself captures you and you will listen to it before you will really pay attention to the words of the song?  I know I will listen to the melody of a song over and over before I will start to sing it.  That is one way children learn music.  Understanding the melody helps us to understand how the words relate to it.

SO WHAT IS A MELODY MAP?  It is just a simple way of using shapes, lines or symbols to visually represent the ups and downs and rhythms of how a melody moves in a song.  Although most children in Primary probably don’t read music, a melody map can help them visually understand how musical sounds can be written.  In a sense, they are not just hearing the melody, but also visually putting the melody in their head.

Here is a melody map of “As a Child of God”.  The song is divided into four phrases and there are 3 sheets to each phrase and they are color-coded.  I printed mine on card stock but you can print on regular paper if you prefer.  There are letters along the left side of each page in the file.  Those were just for references in placement of the shield "notes" when I was creating the melody chart.  Cut them off, about ½” on the left side of each page and about 1 1/2" inch off the bottom of each page so each page is about 7” x 10 ½ ” (it will depend on how much margin your printer will require, so adjust how much you cut off accordingly) and then tape the three pages of a phrase together leaving a slight space between the pages so you can fold them for easier storage at the taped sections.  You don't have to cut off the bottom section but I did just to give me a little more room to display on our chalkboard.  You don’t necessarily have to tape them together either.  You could just display them in order.   I would suggest writing a number on the back corner of each phrase section in the order they are sung to help you know the order to put them up.  Very helpful if you ever drop them and they get mixed up.  Not that it has EVER happened to me before.

I’ve also linked a file for a smaller version of the pictures from my flip chart that can be used with the melody map if you like, but you can use the melody map by itself.  I laminated the pictures and put a magnet on the back of each to make it easier to put up and remove.  There are also a few more of the small pictures than in the FC because I did add a couple more for the chorus to put up on the melody chart because it just looked a little bare naked with one picture; added the girl for "As a child of God" and a CTR shield for the end of the song.  There are a couple more CTR shields and another child I just threw in there to fill up space and in case I wanted to use them for something else, so you could ignore them or use them.

Here are some melody map suggestions for use:

• Explain that each CTR shield represents a word or part of a word we sing in the song.
• Hold one of the pictures above the first shield (“note”) on the map and as you sing move it over each “note” of the song.  Have the children clap when you come to the “note” that the picture should go on then place the picture over that “note”.  Continue on with each picture. 
• Have the children look at the pictures you posted off to the side of the melody map and then listen to the song and put some of the pictures above the “note” in the right order as they come up in a song. Repeat until you have all the pictures up.
• You could mix the melody map up and have a child number them 1-4 in order on the chalkboard next to each.  I have those magnetic letters and numbers that children play with that I use now and again for different activities.  You could use the magnetic numbers to help put in order instead of writing with chalk.
• If you didn’t tape the phrase sections together, you could have a child put a phrase together in order.  For SR, that can become pretty easy after the first couple of times so have them try to put two or more phrases together before you finish singing the song.
• You could have the children use their finger or hand to draw the movement of the “notes” in the air as they sing.
• The children could pitch lead with their hand going up and down with the “notes” or from left to right starting back on the left side for each phrase just like the melody map.  I used a CTR shield on a stick that I made for each child to pitch lead with.  I’m planning on using these for other activities throughout the year.  Stay tuned and I’ll try and post those tomorrow.  They come in some fun colors to "choose" from!

You could use directed listening questions to get them thinking about the relationship the “notes” have with the song as you sing.  Here are some general questions to ask when using melody maps or make up your own.  The questions to use depend on how you did the melody map. (Not all of these questions apply to this particular melody map.)  Use the ones that apply for the given melody map you use.  For the questions that need to be answered by pointing, I have a finger pointer on a stick that they can come up and point with.  After some of the questions, you could sing that part to show them how it relates, for example, have them listen to see if it sounds like it is going down a slide.

• What do you notice about this melody map?
• What is the same?
• What is different?
• What do these shapes have to do with the song? Sing the song.
• Show a pattern on the melody map.  Do you see another pattern that looks or almost looks like it?
• Where on the map do we hold a note longer than the rest?
• Where do we sing the highest or lowest?
• Which ones look like we are climbing up stairs or mountains?
• Which ones look like a slide?

This melody map is color coded by phrase.  It is NOT colored coded for the type of note being sung, e.g. whole note verse quarter note, etc.  That is a version I have made before but did not do it on this one.  Here are a few questions to ask if the melody map being used has color-coded “notes”.

• What do you think this one stands for? (Could color-code each type of note)
• Which ones do we hold the note longer for?
• Which ones do we sing quickly?

 As you can see, there are many things that you can do with a melody map.  Always be patient if your children are not use to thinking through songs.  In teaching the children to sing, there is more than just cramming the words into their little brains to memorize for the program.  It is about understanding and feeling the music along with the gospel message the song brings.