Ethan Hutchinson

MUSE 258

Sound Connections: Chapter 5

Don P. Ester
2010

Chapter 5 of Sound Connections discusses how to introduce tonal and rhythmic patterns

to students and effective ways to teach them. Allowing the students to make connections on their

own will help them to become more competent musicians as it will require them to learn the

patterns to effectively execute the exercises as required by the teacher. The whole-part-whole

approach is the best way to establish a foundation in music literacy as it allows us to use the

sequencing we learn about in MUSE 258, or Voice Techniques. Present the target patterns to the

students through a listening or a vocal model, help the students to learn the patterns through

echo-based activities in a sequenced process, and finally apply the patterns in context to the

material through exercises, repetition and performance. Applying this technique when teaching

music literacy ensures that there is a process the students go through when learning that

encourages them to make those important connections on their own, and in turn, developing

those skills as literate musicians. Curwen Hand Signs are a valuable tool when learning tonal

sequences as they allow the teacher to utilize the Sound Connections learning triangle to place

sight and sound together with syllables. The Curwen Hand Signs are an effective way to review

tonal patterns as well.

In my time at Ball State, I have developed my basis music literacy skills as I was never

really taught the basic skills prior to college. I feel that learning these skills has helped me
improve as a musician overall as I now feel more confident in my abilities as a vocalist and

instrumentalist. I am now able to confidently teach melodies through using tonal and rhythmic

patterns outlined in Sound Connections and have the skill set to pass that knowledge onto my

students when I am in the field so that they may become competent and musically literate

musicians.