top of page
mfsmith62

Eleven Leaps to Literacy: From Music to Notation

Introduction


What came first, the chicken or the egg? What about music or notation? Of course music comes first and has been the joyful expression of people of all languages from the beginning of time. We begin with music and add notation so that we can enjoy deeper levels of complexity in our musical expression. Starting with music is the best way to begin playing a musical instrument, especially for the first time 


Beginning a musical instrument involves developing new and challenging skills while also learning a new language. We ease the process by singing familiar songs to begin with and then playing them on instruments while developing literacy skills along the way. 

As we connect beginning band and orchestra with elementary general music, we find more students successfully engaging in instrumental music.


The growth in the elementary music curriculum has been promoted by the research and practices of Zoltán Kodály, John Feierabend, Carl Orff, Edwin Gordon, Shinichi Suzuki, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze and others. Though we find inconsistency from school to school in methods and practices, it is fair to say that most students in America and around the world receive a strong foundation in elementary music classrooms today. 


What’s Happening in Elementary Music Today


Our next guiding question is: Do we know what is happening in our students’ elementary music classes? When we understand what our students know and are able to do, we have a foundation on which to build.  


  • Every Student Sings in Every Class!  Music education begins with joyful singing that transfers to every other musical skill. Students sing songs from around the world, including the music of all ethnicities because all voices matter. 

  • Every Student Moves!  Movement matters because singing, rhythm, and movement are all connected as we experience music. Students enjoy movement and learn concepts such as phasing and expression through movement.

  • Every Student Creates!  Creating music allows students to take what they know and use it to express themselves. Creating and improvising are primary skills in all of music education. 

  • Students Sing Songs with Solfege & Rhythm Syllables!  We add solfege and rhythm syllables to the songs from around that world that our students sing. Syllables are power and become building blocks to literacy.

  • Students Sing through and with Instruments!  Students use their established song repertoire to sing through their instruments or sing along with instruments. Students use solfege syllables and rhythm syllables as they connect these skills to playing a recorder, band or string instrument. 


Don’t Start Over


When it’s time to play a band (or string) instrument, the traditional practice is to start over with a particular focus on notation. All of the singing, moving, creating, solfege and rhythm syllables from the elementary music classroom are tossed aside. This neglect of what students already know is not intentional, it’s just the way that we were taught in the past.


But we do not need to start over. It is the skills from the elementary music classroom that help students to find initial and lasting success in playing an instrument. The same songs that were sung and then played on recorder and other instruments can be played on the band or string instruments.


Change Is Coming!


Fifty years ago, at the age of ten, I began playing the trombone. Back then bell bottoms and leisure suits were popular; we got our first pocket calculators, and we were introduced to floppy disks. Pong - the first home video game came into our homes, and we traveled to a galaxy far, far away with the first Star Wars movie. We have come a long way in fifty years. However, our instrumental method books have not changed very much at all; they use the same folk songs and the same process in teaching notation. 


The research that has revolutionized elementary music education has not weaved its way into instrumental music education… yet. My father was my first band director, and I taught my students exactly the way he taught me to play the trombone. But now that I know a better way, I do better.


Build on What Students Know


Again — beginning a musical instrument involves developing new and challenging skills while also learning a new language. There is so much to learn all at once, including how to hold a new and often heavy instrument, how to make a sound with a reed vibrating or lips buzzing or playing into a head joint; and how to finger new notes, all while coordinating breathing in this whole new adventure. Then we add the complexity of reading notation.


Since students know more than ever before, we can begin with the songs and skills they have already learned. Students can already sing a repertoire of twenty to thirty songs using solfege and rhythm syllables. So we start with music and add notation. In other words, we allow musicality to flourish as literacy develops. This whole process starts with a successful first lesson. 


The First Lesson on a Band Instrument


The first lesson sets the tone for the entire first year of playing a band or string instrument. At the first lesson, students can begin by playing long sounds into the mouthpiece or head joint. After making a sound on the mouthpiece or head joint, each student should practice holding a sound for as long and as steady as possible. Repeat playing long sounds on the mouthpiece or head joint at the beginning of every lesson for the entire first year. 


Also at the first lesson, students should learn the fingerings and note names for the solfege syllables Mi, Re, and Do (D, C, Bb for flute, oboe, bassoon, trombone, baritone BC, Tuba and bells; E,D,C for clarinet, tenor sax, and trumpet; B,A,G for alto saxophone; and A,G,F for horn). Again, the teacher should go around the room and listen to each student hold a concert D for as long and as steady as possible. Next, have students hold a sustained tone on concert C and then concert Bb. Then the students are ready and able to go home and begin playing as many as six Mi,Re,Do songs after the first lesson.


Eleven Leaps to Literacy


Singing Songs with Lyrics (Singing songs students already know and learning new songs.)


  1. The teacher sings a song for the students while they participate with movement or a game for the song. 


  1. The students sing the song with the same movement or game.


Singing Songs with Solfege


  1. The teacher sings the song for the students using solfege syllables (and solfege hand signs - optional).


  1. The students sing the song using solfege syllables (and solfege hand signs - optional).


  1. The teacher sings the song using solfege syllables (with piano accompaniment) while students finger along on their instrument.


  1. Students sing and finger the same song using solfege syllables.


Singing Songs with Note Names


  1. Students sing and finger the song using note names.


Singing Songs with Rhythm Syllables and Counting


  1. The teacher sings/speaks the rhythm syllables (Kodaly, Gordon or Takadimi syllables coordinated with General Music Class) and then the students sing/speak the rhythm syllables.


  1. The teacher sings/speaks the rhythmic counting and then the students sing/speak the rhythmic counting.


Playing the Song (Singing through an Instrument)


  1. Students play the song; by the time the students play, they have already sung and fingered the song many times. They are ready to sing the song through the instrument. 


  1. Final Step - Students read the notation and play the song without using any syllables or note names.


Success for All Students


In conclusion, my hope is to see a one hundred percent success rate in the first year of playing a band or string instrument. Students may stop playing after a few years because of competing interests, but I hope students will never stop playing an instrument because it was too overwhelming in the beginning. The "Eleven Leaps to Literacy" approach offers a systematic and comprehensive method for transitioning students from the elementary music classroom to beginning band or orchestra.


Eleven Leaps to Literacy: From Music to Notation


Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet

Add a rating
bottom of page