Conducting Class Exercises

Teaching Sequence:

1. Establish tonality.

2. Without displaying the notation, sing Heather Shouldice’s Unfinished Song for your students.

3. Inquire about the ending “Did that song feel finished to you?” “This time, can you finish the song in your mind, don’t sing out loud.”

4. Have students perform their imagined ending together/individually.

Assessment: Informal, listen to each student perform their own ending.

Extensions: Have students audiate different endings, switch the part of the song for students to answer, create a new four-phrase melody with the same tonality and meter.

Teaching Sequence:

1. Begin listening to a recording with a score.

2. Pause the recording in random spots and try to audiate the ending.

3. Check your audiation by resuming the recording.

Assessment: Informal, have students sing the end of the phrase without the recording.

Extensions: Have students improvise a different ending, stop the recording in random places and have them audiate and then sing the next note.

Teaching Sequence:

1. Sing the melody for your students, instruct them to audiate what they think are the chord roots.

2. Sing the chord roots for your students, have them audiate and sing them back while you sing the melody.

3. Teach each of the chord parts by singing and having students repeat:

   • Part 1 - Do, Do, Ti, Ti, Do, Do, Do

   • Part 2 - Mi, Mi, Re, Re, Fa, Mi, Mi

   • Part 3 - Sol, Sol, Sol, Sol, La, Sol, Sol

4. Have students sing chord parts while you sing the melody.

Assessment: Informal assessment, have students perform the chord parts in small groups while the class sings the melody.
Extensions: Have students improvise over the harmonic progression, perform chord parts on instruments.

Exercise 4: Score Reading Four-Part Chorale

Learning goal: Students will audiate the composite of multiple lines of unfamiliar music in silence
Excerpt from J.S. Bach Ach lieben Christen, seid getrost 

Teaching Sequence:

1. Establish tonality and a reading tempo.

2. Audiate the first eight measures of the soprano line, sing during the repeat to check audiation. 

3. Audiate the first eight measures of the alto line, sing during the repeat to check audiation.

4. Begin audiating the soprano line from m. 1, switching to the alto line at the fermata in m. 2.

5. Repeat steps 2-3 with remaining lines.

6. Instruct students to begin audiating one line, instructor calls out a different part at each fermata that students will switch to.

7. After audiating multiple parts in silence, try to hear the composite of multiple parts while singing or audiating the soprano line.

Assessment: Informal, listen to students sing while switching between lines at each fermata.

Extensions: Instruct students to audiate multiple parts (or the composite) in silence simultaneously, audiate different timbres by switching the instruments heard for each line, apply this to another chorale or score excerpt. 

Exercise 5: Score Reading Composite of Multiple Lines

Learning goal: Students will audiate the composite of multiple lines of unfamiliar music in silence

Excerpt from W.A. Mozart - Finale from Serenade No. 11 

Teaching Sequence:

1. Establish tonality and a reading tempo.

2. Have students audiate the first line in silence, placing their hands on their knees on the final note.

3. As a class, identify familiar patterns (Sol-Do), have students sing this repeating pattern when it appears in the music while audiating the rest in silence.

4. Instruct students to pick a different part to audiate in silence.

5. After audiating multiple parts in silence, try to hear the composite of multiple parts, at least hearing those familiar patterns when audiating a different line.

Assessment: Self-assessment, split the class in half and have them sing different parts, students self-assess how closely their audiation matched the performance.

Extensions: Switch to another part, split the class between different parts, instruct students to audiate multiple parts (or the composite) in silence simultaneously, audiate different timbres by switching the instruments heard for each line, begin reading one part in silence and switch to another part at m. 5. 

Teaching Sequence:

1. Sing the melody while your students drone on the resting tone. Ask them to pick a word that describes the song to sing the resting tone (hint: It might be helpful to sing the second verse to get the full emotional content of the piece).

2. Ask students what their favorite part of the song is, loop this part and make it a part of the musical texture.

3. Sing the chord roots for your students, have them audiate and sing them back while you sing the melody.

4. Teach each of the chord parts by singing and having students repeat.

5. Have students sing chord parts while you sing the melody, adding other parts of the song to the texture.

Assessment: Informal assessment, have students create their own soundscapes to perform in small groups.

Extensions: Follow Chris Azzara's Seven Skills to have students improvise over the harmonic progression, perform chord parts on instruments.

Additional Exercises

• Figure out the solfege for a familiar melody (no instruments allowed!)

• Dictate part of an instrumental or vocal jazz solo Example

• Audiate chord roots for a familiar tune, check your work by singing them while listening to a recording

• Compose short melodies in less-familiar tonalities and meters

• Perform tonal and rhythm patterns from a recording Example

• Create your own tonal and rhythm patterns

• Vocally improvise over a backing track

• Outline chords over a backing track

• Audiate and sing unfamiliar melodies Example

• Make a playlist of songs in less-familiar tonalities and meters, save this to use with students