Let’s talk about musicianship.

Musicianship is the skills you have as a musician: things like listening, singing, playing, creating, performing. It’s also the ability to “think in sound,” or audiate (source). This means hearing music in your head without any sound being present. Think of this as the ability to read a book silently — hearing the words in your head as you read them but not actually saying them out loud.

There are two things that help us develop this skill: exposure and experience.

Today, we’re going to talk about some practical, intentional ways to develop musicianship in those you teach. Here are a few examples:

Listening (including pitch recognition, intervals, phrasing, dynamics, listening to each other, and form)

Singing (including breathing, vowels, and tone production)

Improvising and Composing (making music spontaneously in the moment and the ability to write those ideas down)

Expression (including phrasing, dynamics, and movement)

Tonality (including singing with solfege and understanding the difference between a melody, bass line, and harmony part)

Rhythm and Steady Beat (including counting, chanting, and moving)

Reading (including music notation, symbols, and intervals)

Are you starting to get a sense of how big this topic is?

In today’s episode, you’ll find 10 practical things you can do to develop musicianship in those you teach, week by week, all throughout the year.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through some of these links.

The Ultimate Guide to Children’s Choir Warm-Ups (+ a free eBook!)

The Value of Teaching Vowels to Your Children’s Choir

Tonal & Rhythm Pattern Cards (Younger Elementary) - a printable set of 152 cards (88 tonal patterns + 64 rhythm patterns) designed for younger elementary (K-2nd grade) students

Tonal & Rhythm Pattern Cards (Older Elementary) - a printable set of 216 cards (88 tonal patterns + 128 rhythm patterns) designed for older elementary (3rd-5th grade) students

10 Movement Activities for Children’s Choir

16 Clapping Games for Children’s Choir

How to Use Color to Teach Music Literacy

How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and How It Happens - a fascinating look at the learning process by Benedict Carey

7 Fun Games for Children’s Choir (+ a free eBook!)

Fun, Easy Gathering Activities for Children’s Choir

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