Pedagogical methods for general excellence in …...Pedagogical methods for general excellence in singing “Music is a manifestation of the human spirit, similar to language. Its

Pedagogical methods

for general excellence in singing

Carol Green

A report on travels to Hungary and Canada

made possible by The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

Carol Green 1 August 2006

Pedagogical methods for general excellence in singing

Aims and background to the initiation of the project 3 Music education in Hungary 4 Hungarian school choirs 8 Music in the standard elementary schools 8 The training of teachers 9 Kodaly’s vision and potential dangers 10 Summary and Conclusions 11 Application in England 12 Music education in Canada 13 Canadian schools 14 Canadian community choirs 15 Canadian choir structures 16 Choral education programmes 17 Mentorship 20 The child’s progress through the choir system 20 Choir administration 21 Fund raising 21 Choir identity 22 Commitment and Professionalism 22 Choir camps and tours 23 Philosophy 23 Conclusions 24 Recommendations 25 Appendix 1: Outline itinerary: 26 Appendix 2: Sample lessons 28 Appendix 3: Glossary of terms 33


Pedagogical methods for general excellence in singing

“Music is a manifestation of the human spirit, similar to language. Its greatest practitioners have conveyed to mankind things not possible to say in any other language. If we do not want these things to remain dead treasures, we must do our utmost to make the greatest number of people understand their idiom.” Zoltan Kodaly.

Aims and background to the initiation of the project.

As a child I was rejected from every school choir I auditioned for, so by the age of twelve I had decided I was an instrumentalist rather than a singer and I believed that instrumentalists were superior to singers. As a young adult I took a U-turn, rejecting a career as a flautist deciding to teach in the classroom. It was assumed by my employers that not only could I sing but that I could teach others to. Actually I found I could sing and I coped in a manner of speaking, but when I found myself conducting a choir I realised that I really had no idea what I was doing. However nobody else seemed to notice and thought I was quite adequate. Fortunately after making some enquiries I met an organisation called ‘Sing for Pleasure’ who taught me the true joy of singing and through whom I trained in choral conducting. The joy of singing and choral conducting has been with me ever since. Through ‘Sing for Pleasure’ I also met Michael Stocks who brought to England some of the methodology of the Hungarian music teaching system. This transformed my idea of how to approach singing in the classroom. The Voices Foundation, for whom Michael is the Director of Curriculum and I am an advisory teacher, has worked to enable many schools across the country to adopt such teaching methods with appropriate repertoire, thus succeeding in transforming their schools in far more wide-reaching ways than in their singing. For some time I have based my curriculum in the classroom around the voice. I have founded three choirs and conducted many children, youth and adults in regular choirs, on courses and in workshops. Nationally, there is a much greater focus now on encouraging all children and young people to sing than there was when I trained and child/youth friendly repertoire is appearing that is helping to raise the profile of singing. There are a lot of projects aimed at starting people off and creating an enthusiasm in singing. All of this is wonderful. Yet three things still frustrate me. First, often I am asked to go into a school for a year or more and develop the singing in the school. The standards improve, the staff and the inspectors are delighted, but when my contract ends there is no one there to carry on the work. Secondly, however good music is in schools, there are few choirs which make sufficiently high expectations of the children and, no doubt, few choir directors who have the skills to draw the potential out of children. Like me as a young adult, they do not have the necessary training. Thirdly, there seems to be a social reluctance to sing in any sort of community group or to make a real commitment to improve standards. Maybe this is related at least in part to the first two points above. As well as wanting to learn how to improve my own teaching and conducting techniques, it was with these sentiments that the idea of travelling to Hungary, which is well known for its music education and choirs, and to Canada, which has many large and internationally renowned choirs, appealed to me. I was interested in the work in the classroom: in witnessing what I have learned about; in understanding just how far it is possible for children to develop given the necessary training; in seeing how I could improve my own techniques, and in seeing how this connected to choir development. I was also interested in how internationally renowned choirs could be produced from a country whose music education does not have the same structure and which socially has greater affinities with Great Britain. Never having toured abroad I chose to begin my Fellowship by attending Festival 500, a biennial, non-competitive event held in St. John’s, Canada where choirs, conductors, teachers and academics from around the world meet for a symposium and


Festival. This, I felt, would guide the rest of my thinking during my travels. Indeed, at the Symposium I met a community of professionals, from around the world, all of whom were enthused with working through the voice, and at the Festival there were quantities of choirs again from around the world, all of whom were singing to very high standards and some of whom were outstanding. Simply to witness this was inspiring but it also gave me the opportunity to meet choir leaders, music educators and composers and discuss with them their educational systems and methodologies. It became apparent that some of the issues that concern us are no different anywhere else in the world, for example that of boys’ singing. It also became apparent, however, that in some places there is a much stronger culture of singing than here in the UK. In Newfoundland itself singing seems to be ‘in the blood‘. There is a much stronger sense of community identity and of association with local folk song, something which, perhaps not surprisingly, I also witnessed in Hungary.

Music education in Hungary

The concept of music education in Hungary seems to be a part of their culture and is a part of the fabric of Hungarian society. All schools have the same music curriculum which is based around Hungarian folk culture and art music. In Hungary children begin school at the age of six, having spent up to three years in Kindergarten, where they will sing and play musical games. There is no selection in Hungarian schools, but if at the age of six a child is deemed not ready it is possible to wait another year before starting school. Elementary school is for children aged 6 - 14 (Grades 1 - 8) and provides a general education which includes two music lessons a week for all children. At fourteen children progress to secondary school of which there are various types, some academic and many vocational. Alongside the standard elementary schools there are ‘music’ schools in many Hungary towns. Kecskemet, with approximately 100,000 inhabitants, has one ‘music’ school, the well known Kodaly School. These deliver a standard general elementary education for everyday children, but more curriculum time is devoted to music. All children sing in choirs within curriculum time and there are greater opportunities to follow extra curricular musical activities. Therefore inevitably they reach a much higher standard and have a greater in-depth knowledge of music by the end of their schooling. In fact the Kodaly School is three schools in one. As well as the elementary school, there is a secondary school and a ‘Conservatoire’. The secondary school delivers a general education with an emphasis on music. The ‘Conservatoire’ is designed for those who intend to specialise in music to become future professional musicians. Students may attend this at normal secondary school age or may move on to the Conservatoire following their secondary education. There are only fifteen of these in the country and therefore the children often attend school away from home and board with other families in the town. At the Kodaly elementary school in Kecskemet the children have four, 45-minute class music lessons a week. From Grade 2 they sing in one of the choirs twice a week. Instrumental lessons, for which fees are charged, but are heavily subsidised, are optional and take place after school which ends at 2pm. Any child taking these has two lessons a week. Therefore every child after Grade 1 has at least six music lessons a week. The rest of their curriculum is unaffected. The Hungarians claim that it is the frequency of lessons that is essential to the progress they make, yet the pupils in the other elementary schools were also making good progress albeit some way behind those in the music school.


The children at the Kodaly Music School are selected because it is heavily over-subscribed. They are given a short test in which they have to sing a simple song and repeat some short rhythmic phrases. In Kodaly’s day the pupils were carefully chosen so that there was a cross section of abilities in the school including some who ’failed’ the audition. It is interesting that one of the professors at the Kodaly Institute (a post-graduate institute for foreign students) was one such child. What is remarkable about Hungarian teaching is the thorough and meticulous way that it is planned so that there is always presented a small but attainable new challenge while existing skills are being practised and reinforced. As a result, pupils feel a sense of achievement and a confidence in what they are learning, while being constantly stimulated. Expectations are high, yet there is always gentle encouragement for those who are challenged. The problem of doing sufficient practice to master a skill without getting bored is overcome. A Hungarian classroom is very different from a British one. The walls, both in and outside the classroom, are bare apart from occasional portraits of famous Hungarians, lists of past pupils, or framed certificates of awards gained or competitions won. The tables are laid out in rows, facing the front, the pupils usually sitting in pairs. Although the classrooms didn’t feel crowded there was no spare room for any other pupil arrangement. This would seem austere by British standards yet the atmosphere in the Hungarian classroom that I witnessed was always positive and focussed. The pupils at every level, but especially at the primary end, were paying rapt attention and were totally involved in all activities. Children were keen to perform alone and the teacher made sure that all the children were chosen to do so at different times, yet the teacher controlled carefully what each child was given to do in order to differentiate according to their individual current attainment. Every child was appraised positively and rewards were given out where they were successful, even if success did not always mean that their response was perfect e.g. a child may have sung correctly with relative pitch, but without pitch matching. For a child still at that stage of development this achievement deserved a reward. In the two weeks during which I was able to observe classes at the Kodaly School I was only able to see a snap shot of their teaching. Even in that time the gradual progression present in all of their teaching became clear, especially where, as with Grade 1, I was able to see a sequence of lessons. Pupils from the very beginning learn music through song. This often involves a game and/or actions, in which they can become physically and emotionally absorbed. This process begins in the Kindergarten. Although the Kodaly Music School has no full-time Kindergarten, it runs a Kindergarten music class in the evening. Many prospective pupils attend, giving them the chance to learn much of the repertoire that will be used in the early stages of their music education once they start school. The early evening Kindergarten classes were 30 minutes long and in that time their teacher would tackle thirteen or fourteen different rhymes and songs with games and activities, moving seamlessly from one activity to the next. All from the Hungarian children's folk tradition, these would use a variety of tone sets and rhythms and through the games the children experienced and practiced different musical elements such as controlling dynamics, co-ordinating actions to the pulse, performing rhythms or matching actions to different phrases. Through play, these children were able to find their singing voices and learn, subliminally, a huge amount about how music works. Therefore when they enter school they have a ready supply of repertoire the teachers can use to support their teaching and the pupils’ learning. My visit to Kecskemet took place in October and the children I observed in Grade 1 (age 6) had attended school for just three weeks. It was, therefore, fascinating to follow how, so soon into their school careers, the teachers were able to take advantage of this experience and how quickly


