Lesson 21 of 84 · Melody
⭐ 30 XP🎶 Melody MeadowWhat Is a Melody? (Part 2)
Pentatonic melodies use only five notes.
🎯 Your mission
Sing along — even if no one's listening.
⚡ The twist
Going up sounds happier. Going down sounds heavier. That's not magic — that's ears.
Listen for this
🎧 Notice when the notes go UP and when they go DOWN.
Artist Spotlight
🌟 Stevie Wonder writes melodies in his head — he can't see music notation at all.
Mind = Blown
🤯 You only need 12 notes to make EVERY song that exists. Twelve.
Learn about what is a melody? (part 2): improvise a melody over a given chord progression
What You'll Learn
Pentatonic melodies use only five notes. Many nursery rhymes and folk songs use just five notes. They always sound good!
Improvise a melody over a given chord progression
Recognize pentatonic melodies by ear
Notes on the Staff
Tap a note to hear it
Check Your Understanding
Question 1 of 3
What family does the trumpet belong to?
Where you hear this in real life
The melody you can't get out of your head right now is the result of years of someone else's practice.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Make up a 4-note tune. Hum it three times. See if you remember it tomorrow.
For the dinner table
“Hum the first notes of a song you both love. Can your kid finish it?”
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