Once a conductor has a vivid audiation of a score, they will be ready to design exercises that help students to understand the deeper structure of the piece. Although much of the Skill Learning Sequence involves rote learning, this is more than just teaching the piece by rote: Skill Learning Sequence activities are designed to teach music literacy skills. Musically literate students do not need to rely on their teachers to teach them their parts. For example, rather than teaching tonal patterns found directly in the piece, we expose students to a wide range of tonal patterns in the tonal syntax of the work. When students then encounter strings of patterns when reading new music, they will have the ability to audiate them in their mind and then recreate it on their instrument.
The following exercises can be done in the instrumental music classroom at any level of development (beginners through college), and will help the students and teacher to challenge their audiation skills. It is my belief that students learn best when they can see their teacher learning. Do not shy away from exploring the full sequence just because you might be intimidated by improvisation, embrace your weaknesses and allow yourself to grow alongside your students.
To learn more about Music Learning Theory and the Skill Learning Sequence, visit: GIML website
*Video example removed for CBDNA blind application
Aural/Oral Example:
Bambucco - Victoriano Valencia
UW Madison University Band
At the Aural/Oral stage, we echo patterns provided by a teacher or model without labels or notation. This is the first stage of formal music learning, and is the stage in which new patterns can enter our musical vocabulary. Even advanced musicians can benefit from regular practice at the Aural/Oral level, so although it may feel very elementary THIS STAGE SHOULD NOT BE SKIPPED (see below video of college students doing this work).
Some important notes:
At the Aural/Oral level, use a neutral syllable such as "bum", "buh", "ta", or "loo", although it is theoretically possible to engage at this level of the Skill Learning Sequence by performing on instruments, it is generally advisable to remove any executive skill barriers (e.g. tonguing, bowing, etc.).
Patterns may be excerpted directly from the repertoire, but since students are already going to experience them in rehearsal, it is often better to create other patterns within the tonal/rhythmic syntax of the piece.
Having students audiate patterns in silence can be just as powerful a teaching tool as having them perform them out loud.
*Video example removed for CBDNA blind application
Verbal Association Example:
Major I and V functional patterns
Mt. Pleasant 6th Grade Orchestra
At the verbal association stage, we add labels to patterns already performed at the Aural/Oral level. The choice of which solmization system to use is not as important as the consistency of using one system during audiation development, although I advocate for function-based systems such as solfege with movable-Do (and La based minor) for a tonal system and the Gordon or Takadimi systems for rhythms.
At the partial synthesis level, we learn to discriminate between different contexts that are already in our audiation. These differences could be duple/triple meter, major/minor tonality, etc. Changing the meter of a familiar song and asking students to identify within the song when the micro beats change is one way to engage in partial synthesis.
Because partial synthesis is still discrimination learning, it is important for the teacher to model their thought process while engaging with students (e.g. "right now I am audiating La Do Mi as our tonic chord, and when La is the resting tone we are in minor tonality" or "can you show me when our song switches from duple meter to triple meter, when we are in duple our microbeats go du-de-du-de and when we are in triple meter our microbeats go du-da-di-du-da-di" etc.)
At the symbolic association level, we add symbols to musical elements already in our audiation. Rather than teaching new skills (e.g. fingerings, etc.) while also teaching note reading, using an MLT approach ensures that students are only being expected to learn one new thing at a time. It is not necessary for students to understand the theory of why things are notated in the way they are (e.g. explaining time signatures and key signatures), this level is simply stating that “the thing that sounds like this looks like this”. Most method books are not designed with a sound before symbol approach in mind, however, introducing songs by rote before expecting students to read the notation is one way to engage in symbolic association in our classrooms. During Symbolic Association, rhythmic and tonal elements of music should be introduced separately.
At the composite synthesis level, we put together our learning at all previous levels and learn to string together groups of patterns that are already in our audiation through reading or writing. At this stage we are able to identify the syntax that these patterns exist within.
*Video example removed for CBDNA blind application
Symbolic Generalization Example:
Bambuco - Victoriano Valencia
UW Madison University Band
During the generalization stage(s), we perform or read unfamiliar patterns without the aid of a teacher or model. This stage can be broken into three sub-categories; Aural/Oral, Verbal, and Symbolic.
Here are a few examples from each of these three categories
Aural/Oral: Without labels, Teacher sings an unfamiliar pattern and students echo without labels
Verbal: Teacher sings an unfamiliar pattern without labels to students, students sing the same pattern back with labels
Symbolic: Students perform unfamiliar patterns from notation (this is called sight-reading)
Although improvisation is generally reserved for advanced ensembles at the secondary and post-secondary level, we have the capacity to engage in improvisation very early in our musical development. Improvisation can be as simple as me singing a tonal pattern to my students and having them sing something different back with the same function (e.g. I sing “Do Mi Sol” in major tonality and you might sing back “Mi Sol Do”). If we remove the guidelines to stay in the same function and simply say to “sing back something different” I might sing a major tonic pattern and they might sing a major dominant pattern. This is an example of creativity, not improvisation.
Creativity: Creating something different without restrictions
Improvisation: Creating something different within a set of restrictions (when improvising over a bebop chart, the restrictions are the chord changes and form: performers are still welcome to ignore them, but those guidelines remain).
Once students have a developed vocabulary of audiated tonal and rhythm patterns, and have demonstrated success with reading, writing, and improvising with familiar and unfamiliar musical materials, they should be ready to finally engage with the theoretical elements of music. These elements could include (but are not limited to):
Identifying notes using letter names
Labeling musical intervals
Learning key signature names and their associated scales
Identifying and naming chords and their harmonic functions
Labeling different types of cadences
Applying aesthetics to music based on historical context
In order to truly engage in Steps 2, 3, 5, and 6, of the score study process outlined above, we must be able to engage with a huge vocabulary of tonal and rhythmic patterns at the Theoretical Understanding stage of the Skill Learning Sequence (which assumes that we have previously engaged with that same content at prior levels of the sequence). The broader our musical vocabulary, the more quickly our brains are able to process the information contained in the score.
The learning process is cyclical: The same exercises that we use to teach musical vocabulary to our students will inevitably lead to the expanding of our own vocabularies. As our students learn, we must expand our own vocabularies in order to keep them challenged in class. This in turn, benefits our own score study, which will help to extract even more skills that we can teach to our students in the future.
It is my hope that this information is accessible and helpful to practicing teachers and students alike. Learning to audiate has brought me a great deal of joy both as a musician and as a teacher, and it has freed me to think more creatively about my music making.