When it comes to choosing a system of syllables to sing for teaching ear training and sight singing, there seems to be a consensus that moveable do, sometimes called functional solfege, is needed for teaching chord and tone functions. To be sure, moving do to wherever the tonic is does help a singer remember where … Continue reading Can Tone and Chord Functions Be Taught With Fixed Do?
scale
The Big Payoff
We teachers live for the big payoff. The moment when the students connect the dots and finally "get it." This morning, I was able to enjoy moments like that with both of my 5th grade classes. Last week, they received printed music for the round Gaudeamus Hodie and worked independently at sight singing it with … Continue reading The Big Payoff
Solving the Problem of Students who Don’t Practice
For those of who play orchestral instruments and guitar, recorder, keyboard, accordion, harmonica, ukulele or whatever, disciplined practice is still necessary for advancing and achieving success. At the same time, we all have students who are less than willing to bother practicing. It also happens fairly often that a student will claim to be practicing, but … Continue reading Solving the Problem of Students who Don’t Practice
