Framework for Lesson Plans

part and show the second part with hand signs.
Error detection
Select a phrase of music. One person plays the selection,
deliberately making a melodic mistake. Another person follows
the score and locates the error.
Sight Singing
The sight-­‐singing exercises may be memorized and notated.
Prior to sight
singing
Practice basic rhythmic and melodic patterns from the sight-­‐reading
exercise with the students while the students follow the staff
notation. Difficult rhythms should be practiced with a suitable
rhythmic ostinato or subdivision of the beat. Sing these preparatory
exercises in the same key as the reading example. Exercises should be
sung in solfége, letter names and neutral syllables.
Sight singing
1. Discuss the meter and key. Determine an appropriate tempo.
2. Determine the form. Look for repeated patterns.
3. Ask students to think through the melody. Students may conduct
or use hand signs while thinking through the melody.
4. Students sing the exercise while conducting.
Memorize
Memorize the example and notate it if appropriate.
Practice
Read melodic patterns not associated with rhythms; read a serious of
notes on the staff or a series of solfège syllables. Instructors should
devise a variety of ways to practice a reading exercise. For example:
read the melody backwards; read a unison melody while clapping a
rhythmic ostinato; sing a melody in canon at the fifth (reading only the
first voice).

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Dictation
Dictation is closely linked to the development of musical memory, inner hearing, and reading
and writing skills. Memory is essential for successful musical dictation. Beginning dictations
should be based on patterns that have been memorized by the students. As the student's
memory develops, the instructor can begin more formal dictation practice. Initially students
should sing the melody before attempting to notate it. In this way, the instructor can
determine whether students are hearing the example accurately. Initial dictation material
can be based on simple folk music. Later, music of other styles may be added.
The following procedures may be used for rhythm dictation.
Prepare the example
The instructor plays a melody on the piano; students determine
the meter and the number of bars.
Instructor performs
Instructor plays the musical example while students conduct.
Students perform
Students conduct and sing using rhythm syllables
Students write
Instructor provides the meter, Students write the dictation with
stick or traditional notation.
Instructor plays the
musical example
Instructor plays the musical example students check their
written work. Students may write this example in other meters
or use the rhythm as the basis for a melodic improvisation.
The following procedures may be used for melodic dictation.
Prepare the key
Prepare the key with hand signs and staff notation
Sing typical
melodic patterns
Sing typical melodic patterns found in the dictation. Students sing
using solfège syllables and letter names. During beginning stages of
formal dictation the instructor may also give the student a score with
the bar lines indicated and certain notes or rhythms filled in to aid
students' memory.
Perform the
melody
Perform the melody on the piano or another instrument.
Aural Analysis
Students determine the meter. Students conduct and sing the
examples with rhythm syllables. Students determine the final note
and the beginning note as well as some or all of the following, as
appropriate: mode, melodic cadences, melodic contour, patterns,
and meter.
Students perform
Students sing the melody using rhythm syllables and hand signs.
Students perform
Students sing the melody using solfège syllables and absolute letter

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names.
Students write
Students write the melody from memory. Instructor provides the
meter and the key
Students perform
Students sing the melody from their score. This melody may be used
to practice additional skills; transpose it into other keys or practice
the intervals in the melody.