they were able to progress. The two core topics were the ‘soh me’ interval and crotchet and quaver rhythms. By the time I began my visits they were singing the soh - me interval correctly and understood the concept of higher and lower pitch. Some were not yet pitch matching but were singing correctly in relative pitch. Apparently the ability to pitch match is usually mastered by the end of Grade 1. In the first lesson I observed they began by singing one of these s - m songs, then with two notes written on the board, each with a line drawn through them (as if a line of the stave)* , children were able to come out and show which notes each phrase of the song contained. At this stage they just recognised them as higher and lower notes but had given them no formal label. The teacher then introduced the names ‘soh’ and ‘me’ and added an ‘s’ and an ‘m’ to the centre of the notes. The children then sang the song, firstly with its text and then repeated it replacing the text with the solfa names adding solfa hand signs. Immediately individual children were asked to volunteer to do this alone. The next activity in the same lesson was to put out 4 cards each with a two beat soh - me pattern on it. The teacher sang phrases of four beats and the children had to come out and indicate the cards that had been sung. This was a new challenge for the children and many errors were made. Once they had been recognised they had to sing them back using solfa. Again in the same lesson the teacher added three further stave lines to the two already on the board making a five line stave. The children learned how to number the lines and spaces from the bottom up. Each child had a felt board folder with five lines drawn on it. They practised placing felt notes on the correct lines or spaces according to the teacher’s instructions. Once they had mastered this they then learned how to place the notes correctly for phrases from the various soh me songs they knew. For each phrase the number of notes was counted out and then the children placed their felt notes on their boards dividing them into two bars of 2 beats using the centre of the board as a bar line. Several phrases from different songs were used for the exercise. All of this was done while they were singing the phrases thus relating sound and symbol. In another Grade 1 lesson with a different class two days later, they were obviously repeating the game using the four cards. Having practiced it they were now quicker. Next they repeated the game but built up a four-bar known melody. Now one by one the cards were removed so that the children had to memorise the tune with its solfa. They then sang it back complete both as a class and as individuals. The original class one week later (i.e. having had three lessons since I last saw them,) were able to do the same task with soh me cards with rhythm added and they then wrote phrases from these songs onto their felt staves using felt notes and rhythm sticks. The matter of spacing of notes and the direction of the stems were tackled with meticulous care. They had also practiced writing soh - me tunes in their manuscript books. They were able to add the rhythm because alongside the work they were doing on pitch they had also progressed in their understanding of rhythm, recognising and writing rhythms from known songs. In a space of under two weeks the children had progressed from recognising soh and me as being higher and lower notes to recognising, analysing, reading, writing short soh me phrases. Within this time they had also worked at simple crotchet and quaver pair rhythms including inventing their own, so I imagine it would only have been a few days later that they would be inventing their own soh - me phrases with a rhythm. (For a detailed description of these lessons see Appendix 2.) The pitch element of the Grade 1 syllabus requires the children to cover the pentatone (the five note scale based on the relative pitches of lah, soh, me, ray, doh) including low lah and soh and high doh. In the Grade 2 class (age 7) I observed, the children had been introduced to fah and were working on the doh pentatone and the doh pentachord (the five note scale based on the relative pitches of soh, fah, me, ray, doh). The children’s inner ear was developed sufficiently for


them to recognise songs shown to them using a solfa staircase or from solfa hand signs. They had begun to tackle absolute pitch and were also able to find the starting note of a song using a tuning fork. They not only continued to sing the songs they learned to solfa, but also sang them to their pitch names. Alongside this they were working on their understanding of note values and rests, and of simple musical structures including the canon. The pitch element of the Grade 3 (age 9) syllabus is to learn all the modes by the end of the year. The classes I observed were revising the lah pentatone, and learning about the Dorian mode and the minor scale. As well as this, the lessons included the study of musical structure involving transposition, irregular time signatures, the use of key signatures and accidentals in different keys. They practiced their aural skills distinguishing major and minor thirds, developed their part singing abilities including singing in canon one to one and were working on the tone quality of their singing. All of this was touched on within the space of two 45 minute lessons and, in spite of mixed ability, every pupil was absorbed and followed the lessons. The pupils in Grade 4 (age 10) were extending and reinforcing their existing knowledge singing songs in a whole variety of tone sets. Using similar methods to those seen earlier, they were being asked to analyse and sometimes to notate melodies played on the piano and read melodies from their books as well as combining complex rhythmic ostinati with folk songs, exploring uneven metres, and modulation. Songs were sung to fixed pitch names as well as to solfa as these gradually become interchangeable. As the pupils progressed further up the school their aural and reading skills became increasingly fluent and their knowledge gained greater depth. Most new music was learned through sight reading. There was a strong emphasis on linking solfa with fixed pitch and much use of the finger stave. The pupils were expected to become fluent in their theoretical knowledge and aural perception, for example a Grade 7 class (age 12) were tested for the names of keys relating to various key signatures. (up to six sharps and flats.) They were given only a couple of seconds to write down each answer. The majority got full marks. Likewise when a Grade 8 class (age 13) were given aural tests to recognise the various forms of the pentatone. (Using the same pitch for the home note, the forms of the scale beginning on each possible solfa note e.g. the doh pentatone = doh, ray, me, soh, lah doh = C D E G A C. The ray pentatone = ray me soh, lah, doh ray = C D F G Bb C etc.) There was also importance placed on their developing a tidy and professional style of musical hand writing. Alongside this and their continuing study of Hungarian folk song they study a wealth of art music, all of which is sung and analysed in depth. I saw only a limited amount of this because I visited at the beginning of the academic year, which always concentrates on a study of Hungarian folk song, but other works that were being sung, and studied, while I was there included an aria from ‘Rinaldo’ by Handel and several arias from ‘Dido and Aeneas’ by Purcell. By the time they leave elementary school at the age of 14 children have sung many of the ‘classics’ - Purcell, Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn etc. This is not restricted to vocal music. Using solfa they are able to sing instrumental music too and therefore gain an insight into the music from first hand experience. At the end of elementary school (age 14) many children leave the school to specialise in new areas and many children come new to the school. Initially there is a disparity in musical skill but this is gradually eroded. As the boys voices also settle during this time it means that by Grades 10 and 11 (age 16 - 17) the non-specialist class can tackle vocal music for mixed voices and continue to learn and study the classics in this way. Hungarian school choirs An integral part of the music education at the Kodaly Music School is in choral singing. The first choir is for children in Grades 2 - 4. Following this there are two parallel choirs, one each for boys and girls in Grades 5 - 8. The girls choir, The Miraculum choir, performs in national and


international competitions usually coming away with a prize. In the High School the Aurin Choir, for girls aged 14 - 18 serves the most dedicated singers and also tours and enters international competitions and Festivals. A mixed-voice choir is for all the older boys and those girls who are not in the Aurin Choir. Of these only the Miraculum and Aurin choirs have additional rehearsals outside curriculum time. This is voluntary, though it probably influences who is picked to go on a tour. There is another upper-voice choir in the Conservatoire section of the school. It is interesting that, although the Miraculum and Aurin choirs are well known for their international excellence, they were founded just 8 and 10 years ago respectively and the concept of an international touring choir was not originally part of the Kodaly philosophy. Given their music curriculum the singers begin with the advantage that they are used to listening and working together, they can sight sing, and apply their understanding of pitch, rhythm and musical structure to their choir rehearsals with the result that the learning process becomes very quick and easy allowing time to be spent refining their performance. Their intonation was not quite faultless, but nevertheless remarkable. Moreover, where they slip up, they have in place the mechanism by which to correct it. As in the classroom their choral training has a sense of progression, meaning that children are asked to sing repertoire that is appropriate for their stage of vocal and musical development. The progression from choir to choir is easy to see. In the youngest choir the repertoire is folk based and predominantly in unison with some simple canons and two part songs. Thereafter they broaden the musical styles to include a wider range of art music, with an emphasis on Hungarian music, in two, three or more parts and of increasing difficulty. It is also considered that the younger children in each choir are learning their ‘trade’ so that, often, only the most senior members of any group will perform and enter competitions. The style of rehearsing follows on from work done in the classroom. The warm up exercises were all based around simple solfa patterns, similar to those taking place in the lessons of the older pupils and for ninety per cent of the time the pieces rehearsed were also sung to solfa, regardless of whether they were singing a piece for the first time or rehearsing something familiar. The advantage of the use of solfa is that everyone is kept aware of the tonality and of the function of their part in it. Modulations and chromaticism are recognised and manoeuvred with ease and the sound blends because the tuning is so uniform. Only when everything was technically secure would they add the text. Because solfa names are pronounced uniformly, potential intonation problems linked to the vowels within the text are avoided until after the music is thoroughly absorbed. At this stage they are more easily eradicated. Rhythmically, the singers’ existing knowledge of metre and phrase, and their understanding of the various rhythmic complexities was fluent enough to prevent many difficulties arising in this respect. The main device to ensure an unchanging tempo was the practice of the conductor tapping the beat through almost all of the rehearsal. Music in the standard elementary schools Having spent so much time observing lessons and rehearsals in the Kodaly School it was very interesting to be able to visit another school in Kecskemet, the Reformed Church School, which is a standard elementary school without the special focus on music. In contrast to the Kodaly School, here music is taught for two 45-minute lessons a week, but, being a church school, one of these lessons is dedicated to teaching church music. Pupils can have instrumental lessons in school in grades 1 – 4 which are heavily subsidised. From Grades 5 upwards they can continue with these but because at that stage they have to attend the conservatoire for lessons, many discontinue.


