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The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of Curwen Hand-Sings five days a week, focusing on pitch recognition and solfege syllables, would increase the proficiency of sight-singing for 9th-12th grade high school students in the general music classroom. During the treatment period, subjects were engaged in sight-singing five days a week. This included the completion of a minimum of three days exercises and one weekly sight-singing quiz. Subjects were given the Solon High School spring choral audition sight-singing assessment as a pretest before the treatment period began and gain as a posttest after the treatment period had concluded. Posttest scores of the treatment class were compared to the posttest scores of the comparison class who had not received the treatment. Weekly test scores from the treatment class were also compared to the weekly test scores from the comparison class. Subjects were given a survey three times during the 9-week treatment period to determine if an implementation dip had occurred in the attitude of students. Teacher anecdotal notes were kept to record the behavior, attitude and participation levels of each subject. The results of this study indicated there was an increase in sight-singing proficiency for all of the involved subjects. Further research should be done to determine if these results would be applicable to the general population.
Despite the theorized benefits of sight-singing in the choral classroom, little research has focused on the changing perceptions of high school choral students regarding sight-singing. The goal of this qualitative study with a historical approach and a grounded theory design is to assess the changing perceptions of high school choral students concerning the task of sight-singing using solfege syllables and Curwen hand signs. The study used a qualitative research approach with a pre-study and post-study questionnaire on sight-singing skills. The students received 1 twenty-minute lesson for four consecutive weeks. The goal of the questionnaire was to assess high school choral students’ feelings and perceptions of sight-singing. This study answers the question of whether the two mentioned tools positively or negatively affect sight-singing accuracy. The data revealed from this study showed that student perceptions were more positive towards the use of solfege syllables, negative about using hand signs, and extremely negative about using both at the same time. The result of this study could encourage high school choral teachers to keep teaching the skills of solfege syllables and hand signs even students are disinterested and motivating becomes challenging. Using this knowledge, music education teachers can confidently and diligently persuade students to keep working on skills to achieve positive results. The study includes a discussion of the findings and conclusions.
Music literacy is a key component in a fully enriching music education. Nearly all pedagogical approaches emphasize music reading and writing. However, sight singing, a specialized component of music literacy, is a skill that remains a challenge for many young singers. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of vocal improvisation on Kod©Łly-based sight singing instruction for high school choral music students. Based on results of the AMMA (Advanced Measures of Music Audiation, Gordon, 1989), participants (n = 52) were assigned to an experimental group (n = 27) or control group (n = 25). Both groups received sight singing instruction using the Kod©Łly method. The instructional strategies associated with this method included (a) tonic solfa, (b) Curwen hand signs, and (c) Chev©♭ rhythm syllables. The experimental group, however, participated in researcher-compiled vocal improvisation activities for 10-15 minutes of the 30-minute lessons. Improvisation activities included (a) learning selected repertoire by rote, (b) sequentially developing a vocabulary of tonal syllables and rhythmic syllables, (c) improvising with voice and body percussion tonic, dominant, subdominant, and submediant tonal patterns within the context of major and minor tonalities, and (d) improvising with voice and body percussion macrobeat, microbeat, division, elongation, and rest rhythm patterns within the context of duple meter. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine if there were statistically significant differences between sight-singing performance pre-assessment and post-assessment, as well as pre-experiment and post-experiment AMMA administration. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to determine significant difference between control and experimental groups. Results suggest that regular sight singing instruction using the Kod©Łly method benefited sight singing achievement (pitch accuracy, rhythmic precision, intonation, tempo). Incorporating vocal improvisation helps students build rhythm and tonal vocabulary and aurally explore the functions of harmonic structure. These practices seem to benefit overall music audiation, particularly rhythmic audiation. Survey findings suggest students' perception of their sight singing ability and of their ability to "hear music internally" (audiate) are positively impacted by vocal improvisation practices.
The purpose of this capstone project was to explore the research and best practice literature on developing fluent sight singers, applying it to an elementary choral music program. Topics addressed included (a) the role of Curwen Hand Signs in the sight singing process, (b) the impact of solfege syllables on sight sing, (c) whether festival participation influences a teacher's decision to teach sight singing, and (d) if individual sight singing quizzes are beneficial to a students' ability to become a fluent singer. Several researchers found that using Curwen hand signs and kinesthetic approaches were beneficial to student learning. In other research, the use of technology also proved to be beneficial as part of sight singing methods to use with students. Students who were able to use interactive white board technology also had a positive response to a kinesthetic approach. Furthermore, students' ability to audiate, or create mental representations of patterns before seeing notation, appears to be an important indicator of their ability to sight sing. Suggestions are provided to assist music educators of varying levels with developing quality sight singing methods in their classrooms. Students who are provided with regular opportunities for sight singing from an early age, and engage in frequent practice of sight singing skills, may develop into fluent sight singers and independent musicians.
The purpose of the study was to determine if tonal and rhythm pattern instruction and ear training exercises improve middle school students' sight-singing ability. Participants (N=73) were designated to a control or experimental group based on class schedule. Both groups received sight-singing instruction using sight-singing examples accompanied by the piano. Additionally, the experimental group was given tonal and rhythm pattern instruction, and ear training activities based on Music Learning Theory. Solfege syllables and hand signs designed by Zoltan Kodaly and John Curwen were also incorporated in sight-singing instruction for the experimental group to help with pitch accuracy. Each participant sang the assigned sight-singing test twice with resulting audio samples of 219 pre-test and post-test recordings. The assessment procedures for both tests were identical and the measurement tool's Cronbach's Alpha reliability was .88. Evaluation was based on the abilities to sing in tune, sing correct rhythms, and sing correct solfege syllables. Results indicate that after two weeks of instruction, both groups improved their sight-singing ability. The pre-test mean results shows that the control group scored significantly lower than the experimental group. Due to that significance, the post-test improvements in the experimental group did not surpass the gains in the control groups mean scores. Possible time restrictions of the study may have inhibited the improvement of the experimental group's scores.
The use of Curwen hand signs is an accepted part of elementary music pedagogy; however, there is little research comparing their effectiveness with corresponding hand movements. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of both Curwen hand signs and corresponding kinesthetic movements on the vocal accuracy of second-grade students, as measured by the Singing Voice Development Measure. Fifty-six second grade students from geographically adjacent elementary schools participated in the study. Classes were assigned one of three instructional conditions: hand signs, corresponding hand levels or no use of hands. The study lasted eight weeks and followed a pre-post design. The results did not present a clear indication as to which teaching method, if any, was the most effective for improving vocal accuracy. Interestingly, students taught via hand levels and the control group improved on both the taught pattern and song, and students taught with Curwen hand signs improved on the song but not the pattern. Results are discussed in terms of classroom practice.