Incomplete Maps are whole maps or puzzle card maps in which some musical ideas have been intentionally omitted. This allows students entry into the musical experience but allows space for students to add their own musical ideas and figure out ways to creatively represent them.
This in an important step in the process toward making their own musical maps “from scratch.”
This in an important step in the process toward making their own musical maps “from scratch.”
Linus and Lucy (excerpt 0:00-0:58)
in this version performed by Wynton and Ellis Marsalis (LISTEN), the added improvisation allows for interesting musical ideas that students can “notate” on the skeletal version of the map (map is an excerpt). Students may also enjoy comparing this version to the original by Vince Guaraldi (LISTEN).
Lincolnshire Posey
This incomplete map was created by Erinn Wrobel as part of her graduate work at OU in music education. The map provides students with ample opportunities to express what they hear during each repetition of the theme. LISTEN
lincolnshire_posey.pdf | |
File Size: | 38 kb |
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"Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" from The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky
"Faeries" by Mannheim Steamroller LISTEN
This set of puzzle cards should be offered to students (working in small groups) mixed up for students to figure out and trace as they listen to Tchaikovsky’s "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" from the Nutcracker Suite. Once students have figured out the map, encourage them to think about how the puzzle cards might best be “grouped” to represent the form of the piece. Continued listenings so that each member of the small group has a chance to trace the cards. This is particularly helpful for students as they continue with the next problem.
Keep the maps in place as students next listen to “Faeries” by Mannheim Steamroller. During the first listening, they should adjust their puzzle cards to show where the musicians in Mannheim Steamroller have added new sections to the original piece. Provide blank pieces of paper so that the students can draw what they hear in the new sections or what they have added to the original in this remix.
dance_of_the_sugar_plum_fairy.pdf | |
File Size: | 35 kb |
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"Birdland" by Buddy Rich
Incomplete Map and Lesson Ideas by Vivian Ellsworth LISTEN
This map has several pages. Download the entire map below. A preview of the first page is shown on this site.
This map has several pages. Download the entire map below. A preview of the first page is shown on this site.
birdland.pdf | |
File Size: | 250 kb |
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LESSON IDEA: Vivian designed this incomplete map with a variety of possibilities for use in the music classroom:
Put the map cards in order and trace (while listening).
Figure out the form and texture of the music as we trace the map.
Trace different main melody pattern sections.
Use the map as an incomplete map and have students fill out missing sections for “what else do you hear?”
Discuss articulation, dynamics, timbre, swing rhythms, texture. What are you hearing when the little melody blocks repeat several times in each section? How would you notate that?
Use the map to explore improvisation.
Compare the Buddy Rich version to other versions.
MAP PREVIEW (page one of seven pages):
Put the map cards in order and trace (while listening).
Figure out the form and texture of the music as we trace the map.
Trace different main melody pattern sections.
Use the map as an incomplete map and have students fill out missing sections for “what else do you hear?”
Discuss articulation, dynamics, timbre, swing rhythms, texture. What are you hearing when the little melody blocks repeat several times in each section? How would you notate that?
Use the map to explore improvisation.
Compare the Buddy Rich version to other versions.
MAP PREVIEW (page one of seven pages):
Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”
Amber Cooper designed this lesson as incomplete puzzle cards that, once the order of the cards have been determined, there is room for the students to draw “what else do you hear?” onto the cards. A blank card can be provided for students to draw the introduction or for other missing sections of the music.
Please note that each page includes two lines of the melody. The star on the upper right hand corner indicates which “side of the paper goes up.”
fanfare_for_the_common_man.pdf | |
File Size: | 12 kb |
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MAP PREVIEW (page one of six pages)
"Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer (Intro and A section only)
Theme to Beverly Hills Cop
LISTEN
Jaime Priest designed this incomplete map for her 4th grade students.
Jaime shared: I would use this incomplete map to help teach the concept of texture and layers. The first time we would follow along with the map on the Board. The second time I would ask them to listen for other sounds/layers they hear that are not on the map already; such as the cymbals, drum and claps. After deciding on the layers as a class, volunteers would draw their ideas on the map. Next I would give them the same map cut into sections and blank pieces of paper. They would listen to an extended version of Axel F and working in groups fill in layers and the percussion breaks. These lessons would enable to compose their own texture composition as well as creating their own texture maps in future lessons.
axel_f_map.pdf | |
File Size: | 40 kb |
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