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• Top 6 Tips: Assessment & Feedback in Musicianship Classes

  June 12, 2026 10:54 am Comments Off on Top 6 Tips: Assessment & Feedback in Musicianship Classes

  Assessment and feedback in musicianship classes should feel like a natural extension of musical training rather than an interruption to it.

  Because musicianship centres on aural skills, literacy, inner hearing, and expressive understanding, assessment works best when it emerges directly from singing, listening, analysing, and creating.

  In effective musicianship teaching, both formative and summative assessment have an important role to play. Formative assessment occurs continuously throughout the learning process, helping teachers identify strengths, misconceptions and next steps. Summative assessment provides opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and can do after a period of learning. Together, they create a clear picture of musical growth over time.

  Thoughtful feedback helps students refine their listening, deepen their understanding, and take ownership of their musical growth. When embedded meaningfully, assessment becomes part of the learning process itself.

  Here are six practical, musicianship-focused ways to strengthen assessment and feedback in your classroom.
  

  

  1: Anchor Assessment in Core Musicianship Skills

  In musicianship classes, assessment should directly reflect the skills students are actively developing: accurate intonation in solfa singing, steady beat and rhythmic precision, inner hearing, part-work independence, dictation accuracy, and confident sightreading.

  Whether used formatively during daily classroom activities or summatively as part of a formal assessment task, the criteria should remain consistent and closely aligned with the musical skills being developed.

  Rather than relying on broad or generic criteria, focus feedback on specific musical behaviours:

  • Is the student maintaining tonal centre?
  • Can they internalise and audiate (or inner hear) before responding?
  • Are rhythmic patterns executed with correct grouping and flow?
  • Do they demonstrate independence when singing in canon or part-work?

  Encourage students to self-reflect using the same musical language: “Was my ‘fa’ in tune?” “Did I inner hear the rhythm before clapping?” This keeps assessment grounded in musicianship rather than participation alone.

  Written report comments (see here) can then highlight tonal awareness, rhythmic security, listening acuity, and ensemble responsiveness rather than vague statements about effort alone.

  2: Use Frequent, Low-Stakes Formative Checks

  Short rhythm echoes, quick melodic dictations and brief sightreading excerpts provide valuable snapshots of student understanding. These are examples of formative assessment in action — quick, low-pressure opportunities to see what students know, what they are ready for next, and where they may need additional support.

  Because musicianship develops sequentially, these regular checkpoints help prevent gaps from widening. They allow you to adjust your teaching, revisit concepts when needed, and ensure that foundational skills are secure before students encounter more formal summative assessments.

  Check out an example of rhythmic clever echo in the MTDL

  
  3: Assess Audiation, Not Just Performance

  Musicianship is as much about what students can hear internally as what they can produce externally. Include opportunities for students to:

  • Silently read and audiate before singing
  • Identify errors by listening
  • Notate from memory after internal ‘rehearsal’ through inner hearing

  Feedback should acknowledge strong preparation and internal thinking, not just the final sung or written result.

  4: Make Feedback Immediate and Musical

  In a musicianship setting, timing matters. Brief, specific feedback delivered in the moment helps reinforce technical precision while maintaining musical flow.

  Aim for feedback that is:

  • Precise — naming the skill,
  • Musical — connected to sound,
  • Actionable — providing a clear next step

  Comments such as “Prepare that step internally before singing” or “Feel the macrobeat before clapping” give students something concrete to act on immediately.

  Students should leave knowing exactly what to adjust in their next attempt.

  Learn more about Learning Intentions & Success Criteria

  
  5: Value Growth in Independence and Ensemble Skills

  Musicianship classes frequently involve part-work, canons, and layered textures. Assessment should recognise growth in:

  • Holding an independent line
  • Listening across the ensemble
  • Maintaining pitch against contrasting parts
  • Recovering confidently after a mistake

  This reinforces the idea that musicianship is not simply individual accuracy, but collaborative musical awareness.

