SOLFEGE SINGING IN THE LARGE INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE

by Tiffany Ou-Ponticelli

CODA President

Singing in the secondary large instrumental ensemble is not a new concept - many ensemble directors use singing as a tool. However, much of the singing we see in middle and high school bands and orchestras is purely rhythm-based, with little to no focus on pitch in the singing. This can be a very effective tool for isolating rhythms in the learning process, but leaves a powerful learning tool out of the equation. Borrowing a concept from our general music colleagues, solfege and pitch-accurate singing can be a way for students to increase their ownership of sight-reading in the large ensemble, and to gain much more information from the page before even playing their instrument. This article will focus on the middle and high school string classroom, but essential concepts can certainly transfer to band instrumentalists as well.

Why (pitch-accurate) Singing with Instrumentalists?

As ensemble directors, we are trying to instill skills and techniques in students to help them be as self-sufficient as possible with notes and rhythms. This autonomy then allows the ensemble rehearsal time to be directed toward blend, balance, and concepts of group musicality. Pitch-accurate singing is one often-overlooked tool to add to your music literacy toolbox. Solfege symbols and hand signs are another language device, just like learning note values or understanding intervals. The focus is on the relationship between the notes, meaning we are using “Moveable ‘Do’” versus “Fixed ‘Do’” - the tonic of the key always becomes “Do”.

Producing the sound internally helps to ensure accuracy externally on the student’s instrument. Dell (2003) wrote, “The note must be prepared in the mind before the kinesthetic motions can be made to produce it. Without an internal reference pitch, an analysis of accuracy is difficult.” When students have a strong internal concept of pitch and can produce it, their audiation skills for sightreading become stronger.

My Students Don’t /Won’t /Can’t Sing!

Many instrumental ensemble students are reluctant to sing, even in programs with a culture of using singing as a learning tool. It’s important to create a safe space - no making fun of singing voices, and no mocking of the activity. Some helpful norms to establish: the teacher won’t make you sing on your own unless you want to, and everyone must try their best. Grades are not assigned to vocal production, but students are taught to sing with proper posture and to use enough air when singing. Respecting the activity and setting the tone is important for this tool to develop, and it is possible for instrumental students to get very excited about singing time!

Singing Logistics with Instruments

During the singing portion of warm-up, I briefly have my string players put their instruments in a safe spot and use their hands for Curwen hand symbols. The physicality of the hand symbols helps to establish relationships between pitches, and while it can be logistically challenging, I find the quick transition to be worthwhile. As we move through the curricular concept plan, students will also have instruments up and ready to play while singing, forgoing the hand symbols, so that we can quickly transition between singing and playing.

Curricular Concept Plan

A brief version of my solfege curricular concept plan is below. When incorporating solfege to my middle or high school string classroom, I am adding in 3-5 minutes of dedicated singing time as part of warm-up, and staying on each step of the plan for as many days or weeks as needed. Of note, the players I work on this with are intermediate to advanced - while singing with instrument beginners is certainly encouraged, I would do so separately from learning instrument technique to avoid cognitive overload. There are companion videos to each step that I am happy to share via email, if you’d like to learn more.

Additional Benefits and Challenges

One additional benefit to solfege singing with ensembles: when students mentally “live” in the tonal world before playing, there are going to be fewer missed accidentals. When a string student can think about a lowered C natural on the A String, and has sung through the half step from the B before it, there’s a higher chance they won’t miss playing “low 2”. Of note, solfege singing becomes much more complicated with significant chromaticism - like any tool, you should know when to use it!

