The Mighty Music Grid
by Martha Stanley, NBCT
All information on this page is copyrighted by Martha Stanley, 2002, updated in 2010 to include PowerPoint and other projected image presentation software. All rights are reserved. Permission is granted to make as many copies of any of the grids below for your students to use as you need to. Any other use is prohibited unless you get specific permission from me. I'm easy, but please ask first.
Under no circumstances may you sell these or make money from their use.
But then again - ask. I might be generous that day.
by Martha Stanley, NBCT
All information on this page is copyrighted by Martha Stanley, 2002, updated in 2010 to include PowerPoint and other projected image presentation software. All rights are reserved. Permission is granted to make as many copies of any of the grids below for your students to use as you need to. Any other use is prohibited unless you get specific permission from me. I'm easy, but please ask first.
Under no circumstances may you sell these or make money from their use.
But then again - ask. I might be generous that day.
You may be interested in using these music grids to help your beginning composers learn to notate music. They are also very useful in aiding students to decode music. I have found them to be supremely useful for zillions of things in my classroom.
Each grid is basically just a sheet with a bunch of boxes drawn on it. Each box represents a beat.
And therein lies its usefulness.
I call each box a "beat box", each line of (up to 4) boxes "a measure" and the whole paper a "score."
For a half note, I have the students draw a line through the next box to show its duration. A whole note would have the note in one box and a line in the following three boxes. This has really helped them remember.
Caveat: The examples are the "real deal," straight from my classroom to the scanner, warts and all. Maybe everything you do in your classroom is neat and tidy, but that typically fails to happen in my world.
Each grid is basically just a sheet with a bunch of boxes drawn on it. Each box represents a beat.
And therein lies its usefulness.
I call each box a "beat box", each line of (up to 4) boxes "a measure" and the whole paper a "score."
For a half note, I have the students draw a line through the next box to show its duration. A whole note would have the note in one box and a line in the following three boxes. This has really helped them remember.
Caveat: The examples are the "real deal," straight from my classroom to the scanner, warts and all. Maybe everything you do in your classroom is neat and tidy, but that typically fails to happen in my world.
Download the grids here
Rationale | Talk about simple.
This grid thing is a graphic organizer so simple I wonder why teachers don't use it more.
I also use it to compose rounds and rhythmic accompaniments so I can see the vertical relationships of sounds. TRANSPARENCIES: By making several blank transparencies at a time, I always have a way to record an inspired happening in any class. When the need for them is through, I can make a paper copy at the office copier if I want to keep a copy and then erase and reuse the original transparency. The more I've used them, the handier they've become until now, I make them in units of 20 blank transparencies at a time. HANDOUTS AND WITH DOCUMENT CAMERA: run off zillions of the 4x4 grid on the risograph, using as much recycled/reusable paper as I can, and just keep stocking the pile. I also have the others available as well, but we use LOTS of 4X4's so I have to keep them stocked. I make the grids easily available to the students by storing them (the boxes, not the kids) in those flat boxes that the Pepsi guy leaves behind when he restocks our drink machines. I just write what is in the boxes on the long side of the box in big black letters and then I stack them all some shelves. I also like using those boxes for each class to put its paperwork in. They stack easily on each other and are movable and rearrange easily. PROJECTED ONTO SCREEN: Put the grid on a PowerPoint slide and project it for use on the screen; it also works very well in an Activboard slide (or other IWB slides). POSTERS: I had the print out enlarged into a poster sized sheet and laminated it. It works well for team or small group work (use a dry erase marker). |
USES | As an overhead transparency or with a doc camera
