Preview of New Singing Lessons for Little Singers Level #1: Level Objectives

With the impressive success of the original Singing Lessons for Little Singers book (available on Amazon and Lulu.com), we have received numerous requests to expand the method.  As many of you already know, a pre-school to early elementary level is currently in the works, with progressively more advanced levels to follow soon.  Here is a sneak peak of what we have been working on...


Each new level in the New Singing Lessons for Little Singers Series will begin with "Level Objectives", a specific listing of the skills and activities that students will be learning in the book level.  This will be a great help for teachers in:

1. Regularly evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of their students in a comprehensive fashion.
2. Determining which level of Singing Lessons for Little Singers is the most appropriate for the student's own current skill level.
3. Maintaining focus on the areas that need improvement
4. Setting a "gold standard" of expectations for what students should be learning in the different areas of singing and musicianship (ear training, rhythm, technique, performance, sight reading, etc.) at a given point in their training so as to not develop skill deficiencies that will hold them back later.
5. Explaining concisely to parents what you are currently teaching their child and what progress they have made.

Here is our tentative objective list for the soon-to-be-released Level A:

Level A Objectives
Ear Training

• Match pitch between C4 and C5 ("middle C" and an octave higher) or more.
• Sing a "siren" of at least an octave up and down, correctly identifying the direction.
• Correctly sing and do the motions of the "body scale" steps Do, Mi, Fa, So and La.
• Sing Level A songs with at least 75% pitch accuracy.

Rhythm

• Sing, clap, step, and/or play a percussion instrument along to the beat of Level A songs at a variety of tempos.

Technique

• Demonstrate a basic understanding of "belly breathing."
• Hiss, buzz, trill and/or sing an open vowel for at least 10 seconds on a single pitch.
• Hiss, buzz, trill and/or sing an open vowel moving up and down in pitch.
• Comfortably sing in both high and low voice/register.

Performance

• Act out the songs of Level A while singing them.
• Perform a solo (or several) for parents (or even in a recital, if ready).

Level A is our most basic level of instruction, ensuring that singing students have a good foundation in pitch and movement before turning their focus to vowels, scales and intervals, diction, breath support, sight reading, etc.  Students with less singing experience will greatly benefit from extra time and practice from frequent repetition of songs and exercises, while the more experienced will progress quickly and soon be ready to move on to Level B.  Exceptional students will also benefit from supplementary songs according to their ability.