100 Sight Singing Instructions

Advanced Rhythm and Melody

This assignment contains melodies that feature meter changes or irregular (asymmetrical) meters. The material builds on the rhythmic concepts we studied in the last sight singing assignment. Conducting and singing in unfamiliar meters can be perplexing for first-time learners, so set yourself up for success by practicing with conducting and rhythm only (chanting “tah”) a few times while you accustom yourself to how it feels to conduct in irregular patterns.

Next, conduct yourself and chant the rhythms using the solfege syllables (i.e. you’ll say the solfege syllables without attempting a pitch). Only now should you add the pitches and attempt the perform the excerpts. Practicing one step at a time, adding in one new thing each time, is a more efficient way to practice sight singing than to attempt perfection on your first try!

Some of the melodies in this material were composed in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, when the concept of diatonicism was being pushed to its utmost limits. Therefore, the melodies will not contain as many triadic “signposts” as, for example, a melody by Mozart.