1. Draw on the transparency boxes with permanent markers. Use washable marker to change any additional information for each class. Example: if you want them to practice a certain rhythm pattern, write the rhythm on the grid in permanent marker (like a black Sharpie). Have the students decide which notes should go with what rhythm. Perform it as a class composition. If you do this a few times with them, they'll figure out how to do it independently. I had every recorder class do this with the same rhythm using just G, A, B since we were beginning recorder players. There was a lot more variety than I had supposed possible. I told them that it was very common for the first line to repeat in the 2nd or 3rd line and gave them a choice to accept that practice or not (ABAC or AABC). Every time a class chose to make 4 lines without repeating (ABCD), they were not satisfied. When we changed it so that line 1 repeated somewhere, they were much more satisfied. Their personal compositions improved, too. 1. Here is an example of a 3rd grade class composition, complete with the mess I made when the kids wanted to change the words. This class was absolutely thrilled with their composition. 2. Put pictures of instruments in each grid to show instrumentation for the little guys. Play the song as "written." This is particularly useful when they're still reading iconic notation. The first 4 boxes are played by the drums, the second four by the shakers, etc. Click here to see an example of a PowerPoint "score" to use with "Pass The Pumpkin," a neat minor tune. (Note: there are multiple songs called "Pass The Pumpkin.") 3. See an example of a more advanced rhythmic accompaniment for "Pat-A-Pan. 4. Put pictures of body parts (hands clapping, knees, etc.) into the square. Use for choreography. Here is the first grid that I use with kindergartners. We've already experienced a lot of steady beat work, including the beats with all feeling and no sound (rests). This shows them the symbol for rest for the first time in a choreography situation. See "Bow-Bow-Wow." The dance words are step step step, clap clap clap, turn-in a- cir-cle, step step step. You could also redo this into a projected slide with an IWB or with PowerPoint or other presentation software. 5. If you already use Laurie Zentz's neat-o Heart Chart, you could extend her idea into the grid format. If you weren't using hearts that day, you could use apples or bears or leaves..... just draw them in or use small transparencies or similar graphics for use with PowerPoint or an IWB. 6. Here is an Activboard flipchart of the Heart Chart idea using the grid. It may or may not come out right when you download it, but you can try. I've used it a lot and the kids enjoy it. It's in ActivStudio. The hearts may not make it through the ActivInspire transition...... good luck. As student handouts 1. Your students can take dictation on printed sheets. You can decide how simple or complex you want to the patterns to be, whether to use iconic or traditional notation, whether to use letter or staff pitches. Make use of the different grids for your specific purposes. 2. Your students can work out their own rhythm word chains using the 4X4 or 8X4 grids. They can just write the words or syllables in the boxes. I used this is one of my units while I worked on my national board certification. I was very pleased how the kids took naturally to doing this especially if I'd done the prep work, exposing them to many uses before. 3. Your students can create their own compositions on the grid. Give them parameters such as "use B, A, G, quarter note, quarter rest and eighth note pairs" or "use the rhythm of Hot Cross Buns and sol mi la and do. End on do." These are easy to grade, by the way, because they are so specific. 4. Your students can play their own compositions when you give them appropriate parameters. I have used the grids for all the levels of my Recorder Ribbon program. Not only do they have to play at a certain level, they have to compose an 8 -or later on- 16 bar piece using the new notes and complexities AND then perform it for me. This has been particularly gratifying to me as I see the real, authentic application of their skills in their own creations. It is also a very useful authentic assessment opportunity! Here's an example. As a score I've discovered that students can read a score from the grid easier because it delineates the beats so clearly. I notate almost all my recorder music on an overhead or Activboard grid. I also run some scores off for take-home practice sheets. As the students become more proficient, they use the grid with staves on it, and eventually with no grid at all - just the regular staff. Here is a handout of Jolly Old St. Nicholas that I use. Print the file and cut the sheet in quarters and you get 4 handouts per one sheet of paper and you can also project the image(s), if you desire. Extra tips: 1. Use cool clip art! You can find cool clip art which you can import into a word-processing document. Copy the document onto a transparency. Cut out the pictures, words, notes, etc., and put them into the grid boxes. I have pictures of knees, and fingers snapping, and spirals, and people and animals.... Check to see that your picture will fit easily into the boxes. I adapted this idea from one I got from Laurie Zentz. Popular, ain't she! For IWBs, size the graphics so that your students can move them into the grid boxes. 