If sight-singing is a painful part of your rehearsal, consider that singers are attempting to process and read in a new language. Research confirms that we become literate in music according to the same sequence as any other language: by engaging the
ears and forming aural associations before any symbols are introduced and recognition/audiation can be expected. An aural vocabulary, acquired through consistent emersion in the language, must be well developed before the singer can decode the pitches that written notation represents.
ears and forming aural associations before any symbols are introduced and recognition/audiation can be expected. An aural vocabulary, acquired through consistent emersion in the language, must be well developed before the singer can decode the pitches that written notation represents.
Major and minor scales sung with solfeggio syllables (movable do / la-based minor), as well as tonal patterns based upon the Major and minor tonic and dominant triads, provide a solid foundation and a basis for future understanding of harmonic
progression, analysis, sight-singing and part-singing.
progression, analysis, sight-singing and part-singing.
You can invest in your singers’ literacy in just a few minutes per rehearsal! Sing the patterns and have the singers echo them back to you – always in the same sequence at first. When they are able to aurally identify the familiar patterns out of sequence, then they are ready to read those patterns. The written patterns should be in familiar order at first, then in unfamiliar order to reveal how much actual reading (rather than reciting!) is taking place.
You can tailor the experience to prepare for a specific musical selection as well. Follow the same process of teaching the melody by rote, then assigning syllables, then reading the notation.
Remember: Sound before sight!
Dale Duncan says