Jennifer

Kerr Budziak
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Setting Foundations for Musical Literacy…in 7 Minutes a Day

NPM Convention 2019—Raleigh, NC

Jennifer Kerr Budziak, presenter

Prologue: Learning our native language

1. Hear/Listen
2. Speak
3. Read

Stage 1: Familiarity with the syllables

Movable-do solfège.

In the system of “movable do,” each syllable corresponds to a scale degree number within the
major scale:

do re mi fa sol la ti do
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
(tonic) (dominant) (leading tone)

Curwen hand signs

• Externalizing the syllables
• physical reference point
• director observation/information

Begin with the familiar

• apply syllables to familiar warmup exercises
 Jennifer Kerr Budziak
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Stage 2: Stretching beyond; applying solfège to new melodies

Create new warmup exercises (using solfège)

Begin “reading” new melodies via Curwen signs
• stepwise motion only
• Reinforce do and sol as foundational notes
Start slower; speed up as fluency increases
Prepare!

Stage 3: Increasing difficulty; incorporating solfège into music-learning

Create new, longer, more complex warmup exercises (using solfège)
Increase challenges in “reading” new melodies via Curwen signs
• Introduce skips into melodies –start with more stable notes, increase difficulty
• First leap only to do and sol (most stable)
• Begin skips to mi (slightly less stable)
• Introduce leaps to fa and re (least stable; prepare these well with stepwise
motion first)
• Ti (leading tone) has its own pull; introduce this as well
Do not move to new step till previous is very solid!
Prepare!

Stage 4: Introducing written notation

Set aside extended session or two for more than 7 minutes, to give basic musical notation
information
Reinforce earlier stages regularly
• Continue familiar warmups; use syllables regularly (also good for vowel formation and
vocal technique!)
Apply notational knowledge to familiar melodies
• use hymnal and repertoire
Apply solfège knowledge to challenging passages in repertoire
Increase challenges in “reading” new melodies via Curwen signs
• New concepts—la-based minor, accidentals/chromatic notes, etc.
 Jennifer Kerr Budziak
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Curwen Hand Signs

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