2. Make teeny tiny transparencies that fit in the boxes. If you print out your transparency in a table (rows and columns), you can make your pictures a lot easier and handle by doing this: before you cut out the pictures, put 1/4 inch masking tape that quilters use on all the lines of the rows and tables. Then cut the lines of tape in half . The result should be little plastic pictures all framed with tape. This is particularly nice for two reasons: the little rectangles don't stick to each other, and the taped edges make a nice clear border that is highly visible either on or off the overhead light deck. 3. Print out your transparencies in reverse. If you make the transparencies with your printer, always print it in reverse (like you would an iron-on transfer). That way when you write and erase on the front side, your printed material on the reverse side will not get wiped off. This is also good advice if you make your transparencies using the office copier. Trust me on this. |
Examples and comments
Class composition
3rd grade class composition replete with smears created when we edited the words.They were delighted with their song.Each recorder class had its own transparency for this activity. The lyrics created by this class read:
Everybody dance. Everybody sing. Everybody play in the Land of Oz.
Everybody dance. Everybody sing. Everybody play in the Land of Oz.
Rhythm Accompaniment Notation
The 5th graders were just losing it when they practiced this accompaniment to Pat-A-Pan, even WITH the assistance of rhythmic words. The grid made all the difference in their successful performance.
I used the grid to make sure the accompaniment patterns were all different, interesting and playable. These patterns sounded real good. We layered them in by verses.
I used the grid to make sure the accompaniment patterns were all different, interesting and playable. These patterns sounded real good. We layered them in by verses.
Choreography Notation
I wanted the kindergarteners to learn the motions to the dance "Bow Wow Wow" by seeing the "score." This helps introduce them to notation using icons and pictorial representations.
They learned it far faster with this notation than I'd ever had kids learn it before. I was pretty amazed.
The words to the movements are:
step step step rest; pat pat pat rest: turn turn turn turn; step step step rest. (I never said I was an artist!
They learned it far faster with this notation than I'd ever had kids learn it before. I was pretty amazed.
The words to the movements are:
step step step rest; pat pat pat rest: turn turn turn turn; step step step rest. (I never said I was an artist!
Traditional Notation Readiness
This is an example where I wanted the first graders to see how two syllables might go into one box. This was the part of the preparation of their understanding of ta's and ti-ti's, as well as the beginning of learning the difference between beat and rhythm.
We said it, acted it out, played it on sticks, and then tried it with different timbres for each word, we tried it with the Engine chant, etc. Using a washable marker allowed me to write their instrumentation ideas on the transparency and then clean it for the next class to use.
We said it, acted it out, played it on sticks, and then tried it with different timbres for each word, we tried it with the Engine chant, etc. Using a washable marker allowed me to write their instrumentation ideas on the transparency and then clean it for the next class to use.
Student Composition with 8x4 Grid with Staves
Tyrone could not be stopped in his quest for more recorder ribbons (a la Recorder Karate). This was for the green ribbon. (I start with red, orange, yellow, etc.) He had to create a composition using almost all the notes he knew (c,d,e,f#,g,a,B flat, b, c1, d1) using the given rhythm and play his composition.
He took some artistic license in the third line and I let him because it sounded better to him (and me) and he had already shown competence with the syn-co-pa pattern which was the challenge at this level.
He took some artistic license in the third line and I let him because it sounded better to him (and me) and he had already shown competence with the syn-co-pa pattern which was the challenge at this level.
Au Clair De Lune - recorder score
This is a well-used and now retired 8x4 grid that the students used with good success.
You can see what happens when you don't use permanent marker.
Color coding is something that you can easily do on these grids.
You can see what happens when you don't use permanent marker.
Color coding is something that you can easily do on these grids.
