Who Should Use Conversational Solfege Upper Levels (3 & 4)
Conversational Solfege Upper Levels: A Pathway for UE, MS & HS Music Literacy Success John Crever Endorsed Feierabend Methodology Teacher Trainer John@music-ade.com
What is Conversational Solfege? As children, we learn language not by studying letters and spelling, but by listening and imitating. Language acquisition in young children is an Ear First experience. Conversational Solfege™️ (CS) takes a similar approach to music learning. The life’s work of Hartt School of Music Professor Emeritus, Dr. John Feierabend, CS is a music literacy curriculum intended for school music programs from early elementary through high school and college. CS simulates language acquisition by challenging learners to become conversational with music before making attempts at sight-reading notation. Using solfege and rhythmic syllables, students learn to be conversational with tones and rhythms, by ear, improvising conversationally before seeing the notation. The Levels of CS Conversational Solfege is a 12-step method divided into four processes (boxes) Readiness, Conversational, Reading and Writing. Within each process, learners are challenged to first use what they know in order to gain experience with thinking and then reading what they don’t know. Throughout the 12 steps, students regularly demonstrate proficiency decoding something familiar then move on to something unfamiliar, moving through ear-first improvisation, then sight-reading and culminating with composing original music by notating their improvisations. CS is broken down into four teaching levels and can be used as early as second grade all the way through college as a comprehensive music reading curriculum that easily plugs into an existing program. Levels 1 & 2 of Conversational Solfege focus on reading and writing with the first six tones of the major scale with a variety of rhythmic elements in duple and triple meters. Upper TEMPO
level CS (levels 3 & 4) build on levels 1 & 2 rhythmic and melodic development and moves students towards four-part modal improvisation. In addition, “Teaching Harmony and Improvisation Using Conversational Solfege”5 can be implemented at the same time Conversational Solfege Levels 3 and 4 are presented. Who Needs Conversational Solfege 3 & 4 and Teaching harmony and Improvisation? Any students who have completed CS 1 & 2 and anyone who is teaching Middle or High School Music with intention of teaching sight reading. While few elementary school music programs will actually have a chance to use CS3 & 4, even teachers in elementary schools will benefit from learning CS3 & 4 as well as Teaching Harmony and Improvisation. Comprehending the scope and sequence of this third and fourth volume answers questions many teachers already using CS with their groups wonder about. For instance, when and how to introduce pick-up notes, 16th notes and reading in a variety of meters and modes in both triple and duple meters. With some planning at the district level, years of music reading instruction done in the elementary vocal with Conversational Solfege can be continued and expanded upon in middle and high school performing ensembles. For MS and HS music program teachers, CS 3 &4 is particularly helpful, even if the lower and upper elementary programs are not using an ear first approach. Upper Level CS helps Upper Elementary, Middle, and High School music programs introduce, develop and keep on track, a sightreading program that grows thinking musicians.
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APRIL 2020
