Follow-Up: Composing Using the Green Staff Boards
Hi! Welcome back to the blog. You know, the Green Staff Boards don’t just help the child learn the notes on the staff; they can also be a nice tool for composition. After you give a lesson on the introduction to the musical staff (or even before, as the child doesn’t need to know the names of the notes to compose) the child can write some melodies by placing the blank black chips on the lines and spaces.
After that, the child can copy his or her notes from the Green Boards onto 5-line staff paper.
If you’ve given the literacy lessons, encourage the child to sing the notes as he places them on the staff board.
Remind the child of these simple guidelines:
Keep your melody within an octave, from Middle Do (Middle C)—that’s the note on the first little ledger line below the staff— and,
Make sure to place the notes one after another, instead of stacked on top of each other.
When the child is satisfied with his or her melody, he or she can then cut out the melody and glue it onto a score!
Finally, now that the melody is glued onto the score, he or she can add parts for percussion, or piano.
And there you have it. This is a great follow-up for any lesson in your music album.
Check out the YouTube channel for more follow-up ideas. More later!