We got a lot of practice with chords this chapter, and now we’re putting that to the test a bit with a chord listening game that features the C Major Chord and F Major Chord.
In “Chord Listening III” we…
-Practice identifying chords C Major and F Major just by their sound.
-Hand-sign along with the chords as we discover what they were!
Chord Listening III
If you’ve been keeping up with these lesson recaps and extensions, you’ve probably noticed a lot of listening games in this chapter. Here’s why…
When it comes to developing a sense of relative pitch or memorized pitch, learning to distinguish chords from one another is a big deal.
Almost everything we’ve done in Preschool Prodigies is in C Major. Therefore, the C chord is always the I chord, the F chord is always the IV chord (four notes higher), and the G chord is V (five notes higher).
However, if the song is in G Major, then G is the I chord. Four notes up (G A B C) and C Major is the IV chord.
Without getting too tangled up in the specifics, it’s worth knowing that this is how most musicians think about songs; as a pattern of chords related to a central I chord (the root or tonic).
For instance, a folk singer might call a “One Five Four in G,” and all of the musicians would know that the song is going to based largely on G (I) D (V) and C (IV).
But in some situations, you won’t even get a hint about how the song goes – musicians expect other musicians to play by ear.
Which is why familiarizing your learners with the idea of I, IV and V is so useful.
Last but not least, these three chords played in succession will sound all the notes in a given key. In other words, it’s a great way to center yourself for whatever song you’re about to sing.
What's Next?
We’ll practice a little more listening, this time with all three chords, the I, the IV and the V. Plus, we’ll have a bonus listening game with “What Chord Is It” featuring a very happy set of sailing bells!
This is your final opportunity to practice identifying chords for a little while, as the next chapter will focus more on playing melodies. It is worth spending some extra time inside this chapter playing all of the listening games (inside the Journey > Chapter 7) to make sure that your kids can i...
Can you guess which notes it is with Fa, Sol and La? Test yourself with "What Notes is it?"