Teaching New Singers How to Read a Score

One of the hardest parts of teaching new singers is introducing them to a choral score and building that skill so they can read scores effectively early on in the year. Although, in my classroom, we begin the year singing by rote and doing tons of echoing and repeating, we move to written music within the first 10 days.

I've had a pretty effective approach for several years, but the song I used is now out of print. So, I wrote a new one - and am so excited to share it with you! I wrote it with score-reading lessons in mind, so it is filled with score symbols new singers need to know at the beginning of their score reading journey: measure numbers, bar lines, systems, repeat signs fermatas, breath marks, and more. (They will learn more as we move to other songs, like time signatures, key signatures treble/bass clef, coda, and others.)

Here's the approach I take:

1. Pass out the music, making sure each student has their own copy + a pencil.

2. Introduce parts of the score: title, composer, dedication, then move to system (voice/piano), staff, bar lines, and measures. That's it for the first part.

3. Ask them to find measure numbers for specific words.

4. Sing the song, stopping at different measures. Have them identify word and measure number.

5. Then, sing the song, stopping at different places, and have them ID word, measure number, and system.

6. By this point, they've heard the song several times. Ask them to sing with you from the beginning. I usually end up about 6-8 measures in.

7. Once their unison is pretty solid through page one, I introduce fermatas and breath marks. Next is repeat signs. I say "two dots, two lines, two times" and have them find both ends of the repeat signs.

8. Once they know the verse and chorus, I introduce the bridge and unpitched notation. We add the body percussion, the 2nd chorus, and the ending.

9. Put it all together, teaching dynamics at your pace, and perform!

10. I included a worksheet so singers can mark their own score, as well as an assessment that follows the same set up as the worksheet.

You can find a PDF version of all of this HERE.

You can find a Google Slides version (editable) version HERE.

Hope that 10-step list is helpful for you as you begin the year with new singers! As always, feel free to share your questions and successes with me.

Thank you for being a part of my choir family,

-Teresa