Hi, Joyous.

 

The simple answer is, "teach it!"  Make it a priority.  (This assumes that you have background in solfege yourself.)  Of course there are different systems, but any system is better than no system, and Kodály himself settled on movable Do solfege as the best for teaching (much as Guido d'Arezzo did in the early 11th century when he invented the whole thing!).

 

Rote learning is ALWAYS a crutch.  That said, there are certainly times when it's a GOOD crutch, and learning quickly by ear is a very valuable skill for any musician, but so is reading and sightreading.

 

Not sure what you mean by "exceptions with other methods."  Care to expand on that?

 

All the best,

 

John

 

 

 Like everything, it will take time. Solfege is good (especially movable do) because intervals are always a certain space (do - mi, so - mi) Numbers can be used and that in turn can ultimately be used to show chord progressions (I-IV-V).  The same can be said for rhythm reading (Kodaly, du-de, takadimi, etc) Just take 5 to 10 minutes of your rehearsal to work out things and always keep it simple and grow. They'll get it.

 

My best to you.

 

than

 

I agree with everything others have said. How you structure music literacy is up to you, dependent upon your situation, and your interaction with your ensemble(s). What I find is that so many basic melodic and rhythmic turns are shared in so much repertoire -- you can teach the first song by rote, and as students become familiar with the work and how it is supposed to sound, you can identify notation (rhythmic or melodic) particularly as it helps students recognize something with that element in another, less familiar setting.  Your target rhythm, melodic turn, harmonic progression, or combination thereof can then become a warm up exercise, even a segue to get from one selection to another.

 

Any way you look at it, you are taking the very basic tenet of education: let students use what they know to discover what they don't know or need to learn.

 

All the best,

Michael

I have used the Jenson sight Singing Course and found it incredibly helpful in teaching students to sight sing - last year after a few months students were able to sight sing in F# (after identifying the key) with not much trouble.  The Jenson book eases into solfeggio with the first pages of examples having the solfeg written out, then getting progressively harder.  As the examples progress, instead of giving where Do is, the examples give where fa and ti are, to set up learning the key signatures.  Highly recommend it.

To do solfeggio correctly, you must fully embrace - there will be a lot of resistance at first, but as long as you don't give it out in high doses at first, you can make it work.  Make it fun - I actually call the book we use "Fun" so the students come in at the beginning of class and ask "Are we doing fun today?".  Just that mind set can help make the difference.

Best of luck!

Hi, Joyous--

  I would strongly suggest using the Curwen hand signs along with your solfege syllable use.  Each time you give them an example, give them a chance to find Do on their own, and have them sign the solfege along with their singing.  If they're anything like me (and from my experience many are), the kinesthetic tie-in with the sounds they're making will really help them figure things out.  They'll groan about it, but ought to improve quickly. 

 

And don't be afraid to give your choir paper assignments!  If you wish to improve their musicianship, you may have to take some time out of your rehearsals to give them minor lessons in music theory to help their sightreading.  A worksheet or two on finding the key signature and writing in some solfege syllables might be just what they need.

 

Best of luck!

 

AJ Lund