In Grades 1 to 4 (age 6 - 10) class music is taught by a generalist class teacher but in Grades 5 and above it is taught by a specialist. Unlike teachers in the ‘music schools’ these teachers do not have a conservatoire training, but have trained at Colleges where all subjects are studied. Although the training is less rigorous than at the National Conservatoires music is given equal importance to every other subject. When qualified, each teacher has two specialist subjects. At the Reformed Church School I was able to observe a Grade 5 and a Grade 6 lesson. Although the atmosphere in these lessons seemed more relaxed than at the Kodaly School, the lessons remained focussed and the teacher had high expectations of the pupils. Inevitably they were less advanced and perhaps more mixed in musical ability than in the music school but there seemed a willingness to learn. Both lessons included a variety of activities and included more play than at the Music School. Yet the learning was clearly structured and, as at the Music School, the pupils had text books which had printed in them all the music they were to study during the year. These were smaller and less in-depth than those used in the Music school but nevertheless defined the curriculum carefully. I judged that the Grade 5s and 6s were working at concepts covered in Grades 2 and 3 at the Music School, though probably with a repertoire more suited to their age. The teaching style was very similar to that at the Kodaly school, where there is always an emphasis on internalising the music and on giving all individuals an opportunity regularly to perform alone. Detailed accounts of these lessons can be seen in Appendix 2. In both school systems teachers are aided by the fact that, alongside the progressive and meticulous national curriculum with its structured method of teaching, the teachers are also given resources to carry out their teaching. The text books with a supply of relevant music printed out enable the teacher always to combine the aural and the written and to give all children the opportunity to read music. All classrooms are supplied with fold-out boards including music staves and, for the early years of teaching, there are also the folders with felt staves, notes and the rhythm sticks, as well as sets of cards. The reward system also seems to play an integral role in their work. As well as constant verbal assessment of every task given, stickers are regularly awarded and recorded for good effort. I believe these records are used to help calculate pupils’ end of year grade, although a principle of the pedagogical method of teaching in the first four years of school is that the children never work for marks but rather for their own satisfaction. It is the uniformity of the teaching method, partnered with its carefully planned progression and its chosen repertoire, that makes the music teaching in Hungary unique. I believe the same methods are applied and the same content taught throughout the country and at all schools. The training of teachers This has an implication on the training of teachers. Aspiring musicians and music teachers are trained in secondary music schools, then in teachers’ training colleges and at the Academy of Music and its branches and conservatoires. The teaching of music is taken very seriously; as is demonstrated by the fact that even in the standard elementary schools music is taught by a specialist beyond Grade 4. Although I did not visit any training institutions I was able to spend time at the Kodaly Institute, where foreign post-graduate students can take a one-year course on Kodaly’s pedagogical method, taught in English. The course comprises a mixture of practical and theoretical subjects including solfege and theory of music, methodology, folk music, choral conducting and singing, music literature, chamber music and individual lessons (voice, score reading, piano, solfege methodology and Hungarian!)


Students attending the course were graded into a number of levels for their study of solfege, according to their previous experience and skills in this area. Some had very little knowledge of it before arriving in Hungary and therefore started at a fairly basic level, but moving at a fast pace using as their reference point musical examples from the classical repertoire. Essentially the teaching methods were the same as those being used at the most basic level in the elementary school, but related to the difficulty of the concepts being studied so that when dealing with, for example, a Bach chorale, the students might be asked to sing the notes of the chorale chords which they are reading from a figured bass, first to note names and then to solfa, and then to play the chorale from its figured bass. Equally they might be asked to sing one part whilst playing all the other parts, maybe from memory and maybe in another transposition. The methodology element of the course is of crucial importance for anyone planning to teach. Each week the students, accompanied by the tutor, observe one class at the Kodaly Music School, gradually moving from the youngest pupils upwards through the school. The tutor gives immediate feedback on these visits in addition to one or two further lectures/tutorials during the week, providing a very close analysis of the methods of teaching throughout the school. Kodaly’s vision and potential dangers A summary of what Kodaly considered the aim of music education can be expressed in his own words: “The aim: Hungarian musical culture. The raising of Hungarian musical taste in music and a continual progress towards what is better and more Hungarian. To make masterpieces of world music literature public property, to convey them to people of every kind and rank.” Kodaly’s aim was not to create a country of practicing musicians but to create a cultured society where its own folk music is a living tradition and where the value of art music is understood and loved by the whole community. During the short time I spent in Hungary I could not possibly judge the success of this, but there were small signs that its folk music and art music are highly regarded: the buskers on the underground, without exception, playing high quality classical music, the fountain in a central park in Budapest dancing a display in accompaniment to, amongst many other pieces of music, the ‘Dies Irae’ from Mozart’s Requiem, or the town centre church clock in Kecskemet chiming out a folk tune on certain hours of the day. I have also heard that it is common for an audience for classical music to include as many children as adults and that they have already “internalised a cultivated love of music”. (Prof. Frank Furedi. A future for classical music in Britain.) I did feel, however, that there were a few dangers that I would want to be wary of: I was surprised at the ratio of girls to boys in the school. In nearly every class there were at

least 2 girls for every boy. I never found out why . Could it be because the parents are choosing to send their daughters there but not their sons or are more boys being eliminated in the audition for the school because their development is less advanced at that age? (which would be contrary to Kodaly’s principles.) Boys are equal to girls as singers and enjoy it just as much. We must ensure that this is so in the British classroom.

During the time I observed lessons in Hungary I saw very little improvisation and composition. Probably this was as a result of the timing of my visit being very early in the academic year and before the new skills had been consolidated sufficiently to develop this in this way. It made me realise though that one should guard against clinging on to what feels safe and remember to give opportunities for children to be creative within each new boundary.

All of the teaching techniques are used as a means to an end. We must not let the intrinsic value of the music be overshadowed. Therefore when working chorally this must be


remembered so that: a) Solfa exercises remain musically interesting, not just a drill. b) The use of solfa, whilst an outstanding means to an end, should not be pushed to the point where the beauty of the text and music is neglected. c) With the emphasis of adjusting intonation through the knowledge and understanding of solfa, the principles of good vocal technique should not be neglected. These warnings do not constitute a criticism of the method itself but express where there could be dangers in its application. Any method with a lot of repetition and routine could risk becoming mechanical. It clearly is crucial that the teaching remains inspiring and creative throughout. Summary and Conclusions My reason for visiting Hungary was to search for pedagogical methods for general excellence in singing. The fact that the music school choirs in Kecskemet regularly win international competitions show that the Hungarians can attain phenomenal standards through their educational methods. There is also no doubt that the education system creates a society of whom the majority feel comfortable singing as well as having a true knowledge of their own folk tradition and of much art music. The ability to make the vast majority of children engage in understanding the technicalities of the music in which they participate must be an integral part of raising the quality of singing. Any child with this musical background must also be well equipped for furthering his/her music development through instrumental playing. In my analysis the principle keys of their method and its success are: Beginning with children as soon as they are at nursery age. A substantial repertoire of songs chosen for their aesthetic and intrinsic quality and a level of

difficulty appropriate for the technical and emotional maturity of the children. Enabling each child to find his/her singing voice and to learn to pitch match and sing with a

natural and balanced tone. A regular and consistent approach to the work within a progressive curriculum that builds

from step to step with total clarity. A curriculum in which each musical concept is internalised and explored from all directions,

through initial experience, formalised explanation, analysis, understanding its written form, thus reading and writing, listening and performing intelligently. This should also enable one to be creative through improvisation and composition.

The insistence on sound before symbol, yet the importance placed on musical literacy. Kodaly said “teach so that the student is able to see what he hears and hear what he sees.”

An assumption and expectation that all children will succeed in an atmosphere where constant praise and encouragement are given. Simultaneously the ability to discriminate between pupils such that each child is only asked to do what he/she is capable of.

To give verbal evaluation of every single musical activity. To provide constant opportunities to practice developing skills which are built up constantly

in very tiny steps. To provide regular opportunities to practice skills independently as well as in small groups

and within the whole class. The ability to maintain a sense of fun and play in the work whilst constantly expecting each

child to listen intelligently to the songs they sing to gain a true understanding of them. Backing up of class work with choral experience.

Application in England


It must be debated how far this system could be replicated in England. Kodaly would have expected any curriculum using his concept to be based around ones native folk music with a curriculum devised which progressed according to the musical vocabulary encapsulated in the repertoire on which it is based. In the time since British music educators began to adapt Hungarian pedagogical methods for use in the UK, Britain has become a more multi-cultural society with a vast array of musical influences. This could provide a challenge, given the varied musical vocabulary contained in different musical styles, but is unlikely to prevent the methodology from being applied within a range of styles provided that the musical examples with the most appropriate intrinsic value are used and that repertoire chosen is progressively difficult. The skills developed through this very structured approach are the very thing that could give people the liberty to explore a vast array of music and to perform, improvise or compose music within any genre or to become educated music appreciators. The importance of beginning this education as young as possible is evident, as is high-quality teaching. Much current music education has more to do with entertainment and variety of experience than the acquisition of a bank of musical skills as a resource for future music making or listening. Often very little curriculum time is given to music in schools, and, unless a child is fortunate enough to experience music outside of school, it is left until secondary school age for many to be able to pursue music in any way seriously, by which time a huge amount of ground and opportunity has been lost. The Hungarians claim that children at music schools “are more successful in acquiring other subjects as well, and are able to perform better in every field of education.” Here they are comparing music schools to their standard elementary schools where music is nevertheless taught to all children twice a week for 45 minutes and to the same basic principles. How much more would this be the case if compared to those schools outside Hungary, where there is little structure in their music teaching or indeed little music teaching at all. Perhaps we need to have faith that by allocating more curriculum time to music, the other areas of the curriculum will benefit as a result. Hungarian society felt very ordered, disciplined and structured. I found myself wondering how British children would react to such a regime. If it begins early enough perhaps it is not an issue. Very young children are rarely prejudiced and, when enjoying themselves, want to make an effort. The resultant success breeds confidence and in turn motivation. This motivation, combined with the skills they have acquired will empower young people to explore any musical avenue of their choosing and to discriminate good from bad. Many things impressed me whilst in Kecskemet, the high quality choirs, the youngest pupils all starry eyed and bursting with enthusiasm for every minute of every lesson, the pupils in Grades 7 and 8 who began their lessons on their own before the teacher arrived in a totally ordered way. But possibly the thing that impressed me the most during the time I was in Kecskemet was to observe a class of 17 year olds in a general music lesson, one of two they had a week, in the High School. These were not pupils specialising in music beyond their attendance at this school. There were 16 girls and 7 boys in the class. They were handed out a five-part madrigal and an SATB part song by Mendelssohn, not the hardest of repertoire but nevertheless including modulations and a variety of rhythms. They then sang through them, using solfa, to a standard I would be pleased to hear from my adult chamber choir. It turned out that they were sight-reading.

