Foltz, Roger E.

English

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3Sight Singing In Relation to
the Total Theory Program
ROGER E. FOLTZ
The teaching of sight singing has one of the oldest
pedagogical traditions in what today we recognize as a
standard component of the typical theory curriculum. As an
academic discipline it has a heritage that extends over a
period of centuries dating back to the days of Guido d'Arez-
zo (c. 990-1050) whose "hand" was one of the first
pedagogical techniques in theory to be developed. The
medieval system of solmization changed little until the
seventeenth century when French musicians began to develop
what we know today as the "fixed do" system. This set the
stage for a division of philosophy between the proponents of
"moveable do" (whereby solfege syllables are applied to
pitches according to tonality, thus the syllable "do" always
represents tonic) versus "fixed do" (whereby the pitch "e"
is always assigned "do," the pitch "0" becomes "re," etc.).
Within each of these philosophies are proponents that sing
either with or without chromatic variables. It should also
be added that there are those who, from a "moveable do"
orientation, prefer use of scale degree numbers over any
syllable. And finally, some teachers of sight singing
refuse to implement any system of solmization and prefer to
use a neutral syllable such as "la."
Regardless of the means through which sight singing is
taught, it is not the purpose of this article to address a
preferred system of teaching the discipline. Instead, the
author chooses to focus upon a concern which seems to be in-
4 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW
frequently brought to the forefront but one which is of
paramount importance. The point is: What are theorists
attempting to achieve in offering courses in sight singing,
and how does it relate to the total theory curriculum?
To address this, a clear understanding of the purpose of
sight singing must be established. There are several at-
titudes which seem to dominate. Choral directors and voice
instructors often feel that sight singing serves as an ex-
tension of their training; that is, it makes everyone a bet-
ter singer. Many instrumentalists feel sight singing is
simply a means of helping one's sight reading and some
maintain that its relevancy might be enhanced by dis-
continuing the vocal orientation for instrumentalists in
favor of letting the student use his or her own instrument.
And there are those who feel that sight singing is an
academic discipline which is an undefinable component in the
building of one's musicianship.
All of these attitudes address aspects of sight singing,
but the following statement seems to bring together the
total dimensions of this age-old discipline: "Sight singing
is a necessary tool for every musician, one which is
beneficial not only as an analytical tool but also as an im-
portant and convenient means of musical communication."l
The aforementioned statement generates the following ob-
servations. While most theorists tend to be in agreement
about various virtues of sight singing, it is interesting to
note that there appears to be a lack of support for it in
terms of classroom instruction. Over the years there has
been a trend to combine it with courses in ear training and
then deflate the total package from a two- or three-credit
course to a one-credit offering. In short, it has become a
rather fashionable trend to reduce the emphasis on sight
singing as more and more requirements are placed on music
curricula in higher education.
The idea of reducing the actual instruction time devoted
exclusively to sight singing is not altogether an improper
one. In fact, such a structure can be successful as long as
it is treated as a part of the total theory instruction.
One does have to question the theory curriculum which gives
one credit to sight singing in conjunction with ear training
for one or two years and feels that this part of the
student's training is adequate. A philosophy which feels
that singing is something that is done during the freshman
and sophomore years and then never again within the cur-
riculum is a faulty one. This statement is generated by the
fact that there are simply too many "music ians" who are at a
loss to communicate musically without use of an instrument.
Ide Zeeuw and Foltz, Sight Singing and Related Skills
(Swift Publishing Company: Manchaca, Texas), 1975.
SIGHT SINGING 5
The thought of having a piano, violin, or whatever, at one's
fingertips at all times, is entertaining but highly im-
practical. The fact is that the human voice is the only
means of musical communication that a musician carries at
all times.
Without more formal study at this point, it is difficult
to determine which sight singing approach is more effective.
On the other hand, it is likely that for most students, four
semesters, six quarters, or whatever limited time is spent
on sight singing, can do little more than provide a founda-
tion for the discipline. To a certain extent, this is how
it must be, for there is simply too much to be covered in an
undergraduate theory curriculum. However, it is the task of
the instructor of harmony, orchestration, counterpoint, or
analysis to incorporate singing into the total theory cur-
riculum. This immediately poses the problem of how to in-
tegrate singing into these courses without interfering with
the content of the class involved. The fact is that such
activity can be integrated and can actually result in en-
hancing the course of study while developing this aspect of
the student's method of communication.
The first area of consideration will be ear training,
frequently taught in conjunction with sight singing but not
always thoroughly integrated. One technique that can be em-
ployed is based upon the traditional format of a Bach
chorale being played at the piano for purposes of dictation.
How much more effective it is to divide the class into two
equal SATB groups and have one group sing the chorale to the
other half and vice versa. The benefits of this approach
are plentiful. First of all, a Bach chorale is not a piece
of music which is meant for or conducive to the piano. The
individual melodic lines surface much better with the human
voice than with the piano. A second important aspect is the
critical interaction amoung students which develops when one
group of students is depending upon the other for the cor-
rect pitch and rhythm in order to transcribe the sounds to
paper. A healthy amount of peer pressure develops when one
group sings to the other slightly sharp or flat on a
particular part. Aside from the chorale texture, the human
voice is an excellent vehicle through which to transmit
melodic dictation as a welcome relief to the dictation ex-
ercises being played on the piano. Students who have worked
exclusively with ear training at the piano can be in store
for a substantial shock when initiated to the "vocal sound."
For most theorists the strong relationship between ear
