Have you ever stood in front of your classroom, played a beautiful, clear note on the piano, and watched your students stare back at you with total confusion? First of all, I know exactly what it is like when a class comes in hot and you are trying your absolute best to explain a concept that seems so simple to you. However, teaching up and down and high and low can completely drive an elementary music teacher crazy!
When your kiddos look up at you and guess wildly, it is so natural to blame yourself and let the Sunday Scaries creep in. Additionally, you might start to feel like you are failing to rescue your classroom from the pitch puzzle. But guess what? You are not failing, because teaching register and direction is a massive developmental hurdle for young brains! Therefore, let’s dive into my favorite Fluffy Toolbox strategies to turn that frustration into pure music magic.
Why Teaching Up and Down and High and Low Can Feel Like an Uphill Battle
First of all, our students do not naturally connect the physical placement of a sound with the words we use to describe it. For instance, when we say a sound is “high,” a child might think of the volume instead of the pitch frequency. Therefore, teaching up and down and high and low requires us to stop relying purely on auditory explanations.
Did you know that an incredible 70% to 80% of our students are actually visual-spatial learners? This is especially true for our students with special needs and disabilities. Consequently, if we only ask them to hear the pitch, we are missing their primary learning pathway. Therefore, simple visuals must become your go-to management strategy!
The “Climb a Mountain” Operational Rescue
First, let’s look at a fantastic, no-prep strategy that allows your students to see, hear, and feel the music all at once. I love to project a giant picture of a mountain on my smartboard because it gives the kids an instant spatial anchor.
We sing this simple song together:
“Gonna climb me a mountain all the way to the top. Gotta keep on going ’cause I don’t wanna stop. Gonna climb down the mountain all the way down low. Gotta keep on going, it’s a long way to go!”
First of all, we sing the song while moving our hands higher and higher, ending with a joyful fist-punch at the peak. Next, we get up out of our seats and use our entire bodies by squatting low and stretching up super tall. By adding this intense physical movement, you are giving their brains a concrete map of the sound. Therefore, they begin to connect the physical sensation of stretching with the acoustic concept of ascending pitch.
Scaffolding with Orff and Boomwhackers
Additionally, we can take this mountain visual and apply it directly to our classroom instruments. For example, during the next week of the unit, I line up my Boomwhackers on the floor from the biggest tube to the smallest tube to form the exact shape of a mountain peak.
When we transition to the Orff instruments like glockenspiels and xylophones, we introduce my absolute favorite universal mantra. We chant together:
“Small is high and big is low, that is how our music rules go!”
First of all, this simple phrase works perfectly for every single asset in your room, whether you are comparing two sizes of triangles, cowbells, or Orff bars. However, please remember to give yourself permission to keep your expectations realistic. In my classroom, we play these games in kindergarten, but I do not expect them to master identifying these changes independently until at least second grade. Teaching is a continuous experiment, so if your current method isn’t working, simply pivot and try a new game on Monday!
Your Monday-Ready Takeaway Checklist
Are you ready to rescue your sanity and make pitch fun again? Check it out! Here is your quick action plan for this week:
- Draw or Project a Mountain: Give your visual-spatial learners an instant anchor for their eyes.
- Use the Universal Chant: Teach the “Small is high, big is low” mantra with every instrument family.
- Incorporate Props: Grab your colorful scarves or finger puppets to track melodic direction through the air.
- Embrace the Full-Body Squat: Get those kiddos out of their seats to physically embody ascending and descending sounds.
If you are looking for a virtual teaching partner to walk you through even more classroom secrets, I’ve got you covered!
Check out the full deep-dive discussion here: [Is Pitch Making You Crazy? The Secret Sauce for Teaching Up and Down and High and Low]