Sight-Singing Tutorial

Author: Chen Hong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1996-09-10
Features: Mastering sight-reading begins with mastering rhythm. This tutorial employs a French-style rhythm training method, progressing from simple to complex, and distributes the rhythm training throughout the first half of the book, culminating in a summary by the 27th lesson. This training is highly effective, and students should pay close attention. Each exercise should first be practiced using this method one or two times before singing the solfege syllables and pitches. In music, rhythm training is akin to contour lines in painting. Accurately drawing the contour lines before applying color seems more cumbersome, but in practice, it leads to more reliable results. The tutorial includes some two-part harmony exercises, which offer benefits in enhancing students' interest in sight-reading, cultivating their harmonic perception, and developing their choral techniques. It allows male and female students to sit on opposite sides of the classroom, taking turns singing each voice part before performing a. The expressive marks, terminology, and tempo markings used in the exercises are essential components of musical scores and must be consistently emphasized and expressed. The Ministry of Education's teaching syllabus mandates that sight-reading primarily focus on fixed-pitch solfege while also incorporating movable-do solfege. This tutorial adheres to this principle. Fixed-pitch solfege should be used throughout, while teachers may select certain exercises for movable-do solfege training. As for ear-training materials, they are not included in this tutorial. The tutorial primarily covers music within the major and minor key systems. The author believes that once this system is mastered, there will be no difficulty in handling melodies composed in various modes. The tutorial consists of 62 lessons and 212 exercises, most of which were written by the author. Several exercises are based on foreign materials—some directly sourced from musical works, while others are adapted from the French tutorial SolfegedesSolfeges. There are also arrangements of Chinese folk songs and modern compositions, all properly credited. Progressing from simple to advanced, the use of accidentals is introduced gradually, with textual explanations provided where appropriate.