Music education in Canada

With a population half the size of Great Britain and a country many times larger I was interested to see how the culture of the country would affect music teaching and choir training. St. John’s in


Newfoundland stood out in this respect because of the very strong cultural feelings they have; made stronger in fact by the cod moratorium that so threatened their existence approximately ten year ago. Part of the ethos of ‘Shallaway’, the choir I visited in St. John’s, is to strengthen the community and build links with others both within Canada and across the world. It is also to help growth, partly of the economy, but, most importantly, for the individuals within the choir: of their educational development, independence, understanding of their role within the community (within and beyond the choir), leadership skills and individual personality. This then has a strong influence on the ethos of the choir. By contrast, it was very heart warming to see a wide multicultural mix in the Toronto Childrens Bach Choir. The fact that there was no single dominant culture represented gave the advantage that, whatever repertoire they sang, someone in the choir seemed familiar with the language of the song and any implied meanings or social implications within it. In Calgary and Edmonton there is less racial mix within the community. Only in Edmonton did I feel the choir to be made up predominantly of well-educated middle-class white people. Maybe, in this instance, it was the cost of membership that was the significant factor as it was at least double that of any other choir I visited. Music education in Canada varies considerably across the country. Each province or territory decides its own music curriculum. In some this is a detailed document. In others it is very short and non specific. In the areas I visited it used to be the case that music was always taught by a specialist. In more recent years, with cuts in the education budget, music specialists are increasingly not being replaced. Indeed I was told that in British Columbia there are no new music specialists being trained and in the district I visited there were only three or four music specialists remaining . Class teachers are either asked to teach music without any training or music is simply not taught at all. In Newfoundland there was a crisis a few years ago when there was a move to stop music being taught by specialist teachers. After much protest the situation was saved and music is now still being taught by specialists, but only where there are enough to go round. The average primary school provides a general music education with a mixture of singing, classroom percussion, listening etc. From about Grade 6 or 7, (age 10 - 11), (although it varies from province to province or even within a province from one School Board to another,) pupils are offered a Band programme and sometimes a string programme or a choral programme. (It would seem, sometimes at least, that children are directed towards one or another of these according to their academic abilities. I was told of one school in Montreal where the most able children take the string programme, the next most able take the band programme and the least able join the choral programme.) Whichever option is taken, children learn the skills of playing or singing within the context of the ensemble rehearsal, although some children will choose also to take private lessons. This then becomes the music curriculum. In some areas these programmes continue right to the end of High School and they are graded on them. There are no mational exams like GCSE’s or A levels in Canada so school exam grades, which include their performance in Band or choir form part of their criteria for entrance to University. I was able to visit two Universities which were still training new music teachers. In both of these there were excellent training programmes, which included conductor training as a compulsory part of any music teacher training course. This is given both in instrumental and choral conducting. These are essential tools for their secondary school teachers and because of this, those who are really interested in furthering their skills are given a good basis on which to build. There are many ways in which those who want to can develop these skills. Even as students they are encouraged to attend conferences to increase their knowledge/skills, to see their training simply as a starting point and to begin to share their understanding with others. I was amazed at the amount the Canadians would share their knowledge not just with me but with all their


colleagues. I am sure it is this enthusiasm to see the art continue and grow that contributes to there being so many top-class choirs in Canada. The skills required to carry out this work are recognised and enthusiasts ensure that dialogue and further training is available, through conferences, courses and festivals. The visits I was able to make to schools supported this very mixed situation. A few teachers were making a bold effort to teach a general music curriculum touching on elements of the Kodaly method, but in no instance that I saw did the teaching approach the thoroughness I saw in the choirs, even where the teachers were trying to work within a sound framework. This view was reinforced by members of the various choirs I visited who unanimously felt that choral programmes in schools were much less good than those in their community choirs. The lack of clear direction or leadership for music was particularly noticeable in some schools, for example in the primary school where there was no choral music, so the parents employed a choir leader who was therefore a visitor to the school and had to practise at lunch time in a corridor. In my view the parents were misguided in their choice of choir leader and the results did no justice to the children’s enthusiasm. Canadian schools I wondered if it was significant, rather more than bad luck, that it was so hard to achieve school visits throughout Canada. For every visit I did achieve there was more than one that, in spite of having been booked in advance, was cancelled. The Canadians were often apologetic regarding their school music and it was clear that where things were once working well that there is a malaise about much of school music today. To illustrate this I will cite the example of a demonstration lesson with a class of Grade 4 pupils (aged 8/9) I was lucky enough to observe when I visited the University of Western Ontario . Because of the recent education budget cuts the class in question, who previously were taught by a music specialist, should have been taught by the general class teacher who had no training in music. Feeling unqualified this teacher had asked a favour of her friend, who happened to be a lecturer at the University. As a result she was visiting the school to teach the class and was able to bring them to the University to demonstrate to the students. Her lesson was well structured, full of variety and demanded a lot from the children who gave as much as they were able to. It included unison singing, individuals singing, a little Orff work accompanying a song with percussion instruments, an introduction to the stave, a little aural work on rhythm and pitch direction following this up with a form of rhythm notation as well as a demonstration from the students of the trumpet and the clarinet and listening to a recording of a piece of jazz.. This covered a great deal of ground, much of which was new to the children and yet, for a class which had previously had a specialist teacher, the pupils were still at a fairly basic level of achievement. Many were not pitch matching, and the aural concepts seemed to be fairly new to them. There was also a large emphasis on music reading and this even before they had conceptualised the elements aurally. Given that this was a demonstration the tutor did as well as she could in the circumstances, but I realised that class teaching is not in the position I had thought it was. In Coquitlam, where I was able to observe further primary classes, many teachers were struggling in the circumstances and there remained only a few who had the necessary skills to achieve a result. The only school choral class I managed to observe was timetabled before school in the dining hall. On the day I visited under half of the singers were there because there were competing activities going on. The curriculum for music in Ontario initially seems to have a lot in common with the English national curriculum for music, but as the pupils reach grades 3 (age 7/8) and above there is


suddenly a much greater emphasis on reading music and developing a technical understanding. This, no doubt, is linked to the fact that much music teaching from Grade 6 onwards is instrumentally or chorally based. When I visited a school in Toronto there was evidence of quite a lot of work done regarding music reading. The children were expected to practice and be tested on it. Rather than being closely connected to the song repertoire it was becoming theoretical and potentially threatening. However at the Municipal University of Newfoundland it is found to be necessary to give all first year music undergraduates three, one hour choral classes a week. This is because many of them have little or no choral experience so this needed developing along with their knowledge of the vocal repertoire. Many have never sung at sight. In the class I observed only one of the basses had ever sung before and some were unable to pitch match when they began in spite of being music undergraduates. The session I saw included a warm up, advice on care of the voice and then the study of Bach’s ‘Jauchzet dem Herrn’. For all music education students, choral and instrumental conducting courses in their third and fourth years are compulsory. Some can opt to do an advanced conducting course, one-to-one with a teacher. They also have courses in the technique of playing the four categories of instruments – strings, wind, brass and percussion. There seems to be a disparity between the few pockets of excellence and centres of knowledge across Canada and the rather patchy music education happening in schools. This is not a model of pedagogical excellence in singing for all. Undoubtedly there have been examples of excellence in some areas, often where the conductors of leading choirs have worked, which have been a backbone for the outstanding choral work going on, but these are in decline. I felt as if I had come to observe ten years too late to see what I had hoped to witness. Therefore I realised that to understand the process of achieving choral excellence I really needed to study the work done within Canadian choirs. Canadian community choirs The conductors I met agreed with this analysis and indeed some of them implied that the skills of children entering their community choirs now is lower than it has been because of the general decline in the quality of school music education. This has to imply that a well structured school music curriculum with a vocal emphasis really must be the backbone behind further musical experiences so that the choral activity (and developing from that, instrumental ability) is not elitist and selected by chance abilities, not to mention parental motivation, but is available to all. Indeed such a background environment must raise the standard of even the most exceptional choir, at least in the early years. When I planned to visit Canada I believed that their choral success had begun in the 1970’s, but on talking to people I found that it has a much longer history than that. Pedagogues such as Ardelle Armstrong, the first Canadian to go to Hungary, Anne Campbell, Madge McCreadie and Richard Eaton have in the past done excellent work and left behind them a legacy of strong choral work, such that choral excellence mushroomed in the 1960’s - 90’s. Although there are exceptions, in most cases it is the adaptation of the Hungarian model that lies behind the success of these choirs. Elsewhere there were other influences, for example Manitoba’s Mennonite community had a strong singing tradition. There were lots of children’s choirs there in the 60’s. With universities training choir leaders there were a number of community and professional choirs. In the sixties


there was a strong singing tradition in the schools. In the seventies this transferred to the community choir. The decline of one seemed to feed the other. Canadian choir structures Community choirs have evolved over the years. However all choir directors agree that to have any true success it is essential to have at least two strata to any community choir. Without this there can be no progression. Therefore this principle is integral to the structure of training and learning. The choir organisations I visited always comprised several levels, rarely fewer than four, and the most complex organisation I visited had eleven. The exact composition of each choir varies slightly but a fairly standard model might be that seen in the Toronto Bach Childrens Choir, which comprises four levels. Level 1 takes children from age 6, level 2 from age 9, level 3 takes girls only aged 11 and level 4 takes boys aged 13 and above and girls aged 16 and above. Some organisations also run groups for the fives and under, where the children sing and play musical games to learn basic musical skills and to enjoy the fun of music and singing before joining a choir. Some of these, as at the Coastal Sound Academy in Coquitlam, are very informal. The children experience many musical concepts through singing games, and therefore prepare for more conscious learning, but this is not formalised. Others are more structured. In Calgary Catherine Glaser- Climie, the conductor of The Cantare Children’s Choir also runs the Cantate Music School, for children aged 3 - 6 run on Kodaly principles. In her school the teaching is very structured. Run by three instructors they see 350 - 400 children a week each attending a 45 minute music session, run on four levels for children aged 3 to 7. The first year involves mainly games and the experience of musical concepts, but by half way through the year they can read crotchets and quavers and follow a song using picture notation for the pulse. By the end of four years they can read in the keys of C, G, F, and have begun D and Bb. They know the major scale and the three forms of the minor scale. They know all the rhythmic elements including dotted notes and semi quavers in simple time. They have experienced compound time but not learned about it formally. They have also dealt with structure and many other concepts including tempo, dynamics. Far from being dry theory this is all learned and understood through living musical experience. By the time they have progressed through this system they are old enough to join the youngest choir belonging to Cantare and many of them do. There their knowledge is extended, though not as intensely as at the Cantate Music School. Indeed because it is hard to cover enough during a weekly choir practice they also meet once a month for a Saturday workshop when they focus more on reading skills and improvisation. Of course this background also gives them an excellent grounding for any instrumental music making they might want to do. Several choirs also have groups for boys only. Sometimes, as in Shallaway in St. John’s, Newfoundland or at the Coastal Sound Academy in Coquitlam, Vancouver these are a sub group of one the choir levels. Every conductor I spoke to who has such a group claimed that it had helped to increase the number of boys singing. Boys seem to need a choral identity separate from that of the girls. There are also some highly successful boys’ choirs. The Amabile Choirs of London, Toronto have a very strong boys choir, many of whose members have stayed with them into adulthood. Alongside the boys choirs the organisation has a structure of other choirs catering for younger boys and girls of all ages. Having a number of strata to the choir enables there to be a progressive method of choir direction, so that all choristers move forwards at their own pace, without jeopardising the quality of singing in each choir level. This solves the problem that could arise because there is no standard music curriculum in the schools. Children may join at various ages and arrive with little or no experience. Often the age groups of the choirs overlap enabling late starters to slot into the


