Choral Artistry

Grounded in current research from the fields of choral pedagogy, music theory, and music perception and cognition, this text provides a practical and organic approach to teaching choral singing and sight-reading. This book is a detailed guide to helping choral directors at all levels improve the choral singing and musicianship of their students from a Kodaly perspective. Topics include framing a choral curriculum based on the Kodaly concept; launching the academic year for beginning, intermediate, and advanced choirs; building part-work skills; sight-reading; progressive music theory sequences for middle- to college-level choirs; teaching strategies; and choral rehearsal plans. It provides examples of how to teach specific repertoire from medieval to contemporary choral composers. As part of the Kodaly philosophy's practical approach, the authors employ two models for learning choral literature: Performance Through Sound Analysis Pedagogy (PTSA) and Performance Through Sound Analysis and Notation (PTSAN). Both models delineate an approach to teaching choral works that significantly improves students' musicianship while engaging the ensemble in learning the overall composition in partnership with the conductor. The final chapter of the book includes rubrics to assess the effectiveness of a choral program.