Curricular Concept Plan

Solfege Singing for Sight-Reading with Strings

3-5 minutes of singing per rehearsal; timeline to teach each concept is flexible

Interested in video examples of each step? Feel free to contact me via email - touponticelli@pausd.org

Concept 1: Creating a Safe Environment

Concept 2: Finding Do

• Comfort (activities that normalize singing, setting expectations)

• Form (singing posture, using air = using bow)

• Matching pitch (octaves OK)

• Audiating resting tone

• Visually (concurrently with teaching Key Signatures)

• Audiating

• Singing resting tone after playing

• Find Do in each piece of music

Concept 3: Learning syllables

• Learn concurrently with handsigns (instruments in a “safe spot”)

• Teach in order: o Sol, Mi, Do first o Re, La next (explore Pentatonic scale) o Fa, Ti last

• Focus on relationships between syllables (whole & half step)

• Be able to sing, sign, do both, audiate, sing back

• Work toward 2-4 autonomous singing parts to practice

• Opportunities for formative & summative assessment; student leadership

• Daily singing for muscle memory

Concept 4: Explore full major solfege scale & Intervals

• Solfege Challenge (Carol Krueger – charts) o All together, then in canon o With audiation (replace a syllable with a clap or stomp for audiation practice) o Make it fun! (Video challenge, etc)

• Interval practice (musictheory.net – Interval Construction) o Ear Training o Be able to identify intervals by sound on their own instruments (stand partner pair assignment) o Be able to audiate & sing intervals by name

• Sight-singing Practice (ex. Masterworks Press Steps to Harmony, Sight Reading Factory) o Work toward reading one line / week, ~1 min in one rehearsal per week

Concept 5: Singing & Playing

• Circle of 5ths – Patterns (Do Re Do → Do Re Mi Re Do → Do Re Mi Fa Sol)

• Identify whole/half steps when shifting to new positions (2nd Pos. Example)

• Instrumental Sight-Reading o Director cannot sing or play for students, but students can produce pitchaccurate content on their own. o Identify melody passages in each section; have them sing concurrently to hear the melody before they play o This is a tool to add to your sight-reading tool kit; works well in addition to rhythmic “sizzling”, silent fingering, shadow bowing, etc.

Advanced Concepts: La-based Minor; Chromaticism

• La-based minor is a natural next step (distance between syllables remains the same, just begin and end on La)

• Chromatic syllables (Do, Di, Re, Ri…) may be too specific for use in a string classroom; however, advanced students could benefit from learning them

Additive Major Scale Chart (Krueger) Curwen Hand Signs

Steps to Harmony Example (Masterworks Press)

Additional Materials

• Progressive Sight-Singing by Carol Krueger - Oxford Companion Website (solfege charts, hand signs)

• Sightreadingfactory.com o Algorithm-based online sight-reading exercise generator o Can add solfege annotations

• String sight-reading method books: o The Sight-reading Book for String Orchestra - West o Sight-Read It for Strings (Improving Reading and Sight-Reading Skills in the String Classroom or Studio) - Dabczynski, Meyer & Phillips

• Additional sight-singing materials: Steps to Harmony (Masterworks Press) $40 / Volume - reproducible PDF (Note: only treble & bass clefs available).

References

Dell, C. E. (2003). Singing and tonal pattern instruction effects on beginning string students’ intonation skills (Doctoral dissertation, University of South Carolina).

Dolflein, E. (1932). Das Geigenschulwerk (Schott Edition, Mainz, Germany). Five volumes in German and English.

Forrer, F. (1990). Forrer’s positions puzzle (PAN Edition Zürich) for violin or viola. One volume and three transparent sheets in German and English.

Goldberg, S. (1999). The moveable DO system in violin and viola pedagogy. American String Teacher, 49(2), 70–75. https://doi. org/10.1177/000313139904900211

Krueger, C. (n.d.). Additive major scale. https://global.oup.com/us/ companion.websites/9780199395163/vocalpitch/graphs/

Masterworks Press (2006). Steps to harmony: A systematic approach to sight-singing. Masterworks Press.

Musictheory.net (n.d.). Interval construction. https://www. musictheory.net/exercises/interval-construction

Musco, A. M. (2012). Solfege for instrumentalists: How singing can help students play. Teaching Music, 19(5), 26.

Towner, D. (2012). String methods that use solfège. Kodaly Envoy, 39(1), 15.

Reifinger, J. (2012). The acquisition of sight-singing skills in second-grade general music: Effects of using solfège and of relating tonal patterns to songs. Journal of Research in Music Education, 60(1), 26-42.