Sigma Alpha Iota

P A N P I P E S Summer 2021 13 13 SAI PHILANTHROPIES, INC. Learn more at: www.feierabendmusic.org concepts. It was fun for me too, and I learned that this was an important part of being an effective music teacher. Implementing First Steps was the "first step" in developing a solid music education program at my school, but I knew I would need a music literacy component once the foundation was set and my students were, as Dr. Feierabend says, "tuneful, 'beat'ful, and artful." Conversational Solfege is Dr. Feierabend's method for teaching music literacy, so I ordered the teacher manual and planned to implement this method just as I had done with First Steps. is was easier said than done. Aer reading through the manual, I quickly realized I was not able to implement this method without first being trained to use it. While I had a conceptual idea of the program, I did not feel confident I understood it well enough to use it. I sought out training and discovered that Dr. Feierabend himself would be teaching a summer term course called "Conversational Solfege – Beginning Levels" at e Hartt School, University of Hartford in Connecticut. Even better, it was being offered virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so I did not have to travel or spend two weeks away from home. Aer receiving the grant from SAI, I immediately and excitedly enrolled in the course. Experiencing the Course e class was made up of 75 college students and active music educators located around the world. Despite conducting the class virtually rather than in person, Dr. Feierabend was enthusiastic, engaging, and informative. Our daily classes were synchronous, two hours long, and began at 8:00am EST (an early 5:00 am for me and others on the West Coast). Tuneful, Beatful, Artful At the beginning of each class, Dr. Feierabend led us through tuneful, beatful, and artful activities. ese three qualities are foundational to his philosophy and "30-year plan": to develop future adults who are tuneful (they can sing in tune alone and with others), beatful (they can feel and keep the beat of music), and artful (they can feel expression and find joy in making music). ese qualities should be achieved by all children before beginning Conversational Solfege, regardless of age or grade level. Our tuneful activity each morning was learning and singing a canon, our beatful activity was learning and dancing a folk dance, and our artful activity was performing an expressive movement activity to classical music. ese activities were beautifully scaffolded for us over several lessons so we could teach them to our students in the same way. Dr. Feierabend brilliantly incorporated music into these activities that could be used in a later lesson to learn or reinforce a music literacy concept. For instance, we performed a movement activity to Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King and listened to it again during music literacy to identify the quarter and eighth note patterns we had learned. Aer going through these activities, we were given a lesson in Conversational Solfege. Conversational Solfege Over the two-week course, Dr. Feierabend walked us through all 12 Steps of Conversational Solfege, pulling from the 100+ techniques (games) that are listed in the teacher manual. e goal of this method is to develop children who are independent musical thinkers: they can hear, understand, read, notate, compose, and improvise music. e process takes children from learning a set of songs by rote to being able to identify the rhythmic or tonal patterns they hear in those familiar songs, then in unfamiliar repertoire, read and write them in notation using familiar and then unfamiliar repertoire, and use them to create and write their own musical ideas. We went through all 12 steps with each of the first 13 units of the 34-unit program. By the end of the course, I had a firm grasp not only on the method of Conversational Solfege, but on the overall practice of teaching music literacy and scaffolding concepts using quality repertoire and engaging techniques. I had achieved my goal of having the knowledge and confidence to implement these concepts in my classroom. A New Perspective on Elementary Music Education Dr. Feierabend taught me the value and the magic of elementary general music. Before I became an elementary music educator, I believed the most effective and rich musical experiences occurred either in private music lessons or in music ensembles. My perspective has changed drastically from that view. I have learned the effect that music has on children and what they are capable of accomplishing at such young ages. eir capabilities far exceeded my limited expectations, and I learned that the joy of making music and teaching music literacy can begin very young in childhood, so long as it is done purposefully and sequentially. Conclusion First Steps and Conversational Solfege may not be the right programs for everyone; as I mentioned, there are many choices of curricula and methods for teaching music to children. However, to anyone who has not yet discovered their working method or who is experiencing the same frustrations I had prior to using Dr. Feierabend's methods, these could be what initiates or brings back joy in teaching elementary music. While there are some non-negotiables known as "Feierabend Fundamentals," the programs are incredibly versatile and adaptable for different teaching and learning styles, classes, schools, and even grade levels. Repertoire can and should be changed to suit the culture of each teacher's student body and community. Instruments of nearly any type can be used to reinforce and practice the taught music literacy concepts. Conversational Solfege can even be used by middle and high school directors for instrumental and choral ensembles, as well as by directors of children and adult community and church choirs. Whether one is already using Conversational Solfege or has yet to try it, anyone would benefit from taking the "Conversational Solfege – Beginning Levels" course with Dr. Feierabend. His enthusiasm and wisdom is inspiring, and the following of educators for his program aer 40 years is a testament to the effectiveness of his philosophy and methods. Crystal ornell is an initiate of eta Pi at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance. She teaches K-6 elementary music in Kitsap County, WA.

• Cover