A team of melodica players performs together before a panel, marked out of 100 on blend, shared intonation, rhythmic unity and musical shaping, in age-banded school classes.
Melodica Group is the ensemble class for the melodica, the small keyboard wind instrument played by blowing through a mouthpiece while the fingers work a piano-style keyboard. Several players perform one piece together and the panel marks them as a single team. The melodica is cheap, portable and easy to start on, which is why it turns up in school music rooms and why a group class suits whole classes and small school ensembles.
On the eTalenter template that carries it, Melodica Group is a team item open to boys and girls together, with no language attached, a ten-minute limit and a maximum score of 100. It is offered in three classes: Junior Group, Senior Group and Open Group. The Junior and Senior classes follow the school age bands of 11 to 14 and 15 to 18, and the Open Group class sits alongside them for mixed teams.
A round runs in call order: the group walks on, places its instruments and music stands, and performs one prepared piece while the panel marks the whole ensemble. Because the melodica is a single-line instrument, groups usually split a piece into a melody and one or two supporting parts, sometimes adding a keyboard-style rhythm line. A strong entry is a piece every member can play cleanly, with the parts balanced so that no single player is left exposed.
Organisers run it because it needs only chairs and stands, lets a whole class take part together, and gives teachers a way to enter pupils who are not yet ready for a solo. It also fills the gap between a first recorder ensemble and the larger wind band and orchestra classes that sit later in the same programme.
Where Melodica Group is run
On the eTalenter templates Melodica Group appears in one event: a national school music and dance competition in Sri Lanka, which runs it as a team class at Junior, Senior and Open Group level. That is the only template that carries it today, so this page does not claim wider use. The melodica itself is a common classroom instrument in many countries, but the competition item is recorded here only where the data supports it.
- Sri Lanka
Key facts
- Team entry, open to boys and girls together; language is not set
- Marked out of 100 in every class
- Ten-minute limit for each class on the template, with no separate warning bell set
- Three classes: Junior Group (ages 11 to 14), Senior Group (ages 15 to 18) and Open Group
- Carried by one template only, so entries should follow the printed rules for that event
- Related pages: Recorder Group, the other small-instrument school ensemble, and Mixed Instrumental Group
On eTalenter, Melodica Group is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Melodica Group is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 10 minutes where a limit is set.
The scoring method the templates attach to this item, and what that scale means. The category this competition is filed under when a template is installed. Others in this category: Classical Vocal, Light Music, Folk Song, Western Vocal, Instrumental, Group Song, Devotional Song, Patriotic Song eTalenter matches an item to its criteria on the words in its name, and creates exactly these when the template is installed.How it is scored
Where it sits
Judging criteria installed for it
What judges look at in Melodica Group
What a Melodica Group panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Ensemble blend: all players sounding as one instrument, with no single melodica louder or sharper than the rest
- Shared intonation: melodicas are tuned by reed, so players must start from the same instrument tuning and keep a steady breath to stay together
- Rhythmic unity: entries, stops and tempo changes made together; rushing in the fast passages is the quickest way to lose marks
- Part balance: supporting lines must be heard under the melody, and the melody must not be drowned out by the accompaniment
- Musical shaping: phrasing, dynamics and a shared ending, rather than a note-by-note reading of the page
- Where marks are won: a modest piece played cleanly and together beats an ambitious one with ragged entries; running over the time limit can also cost marks
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Melodica Group under Scoring Setup, or start from the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Melodica Group
How entrants and their teachers usually get Melodica Group right on the day:
- Choose a piece every member can play cleanly at performance tempo, and confirm the group size and any extra instruments the rules allow
- Rehearse each part alone, then in pairs, then the full group, rather than going straight to everyone together
- Agree a clear signal for the start and the ending, such as a nod from the leader or a count of one bar
- Check that every melodica is in tune with the others before the run, and warm the instruments with a few quiet breaths first
- Mark shared breath points so phrases are not chopped in different places by different players
- Practise the walk-on, setting the stands and seating so a nervous group does not lose its first minute
- Time a full run from walking on to the last note and keep it inside the ten-minute limit
- After a loss, ask for the mark breakdown, compare blend and intonation, and rehearse the weakest section on its own next season
Events that run this (1)
Ready-made templates that already include this competition. Installing one sets it up for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Melodica Group judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
Is Melodica Group the same as Recorder Group?
No. Both are small-instrument school ensembles, but the melodica is a blown keyboard and the recorder is a fipple flute. They are separate items with their own classes, so enter the one your players actually play.
How many players can be in a melodica group?
That is the organiser’s rule. The template does not fix a number, so read the programme and ask before entering if it is not stated.
Can the group add other instruments or a backing track?
Only if the organiser allows it. Many programmes expect the team to play unaided, so check the printed rules for your class before planning the arrangement.
How long can the piece be?
On the template that carries this item, each class has a ten-minute limit. Follow the limit printed for your own class and event.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.
Try Melodica Group in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Melodica Group, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
