Even more lots of testing
Tackling Tricky Tunes
You love to sing and want to join a choir or help out at church. You’ve got an audition but, they’re going to ask you to sight-sing a selection of music. Ouch! Or, maybe you’ve already gotten into that super choir you’ve been wanting to, but they’re performing Bach–no easy stuff! And, by the way, have you actually looked at the choir part of Handel’s Messiah?! Just because it’s popular, doesn’t mean it’s easy! Don’t you wish you’d had that sight-singing course in college?
YouTube to the Rescue!
Don’t despair! Here are three videos from YouTube that taken together, in my opinion, form a kind of “crash course“ in sight singing. Before getting a tutor, try viewing these videos first. If, after that, you are still having trouble with sight-singing, you can contact a tutor or join a class.
Sight-Singing Starter Pack
But, I’m betting you won’t need to. With these three videos under your belt and some practice, you’ll probably be just fine singing in the choir. Don’t forget to listen at least twice to each video before moving on to the next. Why? The common wisdom is that if you repeat a lesson before proceeding, your comprehension improves by as much as 60%. So, go slow with each video before moving on. Good luck! You’ve got this!
Solfeggio Basics
The first video is a basic primer on solfeggio, the system in which the seven distinct notes of the major scale were given syllables to represent them: doh re mi fa sol la ti doh (or, in the case of this video, the numbers 1–7). It explores the relationship of the notes to each other—the “feel” of them as you sing. Try to view the entire video, about 18 minutes long, at least twice before proceeding to the next video. It will not be wasted time!
Musical Notation Sampler
This second video is a review of the basics of reading music: keys, key signatures, meter signatures, and reading the lines and spaces of the treble and bass clefs in music. It is very clearly and succinctly presented — it will not be root canal to go through this! Again, as with the first video, please view the entire video twice before proceeding to the next video. You’re making progress…
Deepening Solfeggio Techniques
The third and final video is a slightly more advanced primer on actual sight singing (incidentally, by the same author of the first video). Again, carefully study this video twice and then begin to practice on “real-world” musical examples. You may find that you are a lot farther along than you thought!
Bonus! Solfeggio on Wheels
Here is the iconic scene from The Sound of Music by, Rodgers and Hammerstein where the von Trapp kids are learning how to sing by trying solfeggio (this is the full scene, though not all of the visual is included.)
Here is the final part of that same scene from The Sound of Music. Watch when they’re jumping up and down a set of stairs physically demonstrating the solfeggio of the song they are singing–so clever! I have never seen sight-singing so clearly represented! Who knew sight-singing could be so much fun!