Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Want to be able to sight sing melodies? Shape notes makes reading easier. Read more for your shape note singing lesson.
- Last post, we sang scales and songs in the keys of C, Db, D, and Eb. The more keys you know, the better your will sight sing.
- Therefore, in this post, we will explore the keys of E, F, Gb, and G for both scales and songs.
- As we sing, listen (on the sing-along song tracks) for how the relationships between the notes remain the same yet the whole melody sounds higher.
- The song tracks use synthetic voices rather than actual voices. Research has shown that this will help with the ability to identify and produce absolute pitch information. For more information, read Why Use a Synth Voice Instead of Real Voices.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
Shape Note Singing Lesson: Review
For a detailed discussion of sight singing with shape notes and solfege read:
Breathing, Phrase Structure, and the Shape Note Singing Lesson
Mobile users: for best results reading the music, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
Joy to the World:
- We will use “Joy to the World” as our solfege song for today. This song also creates the chance to talk about breathing and phrase structure.
- Look at the music example above. The symbol that looks like an apostrophe tells us to take a breath.
- As a rule, singers breathe at phrase endings. In other words, you breathe when you see the punctuation in the text. Since breaking up the text phrases makes the lyrics harder to understand, you should try to avoid it if you can.
- However, exceptions exist, because sometimes you need to breathe more often and other times less.
- Regardless, you need to breathe fairly often. If you run out of breath, your pitch will sink, making you go out of tune. Also, it makes your vocal tone sound bad. Therefore, you need to carefully map out the points in a song where you will sneak a breath.
- After you have sung the short “Joy to the World” phrases, for fun you can sing the full song. The video has the lyrics.
Scales and Melodies for the Shape Note Singing Lesson
Scales
E Major Moveable Do Shape Notes:
F Major Moveable Do Shape Notes:
Gb Major Moveable Do Shape Notes:
G Major Moveable Do Shape Notes:
Joy to the World
E Major Joy to the World:
F Major Joy to the World:
Gb Major Joy to the World:
G Major Joy to the World:
Shape Note Singing Lesson Quiz
Joy to the World Video
Conclusion
Shape notes help anyone to sight sing better. However, they remain a particularly powerful multisensory teaching tool for helping LD, ADD, autistic, and other special needs students learn music.
The more you match the sounds of the solfege with the note shapes, the better your sight singing will become. Therefore, daily practice with the sound files in the shape note singing lessons will help you master the solfege.
© 2021 Geoffrey Keith
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Glossary
Question, How Do I Get Better at Sight Singing?
“What purpose do accidentals serve in reading sheet music?” Sharps, flats, and naturals (collectively called accidentals) grew out of a problem that needed to be fixed in the mediaeval music notation. The music theorists of the time slapped their fix onto the preexisting notation system, and that fix is still with us to this day. However, having confused generations of budding musicians, the results of the fix leave a lot to be desired. Click to answer the question, “What purpose do accidentals serve in reading sheet music?” Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
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Musical Talent and Giftedness
Music teachers: do you have students who show musical talent and giftedness? Do you need some information on how they learn? With musically gifted and talented students, just like any other students, you need to meet them where they’re at, making the adjustments in their playing based on what you see. That way, they can become better students than before they came to you. Keep reading to learn more about musical talent and giftedness. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
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How Do I Organize a Recital Concert?
Are you a music teacher? Are you organizing your first music recital? Whether you’re doing a classical recital, Christmas piano recital, a mini recital, or a chamber music recital, these musical recitals will all be organized basically the same way with just a few variations. Read more to answer the question, “How do I organize a recital concert?” Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
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Guitar Tuner Online (Standard Guitar Tuning)
Do you want to tune your guitar online? If you want to tune your guitar to normal standard tuning in equal temperament, I’ve got you covered. However, did you know that professional guitarists have other ways of tuning standard guitar tuning to make their guitars sound better? Read “Guitar Tuner Online: Standard Guitar Tuning” to learn eight versions of standard tuning. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
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