and voice is not an unfamiliar one, but there are less
traditional kinships between sight singing and other courses
within the standard theory curriculum which need to be ex-
amined. One such possibility which is frequently overlooked
is the counterpoint class. A course in counterpoint
(whether sixteenth- or eighteenth-century) can and should
6 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW
involve extensive vocal work. One approach is based upon
the traditional species counterpoint format. The object is
to have the student play the cantus firmus at the keyboard
while having him or her sing the counterpoint from numbers.
The example below illustrates this exercise in a third
species example taken from the Gradus ad Parnassum of Fux. 2
Example 1. Fux: Gradus ad Parnassum.
t 234
~
321 3 3
3 4 5 6
321
8 156
#
3 4 5 6 8
~
8 765
~
3 4 5 6
~
8 1 3 4
~
123
As an in-class activity the instructor can divide the
students in half and assign the cantus firmus to one half
with the other singing the counterpoint. Benefits from such
an exercise are plentiful. The vocal/aural acquaintance
with the various species is extremely valuable. At the same
time this affords the student a mental exercise which can
aid immensely in reinforcing the principles of counterpoint.
Orchestration would seem to be an unlikely candidate to
be associated with singing and naturally it should have a
primary focus towards instrumental sounds; however, singing
exercises can be successfully incorporated into this course
of study. Material which forces the student to develop an
instantaneous facility with orchestral transpositions is
especially effective. For instance, in Example 2, an
orchestral excerpt in written pitch is given. The object
is to have the student sing such exercises in sounding pitch
from written pitch, using letter names. Thus, in the French
horn example, the student would have to transpose the ex-
cerpt down a perfect fifth. Once again, singing within
orchestration courses is not meant to detract from the
necessary instrumental orientation; however, such a vocal
technique does provide an effective means of developing a
2This exercise and concept is taken from: de Zeeuw and
Foltz, Sight Singing and Related Skills (Swift Publishing
Company: Manchaca, Texas), 1975.
SIGHT SINGING
Example 2. Mahler: Symphony no. 1 in d (horn in F).
7
necessary skill, facile instrumental transposition. These
exercises aid the students tremendously in their ability to
handle transposition and in turn their own orchestral score
study.
In courses of anaylsis there are an abundant number of
possible vocal techniques which can be employed. Within the
area of twentieth-century techniques, the singing of primary
melodic ideas can be helpful in the aural perception of a
work. An example is the first movement of the Concerto for
Harpsichord by Manuel de Falla. One method of introducing
the movement to a class is to have the students sing the two
primary ideas several times in order to get them clearly
organized in their minds. The following set of examples il-
lustrates this procedure:
8 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW
Example 3. Manuel de Falla: Concerto for Harpsichord
(first movement) •
Theme I.
Theme II.
After singing the two themes, a recording of the movement
can be played. The vocal introduction to the movement will
provide an immediate accessibility to the music, which is in
a modified sonata-allegro structure.
Another presentation method which can be helpful in a
course of twentieth-century analysis involves study of
twelve-tone technique. An example might be a piece such as
Schoenberg's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Ope 36. A
statement of the twelve-tone row is given in Example 4.
After singing the original row using letter names, the
student should be encouraged to sing the retrograde, in-
version, and various transpositions. Vocal reinforcement of
the twelve-tone technique can be useful in bringing serial
music into a musical light, as opposed to a more mechanical
or mathematical state of mind which is frequently found with
undergraduate students.
SIGHT SINGING
Example 4. Schoenberg: Concerto for Violin and
Orchestra, Ope 36.
9
Copyright, 1939. by G. Schirmer. Inc. Reprinted by permission.
A final set of techniques makes use of reductive
analysis. One activity is to have the student sing a reduc-
tion of a melodic line against the melody in its original
form. A more elaborated form of this exercise can involve
the division of the class into high and low voice ranges and
have them sing a two-voice reduction (background or middle-
ground level) against an actual performance of the piece.
Such work enables the student to sing his or her analysis
with the music and hear how the structural pitches
identified sound when superimposed against the actual com-
position. While measures of sustained dissonance can occur,
it is a helpful exercise which can produce interesting
results, in terms of hearing how the structural pitches come
"in and out of focus" against more foreground events.
Obviously, this discussion has presented just a few of
the many ideas possible in moving sight singing into areas
of the entire theory curriculum. There are many more which
can be used, but hopefully those identified can generate ad-
ditional techniques which can be applied throughout the en-
tire theory curriculum. It is the intention of this article
to encourage students (and teachers) of sight singing to
think of the discipline as more than a "necessary evil" to
which all students must be submitted as were their mentors
before them dating back to the days of Guido.
Techniques such as those explored address an overall
musical concept with which teachers of theory must keep an
eternal vigil, that of insuring that students do not go
about their theory studies in a mechnical way. They must
always be "internal izing" their musical concepts and
analysis. It must be assured that what is put on paper by
the student is "heard in his head." All too often it is ap-
parent after examining a student analysis that the work had
never been musically internalized; rather, it was
"perceived" as a mechanical, external study of notes on
paper.
Sight singing skills are integral aspects of musicianship
and companions for the theorist. It is the duty of all
teachers within the college-level theory curriculum to in-
sure that students realize through practice and application
10 INDIANA THEORY REVIEW
that sight singing is " ••• a necessary tool for every
musician, one which is beneficial not only as an analytical
tool but also as an important and convenient means of musi-
cal communication."3
3 de Zeeuw and Foltz, Sight Singing and Related Skills
(Swift Publishing Company: Manchaca, Texas), 1975.


Sight Singing in Relation to the Total Theory Program

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Sight Singing in Relation to the Total Theory Program

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