Mr T asked:
I teach general music classes (grades 1-6) and middle school chorus. They do not use an instrument which helps in learning to read notes. I am looking for a good methodology or technique to teach the singers to read music.
Tags: General Music, How To Read Music Notes, Instrumentalists, learn how to read music, Learning To Read, Methodology, Mr T, Music Classes, Music Notation, Read Music, read music fast, School Chorus, Singers
Learn How to Read Music Notes
There are a couple of approaches you could take dependent on your system of teaching. Do you give written worksheets in class or as homework? Can you do sectionals with your choir?
At Elementary Level, you can present the mnemonics for the spaces Treble – FACE and Bass All Cars Eat Gas. After explaining the music alphabet line-space-line-space, etc., you can use worksheets, chalkboard or overhead to quiz. I have a giant staff and bean bags. The little ones throw a bag and then they have to put a ruler next to it to show correct stem rules and name the note. We set up a ’5 finger’ position on the staff (EX. CDEFG) then we sing it up and down, (obviously in half notes)-saying the letters; then we remove one bag and they sing what they see. Then we scramble them many different ways and they sing and say the letters. Sometimes I do solfeg, also. Different days use different letters. C major and G major teach most of the lines and spaces. Then I explain sharps and flats. We use felt #/b to add to the notes. We explore C major versus C minor and G – Gm. Then when we set up DEFGA I challenge them to hear that it is minor and we use the # to make it major, etc, etc.
Flashcards also work at both levels. One fun way is a ‘Minute Challenge’. Have a chart up with their names listed. Each day have a couple kids take the challenge. How many cards can they correctly identify in one minute? Record the score and have them try to improve it the next time they try. You can use handheld flash cards but the other kids can’t easily see those. If you make overhead flashcards, everyone (mostly) will be looking and thinking what it is. Some kids lock up under pressure, so this works in a subtle way. The ones who are not having to say it are thinking what they guess it is – if they are right they feel satisfied, if they are wrong, they aren’t embarassed because nobody knew what they thought, but they tend to think “Oh it should have been…”. They are actually getting more practice than the nervous one who is under pressure.
At MS choir level, these methods can also work on an overhead. Once they can get most of the lines and spaces, you can have them talk through a phrase of music in a piece they are working on – saying the letters, clapping the rhythm, then finally singing it saying the letters and finally singing it saying the lyrics. This ideally should be in sections. Sometimes you could give a worksheet packet to the whole class, then pull your sopranos up to sight read and sight sing while the others work on the worksheets, then send the sopranos back and bring up the altos, etc – depending on the length of your class period – perhaps 10 minutes each. For worksheets you can get a variety of notespellers, even ones that yield a story or composer vingette – Prima Music on line has a really thorough listing of theory and rhythm workbooks you could order. Or make up your own.
But occasionally it’s not a bad idea to have the whole class say the letters, so they all at least get acquainted with both staves.
Hope that helps.
How to Sight Read Music
Every February there is a national convention of music teachers and educators in San Antonio. In addition to lectures you can sign up for there are tons of materials you can see and different methods, you can exchange points of view with peers and take empty suitcases because you will receive loads of free promotional materials and catalogs that you can later sift and sort through, or ask your local chair of the National Music Teachers Association.