In the research article submitted to Texas Music Education Research, Cousins and Persellin looked at the effect of Curwen hand signs on vocal accuracy of young children. This also goes along with the point that hand signs aren’t the end goal in and of themselves. His results found no difference in the test scores of those who were allowed to use the hand signs and those without.Ī good point against the study is that these students were all previously trained with hand signs, so it may be the benefit was already reaped. Some research has shown no statistical difference between those who use hand signs and those who don’t, but the bulk of teaching experience and other data collected from student experiences seems to indicate a benefit.įor example, Alan McClung did a study on the sight-singing scores of high school choristers with extensive training in movable do and Curwen hand signs. Surprisingly, there is some disagreement in this area. This being said, one of the reasons I teach it is also because if my students travel to another school or attend an honor’s choir of some sort, there’s a large chance they’ll come across it.Īnd if I want to give them the tools for success outside of my room, I want them to have some solid experience with these tools. They’ve been around for a long time (read the next section), so they’ve gained a solid footing as an instructional tool. The other two common ways being body signs and the hand staff. Well, maybe not everyone, but solfege hand signs are the most common way to physically represent solfege pitches. I did this earlier this year at a collegiate ACDA conference, and the students had a ball! #5 It’s A Common Teaching Tool This may seem like a crazy idea, but with a little practice (on their part and yours!) it can be a great and fun way to build part-work skills. Not only can you lead them through scalular patterns with just showing them the signs, but you can also, with practice, split the class into two and have each class follow one of your hands as they sign different solfege. Once students are comfortable when singing with them, you can challenge them to sing in harmony and signs make it a lot easier. Solfege hand signs are also a great conducting tool. Mixing it up can be a great way to keep your students’ interest. I often tell my students that I’m as easily distracted as they are.Īdding and taking away hand signs can be another way to get at the same problem of developing aural skills and sight singing. Repeating the same kinds of activities and ways of teaching can get boring for your students and for you as the teacher. #3 Gives A Different Avenue For Instruction The partner has to sing the pattern back. Students either create or read a flashcard with a pattern on it and sign it to a partner. You tell the students to internalize all “do” pitches while still signing. Students sing a well-known pattern using solfege and hand signs. After signing, the students will sing the melody out loud. Students look at a new melody and sign the pitches while singing inside. Hand signs give a tool for students to use while they hear inside, and teachers can use it to assess how well students are comprehending in an easy visual way. Inner hearing is when you can internalize the pitches you’re reading or thinking. Many music teachers also use hand signs to help develop inner hearing or audiation. The key to this purpose lay in the height difference you move to show each interval and the sign shape for each pitch. Teachers use these to help the brain build new roads to singing and reading skills. Hand signs provide a kinesthetic way to show the aural skills. It can be hard to think about subjecting our students to the same thing.Ĭonnecting an aural skill with different methods of learning can make developing this skill a lot easier (and more fun!). Many of us have horror stories from our sight singing and ear training classes. Singing and hearing pitches can be a difficult thing to do and teach. #1 Provides Movement Representing Pitch Intervals In this section, we’ll look at some of the main reasons teachers use solfege hand signs.
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