  These skills can also be strengthened through structured peer feedback, helping students learn to listen critically and support one another’s growth.

  Check out an example of peer-work and peer-assessment in the MTDL

  
  6: Use Recordings as Reflective Tools

  Recording class performances, sight-singing tasks, or part-work exercises gives students the opportunity to hear themselves more objectively and reflect on their own musical development.
  
  Listening back often reveals strengths and areas for improvement that may go unnoticed in the moment. Students begin to hear their progress, identify areas for refinement, and develop the ability to assess their own work using the language of musicianship.

  Repeated recording-and-reflection cycles make growth visible over time, which can be especially motivating in a skills-based subject such as musicianship. They also provide valuable formative assessment opportunities and help students prepare for more formal summative assessments with greater confidence.

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  When feedback consistently speaks the language of musicianship — tone, pulse, inner hearing and ensemble awareness — students begin to assess themselves with the same clarity. Ultimately, that capacity for self-assessment is one of the most valuable musicianship skills we can develop. While summative assessments provide important milestones, it is often the ongoing cycle of formative assessment, feedback and reflection that drives the greatest growth in musicianship.

  There’s plenty of ready-made activities, songs and games in the Music Teacher’s Digital Library to enhance assessment in your spaces.

  Happy music-making, everyone! – Deb

• Top 6 Tips | From Sound to Symbol: Strengthening the Aural–Visual Connection

  May 15, 2026 10:42 am Comments Off on Top 6 Tips | From Sound to Symbol: Strengthening the Aural–Visual Connection

  Building deep musical understanding starts with hearing before seeing. (Here at DSMusic we’re big on hearing what you see and seeing what you hear!)

  In the Kodály tradition, students first experience music aurally, so singing, listening, echoing, and moving before encountering notation.

  This sound-to-symbol journey helps learners internalise musical patterns, make notation meaningful, and develop confident musical literacy.

  As teachers, our goal is to weave listening, internalisation, visual representation, and expressive understanding together so that notation feels like a natural extension of what students already hear and feel.

  Here are six practical, classroom-friendly tips to strengthen that aural–visual connection.
  

  

  1: Immerse Students in Intentional Listening

  Remember, listening is more than background music, it’s an active thinking process.

  Use curated pieces paired with guiding questions (e.g., “Can you hear the phrase repeat?”) to encourage students to audiate — hear music internally before seeing it on the page.

  Here’s a song you could use for this in the MTDL

  
  2: Link Voice and Movement to Notation

  Begin new concepts with singing and movement – in Kodály-inspired teaching, we call this stage ‘Preparation’.

  Use body percussion and conducting for rhythmic concepts, along with melodic contour and handsigns to embody pitch relationships before presenting staff notation.

  Seeing movement and hearing sound first makes the written symbols intuitive rather than abstract for our students.

  
  3: Echo and Internalise Before Writing

  Call-and-response and echo singing are Kodály staples.

  Encourage students to echo back rhythms or melodies that you as the teacher sing or play.

  Once they can hear and echo accurately, translating that into notation becomes a meaningful representation of something they already know by ear.

  Check out the collection of echo activities in the MTDL

  4: Use Visual Aids That Reinforce What They Hear

  When it’s time to introduce notation, use software or interactive charts that visually highlight pitch and rhythm patterns as students hear them.

  For example, showing flashcards while students perform rhythms and melodies bridge sound and symbol in a concrete way.

  Another great example of this is the visual aid of tone ladders.

  
  5: Encourage Creation Alongside Notation

  Let students create with musical concepts aurally (such as short ostinatos, melodic patterns, or rhythmic phrases) and then guide them to notate their creations.

  Composition reinforces that notation is not the starting point but a tool to capture ideas heard and imagined.
  

  Check out the composition activities in the MTDL

  
  6: Reinforce Through Reflection and Feedback

  Have students record and listen to their performances. Being able to hear their singing or playing against a guided rubric deepens internal aural awareness.

  Then, use that reflected aural experience to support clearer, more meaningful connections when reading or writing notation.

