Melodic function is understood by the musical mind. It is as if there is a construct in place with tonic and dominant pitches as anchors, all other pitches in relation to tonic and dominant pitches, and a sense of placement—the “whereness” of pitches in relation to tonic and dominant pitches. The developing sense of melodic function not only serves growth through Sound and Syllables, but also Symbols, as it directly guides the process of music reading.

You can explore the natural sense of placement in audiation with a visual/tactual model of tonal audiation. Ultimately, notation becomes the visual representation of audiation, but at this level of development, you can probe the natural construct of melodic function with an Orff instrument or piano keyboard. Musically developed four year olds provide the richest demonstration, as unlike their older counterparts, thinking minds don’t get in the way.

Set up bars C to B on an Orff instrument, taking off any additional bars, and placing a half inch round colored sticker on D and A. Using a piano keyboard, place a half inch sticker on the D and A above middle C. The stickers simply mark tonic and dominant pitches, the visual reflection of their prominence in audiation. You are first going to demonstrate visually on the keyboard or Orff instrument, various tonal segments that children are familiar with from tonal dialogue, first setting up the tonality with the tonal prep on the instrument while singing, always with syllables. Your demonstration (without explanation), is essentially saying to the musical mind, “You know what this sounds like. Here is what it looks like. Here is the “placement” of what you know in sound.” [Orff instruments with mallets are easier for little fingers to play than piano keys. Woods are more desirable for this activity than metals, and those in the singing range serve best. If you use a piano keyboard, use only one finger so children focus on the visual placement rather than five finger technique.]

Set up Dorian tonality on either instrument, singing while playing the instrument so children can see the layout of bars/keys from the front of the instrument. Play the familiar tonal segments from Tonal Dialogue Activities that revolve around tonic and dominant, while singing the tonal segments (with rhythm)—“rim rum, rim ri rum, rim re rim, rum ru rum, rim ra ri ro rum.” Working with one child at a time, play one of the patterns while singing, and ask the child to play it after you. Do several tonal segments with the child in this manner, and then without playing, singing on the resting tone, ask, “Can you find rim rum?” (singing the appropriate pitch for rim). After the child plays the pattern, sing another of the familiar tonal segments on syllables, expecting the child to echo instrumentally, taking each child through a series of tonal segments. Of course, the goal here is not to get the patterns “right,” but rather, to explore the sense of melodic function. Coach as needed. You may be surprised to discover how “built in” the sense of melodic placement is.

You will observe that without your playing the instrument, children’s sense of melodic placement takes over rather than imitation of your demonstration or memorization of your visual patterns. They echo your singing on the instrument, guided by their own sense of melodic placement rather than your previous demo of each visual pattern, and will demonstrate command of all of the above tonal segments, in any order, with very little coaching. Singing while playing is more difficult for the child, interrupting the focus on placement, yet the child will replay your tonal segment in audiation in order to deliver on the instrument.

Children sense the “whereness” of pitches in relation to tonic and dominant. The musical mind knows the relationship between the fifth and sixth degrees of the scale, and that knowing is expressed by their immediate placement of pitches on the instrument, after they have been shown what their tonal knowing “looks like.” They understand the relationship between the tonic and seventh, 5-3-1, and the descending 5-4-3-2-1, without prompting. As with resting tone and working tone, children understand the placement of pitches in relation to tonic and dominant in any tonality, gaining skill with each tonality that transfers to the next tonality.