Well, my friends, I've been thinking about last week's post (see below), and while part of me is a bit nervous that I've made my final descent into dogma, there were two things that happened this week that both helped me feel more confident about what I said and suggested to me that I ought to follow up. Both incidents involved educators I respect deeply, and their perspective on this (as in many parts of my life!) has helped refine my own.
First, one dear friend of mine asked me soon after I posted: are you saying it has to be solfa? And the answer is no, I don't think it has to be. Kodály-based solfege pedagogy isn't a form of monotheism. It is certainly not the only path to good musicianship. It just happens to be the path I know, so it's the path I teach. And, while a healthy sense of the whole scope of options is good for one's sense of open-mindedness, I do also think there's a danger in being resistant to following one path because one is afraid of being cut off from other options. The other options will always be there -- and once good musicianship is in place, it can be endlessly re-informed and made over. It is true that whatever one does first may always feel like a kind of mother tongue (witness that, under pressure, most everyone counts and does arithmetic in whatever language they first learned). However, I don't think that's a bad thing. It is ok to embrace one perspective for a period of time and open one's self up to other perspectives later. It may not be ok to embrace one perspective to the permanent exclusion of all others....and it may also not be ok to refuse to embrace any perspective in the name of open-mindedness and then wind up not knowing things one wants and needs to know.
The other incident wasn't directly related to the blog or even to solfa, but it is a story about immersion. After a choir concert, the conductor and I were sitting at the post-concert dinner gathering and one of the choristers, a young guy who has sung in several choirs, asked if the choir could sing something in the restaurant. The conductor told him that was fine, but that he (the chorister) had to lead it. The chorister agreed, and led the chorus in a rendition of "Bonse aba" with himself as the caller. At the end of the piece, when a little bit of conducting is required, this brave singer (who has no formal musical training beyond that of a typical community choir singer) simply threw out his arms and gestured his way to the end of the piece, and his fellow singers followed him perfectly. His conducting was very reminiscent of my friend, the conductor of the group, and my friend definitely noticed. We talked about it later, and my friend said how unexpectedly touched he was by the experience, and how surprised he was that our singer, on the power of pure instinct, did what he'd been shown by the conductor and it worked. I said that I think we maybe shouldn't be so surprised when this happens. As conductors and teachers, we form mini-cultures in the form of classrooms and choruses, and we probably shouldn't be surprised when our singers' cultural vocabulary goes from passive to active -- because that just means we've done our job. The immersion has worked. The message has been sent.
So, in the spirit of immersion:
Rising Level 2's
Your Ottman examples are: 11.2, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.8, 11.10
For each example, scan (checking for tempo/character markings and noting the origin of each melody), set your key/meter, and sing it through. Then, do a bit of reflecting: did the melody do what you expected? Where did you have trouble? Did the trouble spots coincide with the places where your expectations were not fulfilled? Can you use this information to refine your musical instincts?
Rising Level 3's
Your Ottman examples are: 14.1, 14.2, 14.4, 14.5, 14.6, 14.7
Follow the same instructions as the rising level 2's, but add to your list of reflective questions: in each example, there is an opportunity to modulate (to a key a fifth away...watch out for the Handel!). Did you choose to? What was the key relationship involved? Did it work? What happens if you make a different choice? What seem to be the deciding factors?
Rising Level 4's
Your Ottman examples are: 14.8, 14.9, 14.10, 14.11, 14.12, 14.13
Follow the same instructions as the rising level 2's, with the same added questions as the 3's.
Jump right in, and enjoy!
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