Mystery Pitch

Are you using mystery pitches in your music class? It is a great way to prepare your students for new pitches.

For example, if I’m preparing my 2nd graders for “re” I will sing a m-r-d motive as “mi – hmm – do” where I hum re instead of singing it. For hand signs, I sign mi & do and on re put my hands out like “what’s that new pitch?” as I hum. You can also sing re on “loo” or “la” if preferred.

I use a folk song that they know and isolate a good pattern for re. One of my favorite songs for re is a “Sleep, Baby, Sleep” which is a beautiful German lullaby that includes re repeatedly. (Find a folk song pack for Sleep, Baby, Sleep here.) I isolate “Sleep, Baby, Sleep” and sing mi-hmm-hmm-do. Students repeat it back. I point out that there is a pitch (sound) between mi & do. I point out that it sounds like stairsteps.

After introducing the new pitch aurally, I show it visually – still as a mystery pitch. I use these slides in the following order:

Mystery Pitch, Key of D as a first introduction

2. Mystery Pitch, Key of E (on another day) to show that the notes can move but the pattern of stair steps stays the same. They’ve already experienced all of this from when I taught ‘do’.

3. Once I’ve presented “re” officially, we sing ‘re’ instead of ‘hmm.’

4. Hand Sign Slides to review hand signs and review the new pitch is called ‘re.’

5. Note Head Only Slides to review pitches

6. Full Notation Slides. (Some of my slides include eighth note pairs as well.)

The slide sessions are always kept to 3-5 minutes per class and mixed in with a number of folk songs/games/manipulatives/centers to prepare and then practice re. The slides are just the ‘reading’ portion of the lessons.

I also use a very abbreviated version of this as my review in older grades. While the entire process might take 6+ classes in 2nd grade, in 3rd grade I might use all 6 slides in one day with 1-2 melodic patterns and then the next week again with 1-2 different melodic patterns.

Of course, these slides are all something you could make on your own – digital or print. But if you’re all about saving time, you can grab all the slides here:
Melodic Slides for Re
Save $ with the Full Bundle of 2nd Grade Slides (includes Do, Re, Pentatonic, Half Note & 16th Notes)

Happy Singing!