MUSIC LITERACY for SINGERS

by

Patti DeWitt

may be the answer to your professional prayers.

>>> Written by a composer of many Texas Sightreading pieces

>>> Begins scalewise, teaches intervals sequentially and individually

>>> Theoretically sound

Appropriate voice leadings and cadences

Logical resolutions

>>> Exercises and literature which read well melodically

Regular 4-measure phrases

Repetition of phrases and motives

>>> Appropriate vocal ranges

>>> Emphasizes keys of F, C and G for young choirs

>>> Sufficient excercises for mastery of each concept

Fellow Choir Directors,

As a choir director in the State of Texas where music reading skills have a high priority, I have experienced great frustration at the amount of work necessary to buy, beg or borrow sufficient materials to prepare my students for the annual State Sightreading Contest. Because of this frustration, I chose as my doctoral dissertation at University of Houston the task of attempting to develop a systematic and sequential program with ample exercises to take an average middle school student from knowing nothing about music to sightsinging successfully in an SATB choir.

Although this program has not been commercially published, many of my choir director friends here in Texas have been using the books in their classrooms, and they are giving it rave reviews.

Based upon the Criteria for Composers of Choral Sightreading Music established by the governing body of the Texas interscholastic activities, the program is clearly organized sequentially and systematically. Each of the four books (Unison, Treble, Tenor/Bass, and Mixed) progresses from scalewise exercises to exercises that present each of the intervals of the I, V, and IV chords, respectively. In the Unison book, which is presented in both treble and bass clefs, each interval of these chords is introduced in separate lessons. In each lesson, the specified interval is the only interval (besides scalewise movement) presented in the exercise. Original literature is also offered for each interval covered in the lessons. Both the Treble and the Tenor/Bass books contain two-part and three-part sections with their own specific exercises. The Mixed Choir book begins with two-part exercises (SB) and advances to SAB and SATB. Every voicing is written in the same clef as is used in the Texas Sightreading Contest.

If you would like to use my sightreading program in your classroom, you may do so for a usage fee of $100 (Treble and Tenor/Bass Choirs) or $150 (Unison or Mixed Chorus) per book. This fee gives you (and you only) the right to use my materials and to make up to 25 copies for your students to use in class. Any additional copies cost $2.00 per copy. The materials are strictly copyrighted, so the attached contract must be signed before the materials will be sent out.

For further information, or if you would like me to make a personal presentation to you or for your district or region, please contact me either by phone or email.

I hope that my efforts will be of use to you. It was my fantasy as a Texas choir director to find a single source that would provide me with sufficient materials to train young choirs to become fluent sightsingers. It is my hope that my program is the fulfillment of this fantasy.

Musically yours,

Patti DeWitt Folkerts, DMA