Choral Sight Reading

Choral Sight Reading provides a practical and organic approach to teaching choral singing and sight-reading. The text is grounded in current research from the fields of choral pedagogy, music theory, music perception and cognition. Topics include framing a choral curriculum based on the Kodály concept; launching the academic year for beginning, intermediate, and advanced choirs; building partwork skills; sight-reading; progressive music theory sequences for middle to college level choirs; teaching strategies; choral rehearsal plans as well as samples of how to teach specific repertoire from medieval to contemporary choral composers. This volume includes basic and advanced music theory concepts to develop fluent sight-reading skills for reading standard choral repertoire, providing examples for the process outlined in Chapters 6-8 of Volume 1 (Choral Artistry). This guide provides choral directors with a choral curriculum and choral rehearsal models that place performance, audiation, partwork, music theory, and sight-signing skills at the heart of the choral experience, through a 'sound thinking' approach to teaching that results in greater efficiency in creating independent choral singers with a well-rounded repertoire.

Micheál Houlahan is Professor of Music Theory and Aural Skills and Chair of the Tell School of Music at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. He is also a visiting professor of music at the China Conservatory of Music, Beiijing. Philip Tacka is Professor of Music at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. He is also currently a grant evaluator on the American Fellowship Panel for the American Association of University Women.

Unit 1 Phrase and Form Unit 2 Beat, Meter, Rhythm Unit 3 Simple Melodic Patterns Unit 4 Simple Rhythm Patterns: First Division of the Beat Unit 5 Orientation to the Pentatonic Scale: Trichord 1 Unit 6 Orientation to the Pentatonic Scale: Trichord 2 Unit 7 Simple Meter: Second Division of the Beat and Basic Patterns Unit 8 Major Pentatonic Melodies Unit 9 Simple Meter: Second Division of the Beat and More Complicated Patterns Unit 10 The Extended Pentatonic Scale Unit 11 Upbeats Unit 12 Syncopation Unit 13 Minor Pentatonic Melodies Unit 14 Dotted Notes Unit 15 Orientation to the Major Scale Pentachord and Hexachord Melodies Unit 16 Simple Meter: Second Division of the Beat and Dotted Note Combinations Unit 17 Major Scale Unit 18 Triple Meter and Changing Meter Unit 19 Orientation to Minor Scales Unit 20 Compound Meter: First Division of the Beat Unit 21 Natural Minor Scale Unit 22 Compound Meter: Second Division of the Beat Unit 23 Harmonic Minor Scale Unit 24 Compound Meter: Second Division of the Beat and Dotted Notes Unit 25 Melodic Minor Scale Unit 26 Renaissance Style Compositions Unit 27 Baroque Style Compositions Unit 28 Classical Style Compositions Unit 29 Romantic and Twentieth Century Style Compositions