As conductors, we are continually developing students’ musicianship skills.  Music literacy is at the core of understanding and reading music.  Mastering pieces quickly is more rewarding for both the student and those around them.  The ultimate literacy goal is to hand a piece of music to a singer who can understand all elements on the page, the structure of the piece, sight-sing on the spot, and learn the music without any assistance.   

• Sight-Singing – Support rhythmic/pitch identification and how they interact through rhythmic and melodic exercises.

• Ear-Training – Strengthen the students’ aural training through audiation and pitch recognition.  This can be achieved in various forms: interval identification, scale/modal identification and application, rhythmic/melodic/harmonic dictation, chord progressions, etc.

• Theory Lessons – Examine elements that construct a piece of music: time signatures, key signatures, notation, chord progressions, etc.