http://mieatnec.org/blog/2007/12/sight-singing-vs-memory/ News and Stories from Artist-Teacher-Scholars Sun, 18 Dec 2011 19:41:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 http://mieatnec.org/blog/2007/12/sight-singing-vs-memory/comment-page-1/#comment-2448 agreen Sun, 23 Dec 2007 03:45:59 +0000 http://mieatnec.org/blog/2007/12/10/sight-singing-vs-memory/#comment-2448 Most definitely; the same way one can read a newspaper article at alarmingly fast speeds without ever having seen it, one should be able to the same with sight-singing ... theoretically. Yes, when we grow up and "learn" our first language, we remember things like prayers or nursery rhymes and of course the alphabet, perhaps the spelling of certain words like "Mississippi" and our names. But this memorization process eventually disapates. Of course memorization should be applied when being immersed in the language, but eventually solfege should exist outside of memorization. When teaching solfege, however, I strongly believe that the distinction between memorization and sight-singing should be kept blantantly clear. VERY clear. Most definitely; the same way one can read a newspaper article at alarmingly fast speeds without ever having seen it, one should be able to the same with sight-singing … theoretically. Yes, when we grow up and “learn” our first language, we remember things like prayers or nursery rhymes and of course the alphabet, perhaps the spelling of certain words like “Mississippi” and our names. But this memorization process eventually disapates. Of course memorization should be applied when being immersed in the language, but eventually solfege should exist outside of memorization. When teaching solfege, however, I strongly believe that the distinction between memorization and sight-singing should be kept blantantly clear. VERY clear.

]]> http://mieatnec.org/blog/2007/12/sight-singing-vs-memory/comment-page-1/#comment-2422 jdsahn Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:57:15 +0000 http://mieatnec.org/blog/2007/12/10/sight-singing-vs-memory/#comment-2422 In solfege, can one really exist without the other? In solfege, can one really exist without the other?

]]> http://mieatnec.org/blog/2007/12/sight-singing-vs-memory/comment-page-1/#comment-2419 mayjoshua Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:56:38 +0000 http://mieatnec.org/blog/2007/12/10/sight-singing-vs-memory/#comment-2419 The idea of solfege is to be an aid in both sight reading and pitch memory. Solfege helps to identify interval work through the pitch association with the syllables. I think that some of the faster excerpts from this class needed to be memorized to show the other challenges, i.e. contextual conducting or groupings of the solfege. Overall, I think that solfege begins to build a pitch map for the user with certain themes or ideas always present within the mind. The idea of solfege is to be an aid in both sight reading and pitch memory. Solfege helps to identify interval work through the pitch association with the syllables. I think that some of the faster excerpts from this class needed to be memorized to show the other challenges, i.e. contextual conducting or groupings of the solfege. Overall, I think that solfege begins to build a pitch map for the user with certain themes or ideas always present within the mind.

]]> http://mieatnec.org/blog/2007/12/sight-singing-vs-memory/comment-page-1/#comment-2416 mayjoshua Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:27:21 +0000 http://mieatnec.org/blog/2007/12/10/sight-singing-vs-memory/#comment-2416 I think this is an important distincion of solfege. Many of the exercises in this class were very challenging, and I felt near impossible to do without memorization of the syllables. I did enjoy the sight reading challenges in this class, but many times I had to memorize some of the faster passages to be able to conduct them properly. I think the memorization strengthened my ability to keep going if I made a mistake, and taught me how to use rhythmic solfege very well. I think this is an important distincion of solfege. Many of the exercises in this class were very challenging, and I felt near impossible to do without memorization of the syllables. I did enjoy the sight reading challenges in this class, but many times I had to memorize some of the faster passages to be able to conduct them properly. I think the memorization strengthened my ability to keep going if I made a mistake, and taught me how to use rhythmic solfege very well.

]]>