system and catch up in experience and knowledge in a more elementary group before graduating to the next level. Thus the need for placement auditions held for everyone on entry to their choirs. Because they do audition all children I was particularly concerned to know how selective they are. They all insisted that virtually every child is accepted and placed in the appropriate choir level. There were two possible reasons for not being accepted. One was if they felt the child was too immature to cope with the choir discipline, in which case it would be suggested that they returned at the next audition. The other was if they had no developed sense of pitch at all. In these instances they were guided to their vocal coaches who could help them prior to the next auditions. Once a member of the choir they are usually heard again annually to decide on their placement for the next season. Choral education programmes Most choirs have clear educational aims and in some cases they have a very clear curriculum and education programmes. Except where selected through ability, (one choir I met was only able to accept a small proportion of applicants because it was so heavily over- subscribed,) I felt there was strong evidence that those choirs were able to take their choristers to musical depths that otherwise were unachievable. The tightness of the structure of the education programme varied from choir to choir, but in many instances it was clearly influenced by the methods of teaching developed in Hungary by Kodaly and his followers. Conductors with this background followed those principles as far as they were able. Catherine Glaser-Climie, many of whose choir members have attended her early years Kodaly programme, is easily able to develop the basics they know by using the context of each song to extend their knowledge. As well as having their own copy of the music, enlarged copies, displayed in front of the choristers, are regularly used to teach musical elements or simply to practise features of the song together. There is regular practice done on scales linked to the written symbol combined with solfa labels and pitch names, constant references to the timing and rhythms within the songs, as well as regular reference to good singing practice and vocal technique. Most conductors don’t have this Kindergarten structure in place and therefore in their youngest levels have to begin this training. Because of their entry process even the youngest choirs were attended by children who had the ability to focus and concentrate on sometimes quite serious work. Each choir I visited treats its education programme slightly differently and, though some played down their education programmes claiming that the children learned through osmosis, generally there was a lot of attention paid to aural and musical literacy skills alongside vocal development. In Ontario an initiative is taking place to create a carefully worked out structure of music learning to support the work of the choir. I was able to observe this quite closely in Toronto with the Bach Children’s Choir directed by Linda Beaupre and nearby in St. Mary’s, Ontario with St. Mary’s Children’s Choir directed by Eileen Baldwin, where the programme was pioneered. These two choirs have been working in conjunction with the Toronto Children’s Choir, and together they have been devising a very carefully designed education programme, including aural training, sight singing and memory skills, a theory programme, keyboard skills and optional individual singing lessons. The choirs have a strict regime, where, with the assistance of parental help, children attend in advance of the main rehearsal in order to practice these various skills. The work during the rehearsal also supports this. Through optional individual voice lessons, (something I saw in many choirs across Canada,) where pupils attend for ten minutes out of their choir rehearsal, many children also have one-to-one help in developing their singing technique.


For these children informal concerts are arranged to give them solo performance experience. The whole process has been very carefully thought out and provides each member with a thorough music education. The practicalities of the organisation are quite complex but, with a lot of voluntary help, it runs smoothly. For example at St. Mary‘s, Ontario I witnessed the following when visiting their second level choir, the Brios, for children aged 7 - 13: The children arrived 45 minutes in advance of the main rehearsal to find everything set up. Areas were set aside, manned by a collection of parent and monitor helpers (members of older choirs) for them to do a variety of tasks. These consisted of a memory test, a keyboard task, a sight singing task and reading theory flash cards. They also had to hand in their theory books or get theory help if necessary, as well as getting their pencils ready and their music in order. A list of these tasks was displayed as a reminder. Each child had a record book where the tasks were recorded: Memory test: Each child must sing from memory one song set from that terms’ repertoire. Sight singing task: A known song was notated without its words. The children had to recognise it and then label it with solfa. Keyboard task: A series of simple patterns were compiled of which the chorister had to perform one each week to familiarise him/herself with the keyboard and link it to his/her understanding of pitch. Theory flash cards: These are a series of graded cards designed to develop the children’s familiarity with notated music, such that each child can work at their own pace. The time allocated for this sequence of tests was more than enough, so it also gave the children a chance to socialise before the main rehearsal. In a separate room there were theory markers. The children handed in their theory or asked for help. During the rehearsal, which was an hour and a quarter long, the helpers marked all the books and set new work. At the end of the rehearsal the books were returned and the children stayed for a further fifteen minutes continuing their theory work, making a rehearsal of two and a quarter hours in total. The children are expected to practice between each rehearsal. They are each supplied with a musicianship CD and a repertoire CD. The musicianship CD consists of patterns sung on the CD which are to practiced whilst pointing to the notes on a matching card. Each member is expected to write down how much practice they have done and what they have worked on. There are a series of small rewards for each task and bigger rewards for accomplishing a set of work or a level. A record is kept of everything they have done and parents are contacted if a child is not doing the work. All members are required to work at this scheme until eventually they can be entered for the Conservatoire preliminary theory exam (roughly equivalent the Associated Board Grade 3 to 4 standard) To enter the next level of choir (the Prestos for children aged 9 - 15) they have to reach this standard. Thereafter they do not have to continue with theory. All of this work lays the foundations for the choristers understanding during the rehearsal, where all the children have a music folder with copies of all the music. Learning to follow and sight sing is an important part of the work of the choir at this stage so that music reading becomes much more fluent for the more advanced levels. Whilst the theory is not ignored, there is an assumption, even a requirement, that choristers at the more advanced levels are musically literate The second level choir therefore plays a very significant role in developing the background musical knowledge of the choristers and has the most rigorous training in this respect. This work does however begin in the first level choir, the Piccolos, (aged 5 to 7) who also have a


preliminary session. It is a little shorter and much of it is done all together with individual children being taken out to do a memory test. The work I saw was based on reading simple rhythmic and melodic patterns using basic tone sets such as soh - me, lah - soh - me, soh - me - doh and me - ray - doh. They are also given theory to do. This was the most structured of all the choir practices I visited, but wherever I went I witnessed methods linking aural to notation and an expectation that children can understand and will learn from this. The achievement was that the children were then empowered to become musically independent. The benefits of this became really apparent when observing the higher level choirs. The most extended rehearsals I saw at this level were at a choir camp for Cantilon’s chamber choir, conducted by Heather Johnson in Edmonton. Cantilon has a total of twelve ensembles on four levels. Many ensembles are parallel to one another, for example the Kindersingers for children aged 4 - 6 of which there are 5 groups each serving a different area of the city. Their chamber choir, the most senior youth group, is for children aged 11 - 18, the majority of whom are fifteen or under. Although a few of the youngest showed signs of more limited experience, the sight singing ability of this choir was remarkable. They required help when there was a constantly changing time signature and when the music was chromatic, but over the two days I was with them they mastered a vast quantity of new music. Whilst any difficulties in musical literacy were not ignored this meant that the majority of the time could be concentrated on developing vocal technique and musical interpretation. Working with a vocal coach who was able to give general advice to the whole choir on vocal technique, and who could move amongst the singers making individual comments or physical adjustments as they sang, meant that every singer gained individual attention improving their own performance. The tone quality of the choir sounded professional. By getting beyond the more usual level of learning to cope with the music to a technical understanding of it, the singers were able to produce a quite extraordinary quality. This ability to go beyond the mechanics of the music was replicated/paralleled everywhere I was able to observe choirs at this level. Mentorship Technical and musical proficiency are essential for a successful choir, but the significance of another dimension became apparent; that of strong mentorship programmes. This exists on numerous levels in different choirs. At its simplest level it formed a teaching technique within the youngest group at the St. Mary’s Children’s Choir, Ontario, where those who had attended for longer became the ‘teachers’ and those who were new were the ‘pupils‘. When doing their simple soh - me solfa exercises the ‘teachers’ would demonstrate for the ‘pupils’. The system becomes far more formalised in the slightly older groups where novice members are given an established member as a mentor who guides and encourages them in their early days. A further, important system of mentorship exists between different ensembles within one choir hierarchy, where members of more senior groups volunteer to become ‘helpers’ at the rehearsals of the younger groups, their role being to support the choristers. To help develop their social identity, some choirs have a chorister council, where an ensemble will elect members to represent them. The role of such members is to help develop good relations between choristers and to organise social events. They also form a communication link between the choristers and the artistic director and administrators. At the Coastal Sound Academy the roles of mentor and Chorister council were combined. Elected choir monitors hold weekly meetings with their allocated group of about six choristers. Any relevant issue can be discussed


