music educators

Daily sight-reading in the choral classroom is a beneficial instructional practice that promotes music literacy skills.  However, this pedagogical approach is, at times, disinteresting to students due to the repetitive use of exercises from a methods book.  While consistency is important when teaching music literacy, variety is also beneficial, providing students with a new and […]

Audiation (also called inner hearing) is the process in which pitch is produced internally in the mind of the musician, with no sound being produced out loud, and is an important skill that should be developed in singers.  In all vocal production, singers must first audiate all the musical elements (pitch, rhythm, text, vowel, dynamic, […]

In episode 25 of ChoralEd, Dr. Nathan Dame shares creative approaches to moveable-do sight-reading.  When implementing moveable-do in the classroom, Dr. Dame encourages a sequential instructional approach that develops musicianship skills.  For the beginning choir, this instructional sequence includes: Step 1: Count Rhythms Step 2: Figure out starting solfège based on the key signature Step […]

In ChoralEd Episode 24, Robert Westerberg discusses the numbers sight-reading method.  When selecting a sight-reading method to implement in your classroom, it’s important to consider your student population.  If your ensemble incorporates a wide range of age and ability levels or frequently includes new students, then numbers may be a great option for your program.  […]

In ChoralEd Episode 23, Jo Ann Antinone discusses the fixed-do sight-reading method.  The fixed-do approach is occasionally viewed by choral directors as intimidating and complex, but through sequential instruction, this method becomes very accessible to students.  According to Mrs. Antinone, the fixed-do instructional sequence should begin with the key of “F” for treble voices and […]