Posted by julie on October 14, 2007 at 18:02:31:
In Reply to: pitch vs. notes -- correct vocabulary? posted by EMB on October 13, 2007 at 18:23:15:
: Having completed approximately 6 weeks in my first job teaching 1-8 General Music, I figured it was about time for me to figure out the proper vocabulary to use with my students. This is definitely one of those questions that seems like it should be a no-brainer, but for some reason it's not for me.
: When should I use the word "pitch", when should I use the word "notes"?
: My students are generally getting the idea that when I talk about pitch I'm talking about high and low sounds.
: What does the word "note" refer to? Should that be used for rhythmic note values? With my 7th & 8th graders I just completed a theory review unit. There was definitely confusion among some of the students as to what I was talking about because I was connecting pitches to solfege syllables and letter names. At first I was asking students to "name the notes" but that didn't seem to be sufficient instruction so I started being more specific by telling them to give me the "letter names".
:in my state, we say that pitches are high and low sounds. MELODIES are made up of PITCHES (notes can be used interchangeably). RHYTHMS are patterns of long and short sounds and silences which can be seen in different forms of notes. We talk about the difference between a melody and a rhythm. I show them examples of rhythms and melodies and have them decide if the NOTES they see are in the form of a MELODY or RHTYHM. they need to look for whether the NOTES are sitting on a staff and have pitches assigned to them or if they are merely patterns of sounds.
Should I be using the term "absolute pitch" with students to talk about the letter names and "pitch" or "solfege pitch" for solfege syllables? Would that leave "note" to refer to different note values like quarter note or eighth note?
: Thanks for your help!