This original four-bar melody uses C4–G4 in 4/4. All notes are crotchets. It is designed for a short lesson on tone, direction and joining bars.
Download the editable MusicXML score.
Audio: four count-in clicks, then the melody at 72 crotchet beats per minute. The sound is a synthesised reference, not a model of instrumental technique.
Play
- Bar 1: C4 D4 E4 F4.
- Bar 2: G4 F4 E4 D4.
- Bar 3: E4 F4 G4 E4.
- Bar 4: D4 E4 D4 C4.
Use a comfortable fingering or transpose for your instrument. The notated version is concert pitch.
Three teaching prompts
Tone: Can you keep the four notes in bar 1 even while moving upward?
Articulation: Play bar 2 connected, then detached. Describe the difference.
Phrasing: Choose a destination in bar 3 and make the ending in bar 4 sound settled.
Practice task
Play bars 1–2 slowly, keeping the pulse through the change of direction. Rest, then repeat. Finish by playing the entire study once.
Teacher check: Listen to the join between F4 and G4, and whether the final C4 arrives without rushing. No single expressive interpretation is required.