and hopefully problems solved. The monitors then meet with the artistic director to feed back from these meetings. This acts as a useful means of communication, builds leadership skills and gives younger members a means of self-expression. Whichever system used it significantly helps to develop the feeling of community and family within the choir, which nurtures commitment and aids achievement. The child’s progress through the choir system Entry to any choir is through audition. Although at the starter level this is not automatic I was assured that nearly every child does gain entry to the choirs, and if they don’t, for a musical reason, the parents are guided as to how to help the child progress in order to be more successful next time. However, once a member, there is an expectation of commitment both from the child and the parent, and mechanisms exist whereby members can be asked to leave if they do not come up to these expectations. Handbooks are issued which lay out very clearly what is expected . This must eliminate anyone who is not dedicated. All the choirs I visited had a clear system of progression from one group to another. Obviously age plays a part but very often there was also a placement audition either annually or at a time when a chorister wanted to be considered for graduation. Graduation is rarely automatic but is at the discretion of the artistic director. To assist progression from one level to another ‘Shallaway’ has a system of ‘alternates’. This is where a chorister, deemed to be ready to audition to graduate to the next level, may spend some time attending the rehearsals of the more advanced ensemble, whilst still attending their existing ensemble. This gives them experience at the two levels and the opportunity to graduate early should a vacancy become available. Also in Shallaway, as an extension of this idea they offer apprenticeships to their older members, who then work with the younger ensembles and in so doing learn many aspects of musicianship and administration from a leadership perspective. Furthermore they partner with their local University, giving choral scholarships to promising young conductors who apprentice with the Youth Choir and the Children’s Chorus for a year of mentored study and development. This system is mirrored in other choirs too. Choir administration The choir administration that I was able to see in the greatest depth was that of Shallaway in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Admittedly a little more complex than average, this choir, like so many others, operates through a network of parallel and connected structures: The Board of Directors, administrative staff, faculty staff and volunteers. They also have honorary advisors from many artistic and media fields. The Board provides governance and undertakes strategic planning to guarantee fiscal stability. They also appoint and employ the artistic director, who conducts from one to all of the choirs within the organisation. The administrative staff are responsible for the co-ordination and execution of the choirs activities and administrative management. Every choir has a minimum of one administrator, and many have an administrative team, in all cases with offices dedicated to the work of the choir. They manage ongoing activities and special projects, direct the staff, co-ordinate volunteers, liase with Board members, and maintain the choir office, which is the first line of contact for choristers, parents, alumni and the community at large. Shallaway has seven members of staff of whom three are full time. Parent volunteers serve as registrars, gown conveners and librarians. Registrars attend all rehearsals, performances and other choir events recording attendance, chasing up absent pupils,


collecting materials, payments and other communications. Gown conveners are responsible for the distribution, collection, care and storage of choir uniforms. Librarians are totally responsible for the distribution and collection of music. In this choir there are five vocal faculty members who conduct and accompany the choirs. (There are also other faculty staff who run instrumental programmes available to choristers.) This structure supports a series of choirs for about 225 children aged 7 - 18. The work needed behind the scenes to support such a complex organisation is phenomenal. Many choirs expect all parents to volunteer in a couple of capacities, sharing out some of the jobs described above. In fact one choir director explained to me that adults are expected by the state to contribute a set amount of time each year to some kind of volunteering work. Many parents are able to count the time given to help the choir towards this. Fund raising The annual turn over of the choir is inevitably high given the salaries of the artistic director and their team, the administration cost, the cost of music, rehearsal room rental, the purchase and care of uniforms and many peripheral costs. As an example, the annual turnover of Cantilon is roughly half a million dollars. Often the choir subscriptions only raise about a quarter or a third of the total revenue needed to run such organisations. Some choirs receive some public money to support them, but this is a long way short of what is needed, so that every choir is obliged to run major fund raising programmes in order to be viable. The success of this requires all choir families to become involved. Fund raising seems to be a feature of Canadian society and something that parents expect to do. Typical methods of fund raising include: selling tokens for local retail outlets which the choir buy at a discount and sell at face value, the co-ordinated seeking of corporate sponsorship, Poinsettia sales, where the choir, through purchase by members and local corporations, sell

and deliver the entire stock of one distributor, or, working for a government run casino or bingo hall for a night .

Each of these activities can earn the choir thousands of dollars, in the case of the casinos in a single night. Cantare Children’s Choir claim to raise $50,000 in one night doing this. The details of how the different organisations organise their fund raising activities vary, but there is an expectation that this must be done. Every choir depends upon it for their existence and financial forfeits are given if parents opt out. In some choirs the system is designed to benefit those who do the most fundraising by putting a proportion of the money an individual chorister raises into their personal account. Choir identity A choir is a great deal more than its tuition and weekly meetings. Each choir I visited had a personality and a life of its own. In Newfoundland, for example, they describe themselves as a family and strive, as a major part of their mission statement, to instil an awareness of their own culture as well as the diversity of cultures in the world. One small but significant feature of the choir is that each new chorister is presented with a fish pin. This is the symbol of the choir, but no two pins are alike. As one graduate (a girl who has stayed in the choir until the end of their High School days or a boy who stays until his voice changes) leaves they pass their pin on to a new member. Graduates and alumni (choristers who have sung in the choir for at least one complete season) are also presented with pins on leaving. Another significant form of identity is created through the choir uniforms, which give a feeling of


belonging and identity. Perhaps in Canada where school uniform does not exist this is of greater significance than it would be in England. Some choirs share the same uniform at all levels, but in Shallaway each level choir has a different uniform, and this becomes something in itself to be proud of. Before I visited the choir I saw their senior choir perform in a concert in Festival 500. At the time I was intrigued by the variation in uniforms, as most of the choir had one uniform and a few had a different one. I felt sorry for those for whom the uniform was different imagining that they must feel singled out and embarrassed at being different. It was intriguing to learn that, as alternates, the uniform was something to be proud of, rather than the reverse. Undoubtedly the feeling of identity nurtured by all the choirs is an integral feature of their success. In St. John’s members are required to leave when they graduate from High School so they keep in contact with past members and use that to their advantage helping them to keep links with the community. The Amabile Boys Choir has another approach. The younger choir stays as it always has done but the older members are allowed to stay. The result is that they now have many members who have sung with them for sixteen years, having remained in the city to go to University, because they want to stay together. Commitment and Professionalism Whilst the idea of family might seem cosy, there is nothing cosy about the attitude to professionalism within the choirs. These choirs set out to be of international repute, and the expectation of every member is made quite clear. There are rules regarding attendance and penalties may be given if a child misses too many rehearsals. Indeed, if a member is well enough to attend school, but unable to sing, they are still expected to attend and are given a prepared sheet on which they are to make notes on specific aspects of the rehearsal. This is so that they and the rest of the choir, by avoiding time wasted going over familiar ground, do not miss out. Choristers are expected to do homework and practice between sessions. There are also day or weekend choir camps which members are required to attend and, as mentioned before, parents are all expected to volunteer to help and to fund raise. Yet the atmosphere in these choirs was relaxed and the children really enjoyed the activities they took part in and all the parents I met were very accepting of the role they were taking in supporting their children’s music education. Handbooks spell out the expectation to the smallest detail, (even, in one case, to the etiquette of the parents at concerts including when, and for how long, they should applaud) leaving no doubt as to what is to be expected. The members of these choirs do not begin as highly selected musicians, but through being taught in a carefully structured and highly disciplined way, and coupled with a caring and sharing environment, they produce extraordinary results both in musical performance and in personal development. Choir camps and tours It is important to single out this aspect of a choir’s life as it probably acts as one of the most important events in unifying a choir. Every choir I visited organises camps which take place either once or twice a year for each ensemble. These are generally day camps for the younger groups and residential camps for the older ones. Here the choristers, usually at a countryside venue, spend their time rehearsing and socialising with many non-musical activities being organised outside of rehearsal time. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn new repertoire, look at musical issues in greater depth as well as for getting to know other choir members better. Tours are usually, but not always, reserved for the intermediate or advanced ensembles, the


younger of these generally touring within their region while the older ensembles tour nationally and internationally. Choir exchanges are also very common. Tours and exchanges are considered to create important cultural links with the artistic community, both of their region and of the world. Philosophy The success of all the choirs I visited was remarkable, and in some cases quite phenomenal. However, in spite of such credentials, the philosophy that virtually all of the choirs directors I met put to me was that the music and music making was only of tertiary importance within the work they were doing. The choristers themselves said the most important things to them were the friendships they made and the trust and the self confidence they gained. They felt they gained leadership skills and that choir was another ‘home’ for them.. Susan Knight spoke eloquently of this aspect of her work with choirs saying that when children sing they become part of a community. They are a part of something big, and there are things to aspire to, but they all work together. She considered the two most important aspects of her choir training were in developing leadership skills, and building an identity for each child within a community. She said that choral excellence derives from much more than technical excellence, but from a holistic understanding of everything involved in and around the music. It is a means of giving the child an identity, towards helping them to see their position in society in relation to everyone else’s, in the same way that a ‘fah’ in isolation has no meaning, but in relation to a soh or a me or a doh or any other note, it has a meaning and it is different each time.

“Each song is a slice of life.” Susan Knight Conclusions It is impossible to make a direct comparison between the Canadian and the Hungarian models as there is no comparison in their school systems. Canada has a few schools in the country where music is a special subject with extra time given to it and where outstanding results are achieved, but these select their pupils through academic and musical ability and are the exception and therefore not relevant to this study. There clearly have been examples, and probably there still exist a few, of schools teaching in a very structured way and on similar lines to the Hungarian model. These are now the exception and the fact that I found it so hard to find any of these to visit would suggest that they are not currently making a significant effect on the excellence of singing in general and on the community choirs. However, purely as anecdotal evidence, it was interesting in St. Mary’s, Ontario that Eileen Baldwin is finding that since she retired her post as primary school teacher, where she did deliver such a programme, that her recruitment is dropping as is the standard of singing in children entering her choir. This anecdotal information was repeated in many other areas, suggesting that a clearly structured vocally based school music curriculum really does impact, not only on general excellence in singing, but on the child’s enthusiasm and commitment to sing. The choral community, however, aware of the limitations in the mainstream education programmes, are succeeding in counteracting this situation for their choristers, through their own education programmes. They may set out to be world class, but in order to do this they have in place a complete structure of education which, while inevitably focussed on the voice and therefore not as broad as a school curriculum, goes through every developmental stage. The quality of the choir training is such that, for a few, it has been a spring board to a professional musical career. In addition, while these programmes are entirely vocal, the skills they teach would prepare any child to apply their knowledge to any instrument they chose to play.


