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Improvisation is not just for jazz musicians it is being creative in the moment. Being able to improvise demonstrates understanding in much the same way that having a conversation demonstrates verbal literacy. Knowing that a note on the third line of treble clef is B does not make you a better musician. Praxis, or practice (doing music), needs to come before theory. Knowing that a note on the third line of treble clef is “B” means you have a way of talking about music and understanding the theory behind it. These musicians will be slow in learning new works (and will probably require a music teacher to do so). In the diction course, you will learn how to pronounce each consonant and vowel so that you can sound like you speak the language, but not have any idea what you’re saying. One parallel might be to compare a French class and learning French in a diction course. In this case, players may be able to decode (press certain buttons when they see certain symbols), but being able to press the correct keys on an instrument in response to notation does not confirm that the performer comprehends what it is they are playing or singing. Band and orchestra musicians are taught to read symbolic notation, but are often taught “by eye” rather than through sound before symbol. In other words, the teacher feeds singers the “answers” to the “test” from a piano. Unfortunately, the pressure of performance often leads to choirs that are taught exclusively by rote. Musicians in this tradition must be able to do more than imitate. The ability to read standard notation is integral and authentic to participation in the performing ensembles that have been so carefully nurtured in schools in the United States. A lot had to happen before you to the letters meant something, yet I bet your first band or piano book had symbolic notation on page one or soon after! The final step-in a nutshell-is to spell and write. The letters are abstract symbols in much the same way notes are symbols. Only after that labeling do we learn how to recognize words on a page.
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Again, adults read picture books to us so we can associate the words we know to the pictures. The cat says “meow.”) and we begin to try out a few words. Then, people label things for us (This is a cat. When we’re young, we absorb lots of sounds, then begin to try to imitate what we hear. Studying music has many parallels to learning a language. If you can sing it, you are hearing it and can more easily put it into your instrument. This is important: The singing voice is the fundamental instrument for all musicians. For choir, band, and orchestra musicians (Western European traditions), music literacy refers to the ability to translate notation into sound (reading) and sound into notation (notating). Sightsinging, or sightreading, refers to the ability to pick up a piece of music and being able to perform it without first hearing it or without help from accompaniment or any other instrument. There are no shortcuts! Sightsinging/Sightreading The difficulty level will increase quickly and this is a skill-based course, so it is important that you practice. You will be asked to read/perform, detect errors in given musical listening examples, and dictate (write down what you hear). In the beginning, patterns will be short (perhaps only two notes) and part of the major or minor scale or perhaps one measure in 4/4 time, for example. Your multiple semesters of aural skills will be dedicated to similar skills, but in an increasing level of difficulty. There are many online resources available (see Appendix A) to help you get your ears ready for success! Skills Practiced and Assessed in Aural Skills Those who do so or have been studying piano will certainly have an advantage, but it is not a necessity. You do not need to enroll in an advanced placement theory course to be successful with theory and aural skills in college. Many schools offer some sort of fundamentals of music theory course in the first semester for those who are unable to pass a placement test in the summer prior to admission. The Theory/aural skills sequence generally takes four semesters and begins in the fall of the first year. aural skills) courses are linked to music theory courses on many college campuses.