Dr. Gonzales will present a multitude of short activities—that range from simple to complex—to nurture music literacy and sight-reading skills. Sight reading correctly engages a network of skills that are foundational for performing and listening musicians at all levels. Once mastered, learners progress from guessing how to turn notation into sound, to sight reading confidently. Gonzales will share activities available on YouTube, via MakeMusic Cloud, and for teachers to perform themselves. While the primary goal is to develop literacy skills to build sight reading excellence, a secondary goal is to expand the range of activities that promote good musicianship. Beyond echoing melodic and rhythmic motives, Gonzales will highlight exercises to improve pitch retention and N-back singing (which engages both working memory and short-term memory) as well as singing arpeggios with musical excerpts to engage harmonic listening. Within a classroom of students whose skills span a broad range, these activities are appropriate for every learner. While some will master introductory-level skills, others can progress (at the same time) to more advanced skills. Constructing music literacy will take students from sight guessing to sight reading.

Technology can be a choir director’s “Teaching Assistant” across all components of a rehearsal: warm-ups, sight-reading, and repertoire preparation. Gonzales will model numerous ways to engage MakeMusicCloud during a choir rehearsal — and also as homework — to develop musicianship skills and polish performances. MakeMusicCloud can even assist students who struggle to match pitch learn to sing in tune! By using technology to accompany warm-ups, for example, a director may walk among the singers, complimenting individuals on their posture, tone, or diction. When sight singing, online software allows the teacher to define specific musical parameters and then generates numerous examples. MakeMusicCloud offers an extensive collection of choral works, many with high-quality performances that model lovely tone, diction, and musicality. The Compose tool–an internal music processor–allows uploading XML files (from CPDL, for example). Choristers can learn notes and rhythms as homework, either for practice or for a grade, allowing rehearsals to focus on creating beauty. Imagine sending each section to a practice room to learn notes and rhythms of a piece–with MakeMusicCloud as the accompanist–and then reuniting to sing together. Technology is a useful and effective Teaching Assistant!