Solfege and Sonority

Book excerpt: Solfege and Sonority is a guide for teaching music literacy in a choral rehearsal, with a focus on the needs of teachers who work with young singers. The book lays out teaching sequences for melodic and rhythmic concepts, lesson plans, and concise strategies for introducing key techniques. The individual lessons themselves are short (no more than 4-6 minutes each) and comprehensive, encouraging singers to develop a literacy of rhythm and melody together. In 18 easy-to-use lessons for teachers and conductors and tying the lessons to the teacher's current repertoire, longtime choral director and teacher David J. Xiques has created a practical and viable solution to the challenges of many conductors, as well as providing a much-needed manual for upper-level choral pedagogy courses. The comprehensive companion website provides access to videos of exercises, worksheets, and teaching materials.