Alisha Reeve MUSED 358 Citation Sound Connections 2005 Chapter 1: Teaching Music Literacy Don P.

Ester Summary Reading and Notating as one of the nine national standards o Allows independence o Recreation of music and ideas across space and time o Allows creativity to come to fruition through written music Defining Music Literacy o Singing and the ear are linked o Audiating-hearing music internally o Music literacy-translation of notation into sound and sound into notation Music Literacy Instruction: Past to Present o 18th century-singing schools for development of church singers Fasola system-moveable do with four syllables Aimed at improving the singing of the whole o Lowell Mason Taught in Boston for a year for free Emphasized sound before sight Moved from Fasola system to system much like todays with seven syllables Aimed to prove that music improved the quality of education o 1920s A cappella choir movement Started with focus on music reading skills Changed to performance based with little focus on long term music literacy Mostly rote learning o 1960s Education Reform Restoration of previous aims Performance and literacy Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance Education through performance, literacy and historical knowledge Enforcement by the National Standards for Arts Education in 1994 o Reading and notating o Comprehensive programs Music Literacy Achievement

o Connections between motor and literacy skills help to cement knowledge and improve understanding o Sight-singing skills have little to do with instrumental skills o Students need a mixed bag of experience to be successful, instrumental, vocal, or general only experience improved students skills only slightly, combination proved the most effective o Many programs do not address sight singing and notating skills to an appropriate level and provide only the most basic instruction This has led to many students remaining musically illiterate The Challenge of Teaching Music Literacy o Music literacy and reading literacy go hand in hand Both take years to develop o The United States offers many varied programs for teaching music literacy rather than one centralized program Examples: Kodaly, Orff, counting This has proved to be ineffective and makes for hard transitions It would be best to use one tonal and syllable system throughout their education It would be even better for the whole country to use the same system 60-80% use movable do, half or so of those use la-minor More than half of teachers use counting The Sound Connections Approach o The younger the students the more repetition required, slow pace for younger children o Four step system Sequence to move from sound to sight Rhythm and tonal systems good for all ages Sequence that moves logically with melodic and rhythmic structure New and old strategies Learning sequence o Based on the ideas of Pestalozzi, Gagne, and Gordon o Goal is to connect sound and sight o Music literacy is the ability to connect sound with the symbols of music Syllable System o Must be easy to translate between what they see and what they hear o Moveable do, la minor o Takadimi allows for ease of rhythm translating and allows coordinates easily with counting Content Sequences o Three main Tonal, Rhythm, and Master Instructional

Begins with tonic triads and builds from there All other tones function as neighbors to these three Meter is the main principle of Rhythm Master Instructional covers most of literacy topics Vocab, notation, synthesis Instructional Strategies o Each lesson is typically only a few minutes long o Careful guidance to ensure proper connections o Teaches reading and notating simultaneously

Reflection As a music educator it is important not only to know the roots of music education, but also what sprang from those roots. It is interesting to see the approaches that were in place in the past and how those have evolved into the programs of today. It is also important to know what worked and didnt work and how that translates for todays students. In terms of the tonal and rhythm syllable systems it is important for a music educator to see the research and use the approach that makes the most sense pedagogically based on scientific research. In this case moveable do, la minor, and the Takadimi system.