Build Repertoire with Root Melodies

With each of my absolute-beginner students, there is a period of time after they’ve started lessons, but before they can really play tunes on their instrument. We’re working on many isolated skills, but not yet putting them all together.

This presents a bit of a conundrum. One of my central goals during lessons is to infuse the space with as much music as possible, but we are not yet ready to start sequencing through songs. Solution? (da da da DAAAAA!!) Root Melodies.

A Root Melody is a simple accompaniment made from the roots of each chord of a song, played pizzicato on open strings, with a quarter note/half note rhythm. While your student plays the Root Melody, you can sing or play the melody, creating a nice duet!

Root Melodies are super rich and flexible - you can work on string names, familiarize children with songs that they will later play, change the key of a tune by starting the Root Melody on a different string, change the tonality or meter of a tune without changing the Root Melody, and help your student grow a jamming repertoire before building much technique.

Here are a few Root Melodies to get started with (all D-major versions):

Hot Cross Buns:
D A D - , D A D -
D D A A, D A D -

Mary Had a Little Lamb:
D A D D , A A D D
D A D D , A A D -

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:
DD DD GG D-, AA DD AA D-
DD AA DD A- , DD AA DD A-
DD DD GG D-, AA DD AA D-

Lightly Row:
D D A A , D D A A
D D A A , D A D D
A A A A , D D D D
D D A A , D A D D