Reflections from the Soprano Sight Singing Room
Guest Authors: Cathy Crispino with Marie Lerner-Sexton

Having taught 32 years, I have quite a collection of sight singing materials. It was as if they were pieces to a jigsaw puzzle, but when I put them in place, they didn't quite fit, or one or two pieces were still missing. It seemed a never-ending search, until a particular missing piece showed itself one November Saturday.

While judging soprano sight singing at the Northeast District KMEA auditions (yes, I know, stars in my crown), I heard it all, or sometimes, nothing at all. While it's usually not a good sign that silence begins a sight singing audition, there were a few students who used the practice time to hear the music in their heads. No singing through, just ... silence. I was stunned the first time such a practice segment was followed by a young woman who absolutely nailed the exercise using solfege. Then, it happened again and I became a believer in the power of audiation. Edwin Gordon's Music Learning Theory teaches us that students must have musical patterns in their ears before they are able to recognize them in written form (Gordon, 2003). More information on Dr. Gordon's work in audiation is available at the Gordon Institute of Music Learning website: www.giml.org. His recent research involves infants from one to eighteen months old! Anne Meeker Miller, a music therapist with the Blue Valley School District, is one local resource in this area. She can be contacted at: babysingandsign.com.

After observing the results in the sight singing room, I began incorporating silent practice into my rehearsal routine on a more regular basis. It helped. Then, I met Carol Krueger of Emporia State University who has all the pieces of the puzzle and knows how to snap them in place. Progressive Sight Singing is a textbook written by her and is rooted in the work of Dr. Gordon (Krueger, 2010). With public school experience at all levels, she promotes engaging students in the rehearsal process in new and exciting ways by having them move together, use Curwen hand signs, and physically shaping phrases even in the early stages of learning a piece. This process provides energy and a sense of teamwork. How does that happen? First ears, then eyes, with bodies engaged from the very beginning.

More reflections from the sight singing audition room include the observation that almost all of the successful students used solfege. Another observation: when auditioning students did demonstrate skill in melodic reading, rhythmic errors still cost them points. My rhythmic training was in count-singing with Robert Shaw (Blocker, 2004). Although that works well much of the time it doesn't all of the time. Another system for rhythmic training used by Dr. Krueger and others is Takadimi, developed by Richard Hoffman, William Pelto and John W. White (Hoffman, Pelto, & White, 1996). Check out the following website for more specific information: http://takadimi.net/.

The patterns that Dr. Gordon suggests to audiate are, of course, found in all of our choral literature. Making the transition from audiation to reading happens through helping students recognize those patterns on the page. Flash cards are an old school tool which ensures students are looking at the same place at the same time. In addition to flash cards, the newer tool is the document camera. The document camera also allows the instructor to "patsch" the beat and use hand signs along with the choir. This kinesthetic involvement makes all the difference. Dr. Krueger has students rehearse standing with their section in circles, folders on music stands. Everyone is physically engaged in learning; not only are the singers mentally focused but their vocal production is energized and free.

Sometimes, there is a disconnect between sight singing time and the rest of the rehearsal. Dr. Krueger recommends preparing a study guide for concert literature. Rhythm patterns, tonal patterns, and tonal lines are divided by section and rehearsed together using the document camera. Obviously, it helps if the difficulty level of the literature is in accordance with the skill level of the choir.

Those hours (and hours) spent judging sight singing helped me rethink what was happening in my own classroom. The sight singing component of the Northeast District KMEA choir auditions happened because of pioneers such as Mary Ann Roberson, who now teaches in Arizona, and Marie Lerner-Sexton. After many years in the high school choral classroom, Marie currently has a voice studio in Olathe, where she continues to help students learn to read music.

Marie says the key to success is "just do it!" Persistence pays and, according to Marie, accountability is an important motivator in the high school choir setting. High school choral directors in the Northeast District have certainly been motivated themselves by the accountability of these auditions. Marie's students took quarterly written tests and recorded themselves performing sight singing exercises geared to their ability level. In addition to Dr. Krueger's book, Marie uses Music Literacy for Singers by Patti DeWitt (available at: www.jwpepper.com) with less experienced readers.

Audiation, a common language for melodic and rhythmic reading, kinesthetic involvement, persistence, and accountability are the pieces that complete the sight singing puzzle. While we might not master everything at once, it's beautiful to see the picture as a whole in action during the rehearsal process.

Cathy Crispino retired from Lawrence High School in 2012. Marie Lerner-Sexton retired from Olathe South High School in 2001.

References:

Blocker, R. The Robert Shaw Reader. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004.

Gordon, E. E., Learning Sequences in Music. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2003.

Hoffman, R., Pelto, W., & White, J.W. (1996). Takadimi: A beat-oriented system of rhythm pedagogy. Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, V10. http://takadimi.net/.

Krueger, C. Progressive Sight Singing (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.