‘Shallaway’ now has an instrumental programme available to its choristers to complement their choral development. As in Hungary there is no special ability needed to join Canadian choirs. There is a slight element of selection at the entry level, but no child is turned away without a suggestion of how to progress in order to enter at a later date. There is also control on how quickly each child is able to progress through the choral programme, but in every other respect these programmes are open to all children whatever their background or experience. There is a cost involved but, where this would exclude a member, most choirs have a bursary policy to help. The inevitable drawback of this system is that it can only be those who are truly dedicated who can benefit. This is not a criticism of the work of the choirs, simply an observation of how a lack of structure in the education system deprives all other children from those opportunities. The key elements of the success of the community choir programmes are: Their structure such that each choir has a number of ensembles through which you progress,

partly according to age, but crucially also through experience and ability. Their structured teaching programmes, enabling children in small stages to become musically

literate, develop their singing skills, as well as being aware of a whole spectrum of musical styles of all times and places.

Their parallel singing tuition scheme enabling choristers to have an individual focus on their skills.

Their professionalism expecting total commitment even at the youngest age, both in attendance and in attitude and work ethic.

Their expectation that they will be world class and their refusal to compromise on standards. Their mentorship programmes which give older children responsibility and through which

newer members are encouraged and guided in their progress. Their expectation of parental involvement which means that whole families are committed to

their programmes and from that a broader spectrum of the community also becomes aware of and involved in what is being done.

Their encouragement of boys by creating ‘boys only’ singing ensembles. Their system of day camps and tours which become both an opportunity for in depth learning

over a short period of time and an opportunity for the group to bond socially and musically. None of this could be achieved without their administration team, their team of volunteers and their team of highly skilled musical directors.

Recommendations This study has been about two types of singing excellence. The first is about the child in the classroom who has made no special commitment to singing or indeed to music in general, the child whose right it is to have the best general education available to them, to draw out of them and develop their innate abilities. The other is about the child who likes singing and who wants to commit to extending their singing and musical skills in the context of a choir. Both are equally important and in an ideal world the two should co-exist. In my view to achieve general excellence in singing all children need: A stimulating nursery/early years education where they can experience songs in a playful

situation, giving them the opportunity to find their singing voices and with skilful leadership also learn to pitch accurately, as well as develop a feel for pulse, rhythm, structure and musical expression.


A primary school music education where these skills can be nurtured and developed maintaining much of the element of play, but with increasing demands and expectations as the children grow, alongside a carefully structured curriculum where the language of music can be understood, and leading to musical literacy.

Access to a structured system of choirs where these skills can be further developed and where the chorister can also learn about performance and professionalism, commitment, community and team work and leadership.


Appendix 1: Outline itinerary: Phase 1: St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. 30th June - 10th July: Attended Festival 500 a) The phenomenon of Singing International Symposium V (June 30 - July 3, 2005) b) St. John‘s Choral Festival Sharing the Voices (July 3 - July 10, 2005) Phase 2. Part 1: Kecskemet, Hungary. October 10th - 21st: Visiting a) The Zoltan Kodaly Pedagogical Institute of Music, who run post graduate courses for foreign students, attending a variety of classes in solfege, methodology, conducting and choir. b) The Kodaly Music School, an elementary school for children aged 6 - 14 who run a standard school curriculum but with an emphasis on music. The school shares its site with the Secondary school and the Conservatoire. Therefore I was able to attend classes of all ages children from the Kindergarten through to Grade 11 at the Conservatoire. I also attended all of the various choirs that run in the combined schools. c) The Reformed Church School, a standard elementary school, observing classes in Grades 5 and 6. Phase 2. Part 2: Canada October 28th - 7th November - Ontario including Toronto, St. Mary’s, London. a) Bach Children’s Chorus (Director: Linda Beaupre) - observation of rehearsals at all 4 choir levels including a day camp with level 2, a Youth Choir Festival with level 3, where 5 other choirs also attended from Canada and the USA Also attended a concert with the Guelph Youth Singers (also directed by Linda Beaupre) b) St. Mary’s Children’s Choir (Director: Eileen Baldwin) observations of rehearsals at levels 1 and 2. (out of 4) c) High Park Choirs, Toronto (Director: Zimfira Poloz) - observation of choir levels 2 and 3. d) Alex Muir Junior Public School (Teacher: Cathy Terry) visiting Grade 2 and 6 classes. e) University of Western Ontario (Carol Beynon) - observation of classes for future music teachers. f) The Amabile Choirs, including The Amabile Boys Choir, (Directors Carol Beynon and colleagues) Observation of most of their choir levels. g) University of Toronto (Doreen Rao) - Observation of class with choral conducting students. h) Meeting with choral composer, Eleanor Daley. October 7th - 9th - St. John’s, Newfoundland. a) Shallaway (formerly The Newfoundland Symphony Youth Chorus) - observation of a rehearsal and a visit to their office giving a comprehensive view of the choir structure and management. b) The Municipal University of Newfoundland - observation of choral class and discussion with


lecturers. October 9th - 15th - Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton. a) Calgary Boys Choir - observing rehearsals of level 2 and 3. b) Visit to Varsity Acres Elementary School choir. c) Cantare Children’s Choir: (Director - Catherine Glaser-Climie) - visit to various choir rehearsals. d) Kodaly Kindergarten (Director - Catherine Glaser-Climie) e) Cantilon Chamber Choir (Director: Heather Johnson) observation of rehearsals at 3 days of a choir camp. October 15th - 19th - Coquitlam, Vancouver. a) Coastal Sound Academy - (Director: Donna Otto) - Visits to all ten levels of choir and to their office. b) Blakeburn Elementary School: (Teacher: Diana Clark) Observation of lessons at Grades 1 and 4 and of the school choir. c) Heritage Woods Secondary School - meeting with teacher in charge of music. d) Como Lake Middle School - observation of Band rehearsal e) Rochester Elementary School - observation of a kindergarten class.


Appendix 2: Sample lessons Grade 1: 10. 10. 05 1. A greeting is sung on the notes soh and me. 2. A known soh me song is sung 4 times whilst playing its game and adding actions. It is

repeated showing hand signs, indicating the higher or lower note. When they sing some children are not pitch matching.

3. The teacher draws two circles on the board, then adds two lines going through them. Then she adds a soh (s) and me (m) in the middle of the notes. (Last lesson they were just referring to higher and lower notes).

4. Using a flying note, the children come to the front in turn showing what was sung using the two notes on the board. This included those who were not pitching matching accurately, but who were nevertheless singing with relative pitch. The phrases used were all from the song they had begun the lesson with, so now they sang the song again with its actions. Then they repeated it singing to solfa and, after the class had done it, two individuals (volunteers) were given the chance to do it.

5. Four pitch cards are put up for the class to see. Phrase by phrase individual children are asked to come out and indicate which two cards were sung. This is new for them and many of them make mistakes. Once they recognise them they sing them using solfa.

6. The teacher adds three further lines to the board above the two existing lines, which are numbered 1 and 2. The children are asked to get out their felt folders. These have a felt sheet inside with 5 lines drawn across them and a pocket with felt notes in it. The children are asked to put the notes on line one to five or in space one to four. They do this together with verbal instructions from their teacher who then asks them to hold up their folders so that she can monitor their success. [The understanding of the numbering of the lines is linked to a story in which you are in the house of sounds. Here you enter on the ground floor, not from a helicopter (thus the low numbers at the bottom) and you enter from the window side (left) i.e. the windows in the classroom were on the pupils’ left hand side. (You write from left to right.)

7. The children have to work out how to write a whole phrase. A phrase is sung and the number of notes is counted. The folder naturally divides into two bars, the centre (folding) part acting as the bar line. Then working out soh and me they place the notes onto the lines.

8. Now the teacher sings a number of phrases from known songs that share the same tune. The children echo by singing the solfa words and pointing to the tune in their folders.

9. A new song is sung using the tone set ‘lah, soh, me‘. The game is played just once. Then the song is sung back phrase by phrase singing the rhythm names. This is fairly fluent and volunteers are asked to stand up. Each is given a 4 beat rhythm pattern which they tap back simultaneously saying the rhythm. Most are successful the first time, but the few that aren’t are given a second chance and almost get it right.

10. 6 pairs of claves are given out to the front row. The teacher speaks a rhythm phrase using words from a well known rhyme. The children repeat it tapping the rhythm on the claves and speaking the rhythm words at the same time. The claves are then passed back row by row until everybody has had a turn.

11. The pupils each have a bundle of rhythm sticks. Each child gets theirs out and writes the rhythm on their desks. This is repeated with other rhythms. (This is new – last week rhythms were notated using rhythm people.)

12. The lesson ends with another song. It is a question/answer song (introducing the first type of part singing) where one child goes out to the front to lead the song. The teacher sings with the leader, and the class responds. The children who were given stickers during the lesson go to have their books marked with a dot. (A real sticker is given after 10 ten dots.)


Observations: 1. The rhythms and pitch phrases used are mostly those most common in Hungarian folk music. 2. Differentiation is made by selecting the less usual patterns to give to the most able children. 3. When writing the tunes in their folders they are writing it down as they sing it. 4. Reading and writing activities always come together. The children are fully involved the whole time and enjoy every minute of the lesson. Grade 1: 17. 10. 05. This lesson was with the same class as above. They have had three lessons since the last one observed. 1. A greeting is sung using the notes soh and me. 2. A game song is sung and played twice, then it is repeated at a slower pace while the children

indicate the higher and lower shape. There is a reminder of the soh me names and they sing it with hand signs to soh and me. (Observation: 1. The pitching at this stage of the lesson is very mixed. It improves a bit as the lesson continues. 2. Singing a whole song through to solfa is new.)

3. The teacher draws a blank staircase on the board. This is new. The teacher asks where soh will go. A child volunteer shows the place and the teacher writes in the me. There is no explanation for the gap for fah and this won’t be dealt with until Grade 2.

4. The teacher sings a song. For each phrase, while the whole class sing, a child points the s – m phrase on the staircase. The majority get the relative pitch right but not the absolute. The teacher makes no comment about this and praises them equally.

5. Rhythm solfa cards {2 beat soh – me phrases using ta (crotchet) and ti-ti (quaver pair)} are put out at the front of the class. A known song is sung which used all the phrases put out. A child picks out the correct cards for the first phrase of the song and so on. They sing through the whole song using solfa and hand signs. Then cards are removed until they sing the whole song from memory. An individual does this, (from memory and with hand signs) which acts as a type of performance.

