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Teaching Sight-Reading to Undergraduate Choral Ensemble Singers: Lessons from Successful Learners

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Teaching Sight-Reading to Undergraduate Choral Ensemble Singers: Lessons from Successful Learners ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: TEACHING SIGHT-READING TO UNDERGRADUATE CHORAL ENSEMBLE SINGERS: LESSONS FROM SUCCESSFUL LEARNERS Rachel Priscilla Carlson Doctor of Musical Arts, 2016 Dissertation directed by: Professor Edward Maclary School of Music This study was designed to investigate professional choral singers’ training, perceptions on the importance of sight-reading skill in their work, and thoughts on effective pedagogy for teaching sight-reading to undergraduate choral ensemble singers. Participants in this study (N=48) included self-selected professional singers and choral conductors from the Summer 2015 Oregon Bach Festival’s Berwick Chorus and conducting Master Class. Data were gathered from questionnaire responses and audio recorded focus group sessions. Focus group data showed that the majority of participants developed proficiency in their sight-reading skills from instrumental study, aural skills classes, and through on-the-job training at a church job or other professional choral singing employment. While participants brought up a number of important job skills, sight- reading was listed as perhaps the single most important skill that a professional choral singer could develop. When reading music during the rehearsal process, the data revealed two main strategies that professional singers used to interpret the pitches in their musical line: an intervallic approach and a harmonic approach. Participants marked their scores systematically to identify problem spots and leave reminders to aid with future readings, such as marking intervals, solfege syllables, or rhythmic counts. Participants reported using a variety of skills other than score marking to try to accurately find their pitches, such as looking at other vocal or instrumental lines, looking ahead, and using knowledge about a musical style or time period to make more intuitive “guesses” when sight-reading. Participants described using additional approaches when sight-reading in an audition situation, including scanning for anchors or anomalies and positive self-talk. Singers learned these sight-reading techniques from a variety of sources. Participants had many different ideas about how best to teach sight-reading in the undergraduate choral ensemble rehearsal. The top response was that sight-reading needed to be practiced consistently in order for students to improve. Other responses included developing personal accountability, empowering students, combining different teaching methods, and discussing real-life applications of becoming strong sight-readers. There was discussion about the ultimate purpose of choir at the university level and whether it is to teach musicianship skills or produce excellent performances. TEACHING SIGHT-READING TO UNDERGRADUATE CHORAL ENSEMBLE SINGERS: LESSONS FROM SUCCESSFUL LEARNERS by Rachel Priscilla Carlson Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts 2016 Advisory Committee: Professor Edward Maclary, Chair Professor Faedra Chatard Carpenter Professor Stephanie Prichard Professor Martha Randall Professor Michael Votta © Copyright by Rachel Priscilla Carlson 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my mentor and committee chair, Dr. Edward Maclary. I am deeply grateful for all that you have taught me over the past fifteen years and look forward to all that you will continue to teach me in the years to come. Thank you to Dr. Stephanie Prichard for all of your help introducing me to qualitative data research and thank you to Professor Martha Randall, Dr. Michael Votta, and Dr. Faedra Chatard Carpenter for your time and support as my teachers and members of this committee. Thank you to the Oregon Bach Festival for your incredible support of my project and help with logistics, especially Marla Lowen, Dave Goudy, Michael Anderson, Kathy Saltzman Romey, and Matthew Halls. I am so grateful to all of the members of the Berwick Chorus and Conducting Masterclass who participated in my study. Thank you for your time, insight, enthusiasm, and encouragement. I am still amazed by your overwhelming response to my call and I certainly could not have done it without you! I am thankful for all that I have learned from my teachers and professors and the unceasing encouragement of my friends and colleagues. I am so grateful for the love and support of my family, especially my parents, Nancy Carlson & Ted Miller and Bob & Kathy Carlson, and my brother, Seth Carlson. Thank you for supporting me especially when my career path took a sharp turn into music. Finally, I am grateful for the love and tireless support of my partner, Joey Lemich. Thank you for everything. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 Need for the Study .................................................................................................... 1 The Decline of Sight-Reading in the United States .............................................. 3 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................. 6 Study Questions ........................................................................................................ 7 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ....................................................... 9 Professional Choirs and Professional Choral Singers ............................................... 9 What is a Professional Choir? ............................................................................... 9 History of the Professional Choir ....................................................................... 10 Professional Choirs and Sight-Reading .............................................................. 12 Sight-Reading Studies ............................................................................................. 16 Choosing a Consistent Method ........................................................................... 16 Experimental Studies .......................................................................................... 17 Summary ................................................................................................................. 23 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .............................................................................. 25 Researcher Role ...................................................................................................... 25 Pilot Study ............................................................................................................... 26 Population ............................................................................................................... 27 Background Information on Oregon Bach Festival Participants ........................ 27 Audition Process for the Oregon Bach Festival .................................................. 29 Demographic Data .............................................................................................. 30 Data Collection Instruments ................................................................................... 32 Questionnaire ...................................................................................................... 32 Focus Group Questions ....................................................................................... 32 Procedures ............................................................................................................... 33 Enlisting Participants .......................................................................................... 33 Interview Process ................................................................................................ 34 Audio Recording ................................................................................................. 34 Focus Group Analysis ......................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS ............................................................................................ 39 Questionnaire Data.................................................................................................. 39 Focus Group Participants ........................................................................................ 43 Question One: Musical Training and Background ................................................. 44 iii Question Two: Sight-reading in Professional Work ............................................... 52 Question Three: How do you teach sight-reading?................................................. 60 Question Four: How should we teach sight-reading? ............................................. 65 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 72 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ...................................................................................... 77 Summary ................................................................................................................
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