For example, I might sing “Do Mi Sol” (student echo), “Sol Fa Re Ti” (student echo), “Do Mi Do” (student echo) or other similar patterns that alternate tonic and dominant function. I sing tonic and dominant patterns in conjunction with the Curwen hand signs then students have to sing and sign the pattern back while stepping on the correct lines and spaces. I have a giant floor staff that students can stand on and pretend to be notes. I love using Curwen hand signs with students when we do solfege singing and ear training! The public schools where I live are Kodaly-influenced, so it dovetails nicely with what my students have learned in their music classes at school. The Solfa Skyrocket course, exclusively for members of Vibrant Music Teaching, makes it super easy to get started with this fantastic ear training tool. The best way to learn how to use solfa with your music students is to follow step-by-step lesson plans. He devised the hand sign system and helped to popularise the method by teaching it to other Sunday school music teachers. The work Sarah was doing inspired John Curwen. (Side note: If you want a beautiful book to introduce Guido to kids, check this out.) John the Baptist’ but Sarah changed si to ti so that every note would begin with a different letter. Her Norwich sol-fa method was based on the system devised by Guido d’Arezzo from the ‘Hymn to St. Sarah Ann Glover came up with the Norwich sol-fa method of singing when she was working with her Sunday school music students on a capella singing skills. But I do think a nod to the background is worth our time. I’m not going to go into a full history of Kodály, solfa and Curwen hand signs here. This helps the students to concentrate on their own inner hearing, and it gives the teacher a visual to track the students’ comprehension. One trick I love witnessing in a Kodály classroom is the phenomenon of an entire group of kids silently signing the solfa while they listen to a piece of music. If that thinking is varied, their learning will be that much stickier. The more we can make our students think, the more engaged they will be in their learning process. This means that we can get our students moving while they practise singing on pitch and remembering aural patterns. Kinaesthetic EngagementĬurwen hand signs give us a movement to go along with the verbal and the aural association. For piano teachers, though, 2 benefits stand out to me above all others. There are many reasons a teacher might consider adding Curwen hand signs to their teaching toolkit. Then come back to this post when you’re ready to add another note. Start by learning do, re and mi from the list in this article and practise using them in your lessons. But it’s a very simple one.Īnyone (yes, you!) can learn to use Curwen hand signs if they practise. Music teachers and students move through these gestures smoothly and seem to have a whole other language for understanding pitch. If you see Curwen hand signs from afar, you might think they look mighty odd. ⬆️ Listen to the podcast above or keep on reading, whichever fits your style.
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