6. Teacher says ‘Let’s eat what we have cooked.’ – Let’s write down what we have sung. They take out their felt folders and are told that soh is on the fourth line and put their felt notes in order. There is a technical discussion about the spacing of notes and keeping the second bar's notes on the right hand side. The teacher uses pupil rhythms, putting two children too close together, to demonstrate the space needed between the notes.

7. The use of stems, which are new to the children, are discussed and how they go up on the door side and go down on the window side (door = right and window = left). Their rhythm sticks are used for their stems. (Observation: Right from day one insistence is made that they notate correctly, therefore a lot of time is given to this.)

8. Their manuscript books are taken out. The next goal is to write in their manuscript books the phrase they have just written in their felt folders. The class do this together with the teacher, who demonstrates on the board. going into every tiny details about how it should be written. As they do this the details are expressed verbally with the children joining in, in chorus e.g. “Soh is written on the fourth line (plum shape). It is a ta and the stem goes down on the window side.” As they work the teacher walks round the class. Only she is allowed to rub something out if there is a mistake.

9. The children stand and sing a song based on the doh hexachord which has walking and clapping activities.

10. The class sit and tap the rhythm of each phrase of the song and convert them to rhythm words. As they do this the teacher notates it on the board. (Observation: This is the second time the teacher has notated the whole of a tune of the board in this lesson and the first time


they have seen this.) Now the metre of two is discussed and the bar lines are added. Again everything is verbalised and spoken together, e.g. “one ta and one more make two ta’s making two beats. So we write a bar line”.

11. The class are asked how many bars there are on the board. The pupils whisper the answer to the teacher. Successful pupils get a sticker. Those who were wrong had counted the double bar line at the end so this was explained.

12. Questions were asked about how many beats there are in a different rhythms e.g. one ta and a ti-ti pair make 2 beats.

13. A song with a game is sung with a pupil leading from the front. The teacher always helps. One boy comes out sating he cannot do it and then he does it perfectly. After four or five turns the lesson ends.

Grade 1: 12. 10. 05. This lesson is with a different Grade 1 class. 1. A greetings is sung and a game song played. 2. Using the song the phrases are led by the teacher and sung back, pupils tapping the rhythms

labelling them with pitch words at the same time. This is practised several times. 3. One isle stands up. Each child takes at turn at doing this individually. One child who keeps

getting it wrong is given several turns, then the teacher helps by singing and tapping at the same time. When still wrong the class does it and the child then does it alone.

4. Claves are given out and the children tap back rhythms spoken to text by the teacher. They speak their rhythm words whilst tapping. The teacher sometimes helps by giving a visual prompt.

5. One row of children stand. One at a time they also repeat rhythms with names. 6. The teacher sings a song to ‘la’. The children are asked to name the song, then sing it and

play its game. 7. Rhythm sticks out. For each phrase they label the rhythm and write it with the rhythm sticks.

They sing back phrases pointing to the sticks. The teacher chooses common rhythms for which there were many phrases from different songs with the same rhythm. These were used in quick succession.

8. Third row have a turn at the rhythms. 9. The teacher draws a house on the board with 4 rooms, each of which has a two beat rhythm

written in it. She tells a story to go with it which must have related to the rhythm values in each ‘room’.

10. According to verbal instructions the children now invent one, two beat long rhythm to write with rhythm sticks, using pencils for bar lines. Individuals are asked to tap their rhythms. Occasional mistakes occur and are discussed.

11. The class stand, and sing and play the game for the song which began the lesson. The class now indicate the higher and lower notes with signs. Next they sing it to soh and me.

12. The teacher puts out four cards. They play the game described above saying which two cards have been performed. When the pupils give the correct answer they sing it to soh and me and point to the notes on the card

13. All the cards are put back. The children sing the cards as displayed and use hand signs. Card one is removed but they sing the whole phrase. Then cards two, three and four, in turn, until they have memorised it. Individuals sing it.

14. They stand and sing a game song. Their actions differ on each phrase. This ends the lesson. Reformed Church School. Grade 5: 14.10.05.


1. This lesson was the first lesson of the day and because this is a church school there is a set way the lessons must begin. After a sung greeting the class sing a religious song followed by bible readings and prayers.

2. The teacher leads loosening up exercises - neck rolls, shoulders rolls, stretching, swinging from side to side and breathing exercises

3. The class perform a three part rhythm round, firstly in unison, then three individuals take a line each and perform it together. This is repeated by the class.

4. The teacher plays a known song on the descant recorder for the class to recognise. (Tone set - lah pentachord with a high lah.) The class add a rhythm ostinato to it, performing with claps and knee taps. It is repeated in a new key and the children play the game that goes with the song.

5. The class discuss the typical structure of Hungarian folksongs which are in two parts, the second being a transposition of the first.

6. On the board a known song is written in rhythm solfa. The class are asked to internalise it and sing it. Before they sing it the teacher goes round for the children to whisper to her which song they think it is. When they sing, they sing with hand signs. The teacher corrects some of the intonation. They stand to perform the song with appropriate actions.

7. Using the tune on the board they now work out the transposition (of a 5th lower), firstly note by note, then singing it all. Individuals sing it. They sing another song with the same characteristic, from the board. They practise a syncopated ostinato that will go with the song using a mixture of clapping and knee tapping. They combine the song and the ostinato and individuals try it. They write the ostinato in their manuscript books.

8. There are three motifs on the board. The teacher sings a transposition of one of them. They have to match her singing with one of the versions on the board. In giving their answers the teacher sings her phrase and the pupils individually sing back the transposed version. The whole class sings the last one.

9. Learning a new song. The teacher sings it and asks about the text of the song. It has a lot of new/unfamiliar words in it. They sing it reading from the books. The teacher taps the pulse loudly from the front. They listen to a version of it on a CD to end the lesson.

Grade 6: 19. 10. 05. 1. A greeting is sung based on a doh pentatone. 2. The teacher leads some warm up exercises – loosening up – stretching and breathing 3. The class sings an action song – based on the doh hexachord. It is led by a pupil who goes to

the front. Each time the songs ends the leader gives instructions to the class or individuals to do an action. The pupils have to carry that out without smiling or laughing. If they do they are ‘out’. Different children lead until only one person is left who is the winner. When the song is repeated those who were out tap the rhythm while they class are singing.

4. The class sing a song that is notated on the board with rhythm solfa. Mistakes are corrected and individuals take turns – each phrase sung by a different pupil, but so that it is continuous. It is based on the lah pentatone, including low lah and soh.

5. The pupils are asked to work out the structure. The first phrase is established as A and the fourth phrase repeats A. Then phrase two is recognised as a transposition of A, a fifth higher (A5), and phrase three as a variation of this. (A5v). Individuals sing phrases 2 and 3 to make the comparison.

6. On the board is written a series of vertical boxes, whose function will be to put in the notes of the tone set used in the song. Firstly the children find the finalis, (the home note), then with that as a base they put in the rest of the solfa leaving gaps for the notes that are not in the song (i.e. t and f). They re-establish the fact that it is a lah pentatone and sing up and down the scale, with hand. They discuss the word moll (minor).


7. The missing notes are written in i.e. the fah and ti. They are asked to sing it. Initially they try to pitch it in the major but put it right when corrected. Now they sing up and down this scale.

8. The teacher takes out a zither and gives a quick demonstration of how it is played and then accompanies another song with it. It is a lively song with actions on the 4 beats of the bar except there is a bar of two in the middle. The game is to get the actions right in spite of this bar. They sing through this a few to times to get it right. Then they tap the rhythm. On being asked questions an individual writes up the rhythm tai ti (dotted crotchet and quaver) on the board. It is correct but the teacher corrects the detail of how he has written it. Then another pupil writes up the rhythm ti tai . This, too, is correct but the teacher adjusts the spacing of it (written below the tai ti rhythm). She then writes in 2/4 by the rhythms to remind that these both fit into a 2/4/ bar. (The song they sang featured both of these rhythms.) Now the teacher puts 5 cards on the board each with a two bar rhythm in 4/4 time from the song. The class practises reading these phrases using rhythm words with the teacher tapping the pulse throughout. The order is jumbled and the task repeated combining rhythm words and tapping, then repeated again without the rhythm words but just tapping. By the end they have mastered it.

8. The class are now tested on it. The teacher taps one of the six rhythms. They have to record which one by writing it in their books. When checking their answers the pupils respond by performing the tapping and speaking the rhythm names.

9. Next they discuss the structure. This is revision from a previous lesson where the four standard structures of Hungarian folk songs have been discussed and are written on the board.

10. The teacher sings a song unknown to the class. They have to say which of these structures it belongs to. She sings it twice with its text and once to ‘la’. On this occasion they analyse it as she goes through and find it is AABA. There are further questions, maybe about its metre. Then they find it in their books. All this time they have been learning using the Hungarian words not solfa.


Appendix 3: Glossary of terms A5: Theme A at the transposition of a fifth. A5v: A5 with a small variation. Dorian mode: The scale whose notes comprise ray, me, fah, soh, lah, te, doh, ray, with ray being the home note. Flying note: A teaching aid which takes the form of a note head on the end of a stick which can be moved manually to a position on a stave. Hexachord: A scale comprising six consecutive notes. Doh hexachord: A hexachord whose home note is doh - doh, ray, me, fah, soh, lah. Pentachord: A scale made up of 5 consecutive notes. Doh pentachord: A five note tone set whose home note is doh - doh, ray, me, fah, soh. Lah pentachord: A five note tone set whose home note is lah - lah, ti, doh, ray. me. Pentatonic scale: A tone set of five notes comprising doh, ray, me, soh and lah. Doh pentatone: The pentatonic scale whose home note is doh. Lah pentatone: The pentatonic scale whose home note is lah - lah, doh, ray, me, soh, Pitch matching: The ability to sing the same note as someone else is singing or playing. Solfa/solfege: A system of labelling the notes within a scale or tone set. The major scale is labelled as doh, ray, me, fah, soh, lah, te, doh. Tone set: A group of notes on which a tune is a based.


Documents

Pedagogical methods for general excellence in …...Pedagogical methods for general excellence in singing “Music is a manifestation of the human spirit, similar to language. Its