  By centring sound as the foundation and letting notation follow as a representation of that sound, teachers empower students to grow into confident, literate musicians.

  There’s plenty of ready-made activities, songs and games in the Music Teacher’s Digital Library to strengthen the aural–visual connection in your spaces.

  Happy music-making, everyone! – Deb

• Top 6 Tips: The Role of Aural Skills in Ensemble Performance

  April 6, 2026 8:00 am Comments Off on Top 6 Tips: The Role of Aural Skills in Ensemble Performance

  Why listening, responding, and audiation are at the heart of strong ensemble musicianship.

  Successful ensemble performance depends on far more than individual technical accuracy. Whether students are singing in a choir, playing in a band, or working in a classroom ensemble, aural skills underpin balance, blend, timing, tuning, and musical expression.

  In a Kodály-inspired approach, aural development is intentional, sequential, and active — preparing students not just to perform their own part, but to perform together.

  Below are key ways aural skills directly support ensemble performance, with clear classroom implications for teachers.

  

  1: Ensemble Accuracy Begins with Active Listening

  Ensembles improve when students listen as much as they play or sing.

  Many ensemble issues — rushing, dragging, poor tuning — are listening problems, not technical ones. Students must learn to hear beyond their own sound.

  Regularly rehearse with one section silent while others sing or play. Ask students to identify who they are listening to at specific moments. Or, use prompts like: “What do you hear around you?” instead of “Are you correct?”

  
  2: Aural Skills Support Internal Pulse and Collective Timing

  Strong ensemble timing depends on students internalising beat and metre — not relying solely on a conductor or visual cues. Remember, shared pulse is an aural skill before it is a physical one.

  When students hear and feel pulse internally, ensemble timing becomes more stable, flexible, and confident. For example, use movement (walking, clapping, body percussion) to internalise pulse together.

  Check out an example of body percussion in the MTDL

  
  3: Tuning and Blend Rely on Aural Adjustment

  Students often assume tuning is fixed once a note begins. In reality, ensemble tuning is a continuous aural process. Good intonation comes from listening, adjusting, and rebalancing in real time.

  Aural awareness allows students to make micro-adjustments that lead to better blend, resonance, and overall ensemble sound. A good tip is to sustain chords and ask students to “tune to the centre of the sound” and to experiment with dynamic changes to reveal balance issues.

  4: Audiation Enables Musical Independence within the Group

  Audiation — hearing music internally — helps students stay secure in their part while remaining responsive to the ensemble.

  Some tips for fostering this in your ensembles include:

  • Ask students to audiate their part while another part is sung or played aloud.
  • Practise silent singing or “thinking” through a phrase before performing it.
  • Have students predict what comes next before playing or singing it.

  Learn more about ‘Audiation’

  
  5: Aural Skills Drive Musical Communication and Expression

  When students listen for musical intention, ensemble performance becomes expressive rather than mechanical. Dynamics, phrasing, articulation, and style all require students to listen and respond collectively.

  Ask students to describe what they hear in expressive terms, not just technical ones. Support the ensemble to shape phrases vocally before adding instruments or text. Sightreading is key!
  

  Check out all the sightreading support in the MTDL

  
  6: Ensembles Grow When Aural Skills Are Taught Explicitly

  Intentional aural teaching accelerates ensemble progress and builds transferable musicianship skills students use beyond performance. Consider:

  • Building short, focused aural activities into every rehearsal.
  • Sequencing listening tasks from simple (beat, pitch matching) to complex (balance, harmony).
  • Reflecting with students: “What did we listen for today?”

  There’s plenty of ready-made activities, songs and games in the Music Teacher’s Digital Library to enhance ensembles in your spaces.

  Happy music-making, everyone! – Deb

• Top 6 Tips for Culturally Responsive Repertoire for Music Literacy Development

  March 13, 2026 8:00 am Comments Off on Top 6 Tips for Culturally Responsive Repertoire for Music Literacy Development

  Using repertoire to build music literacy while honouring culture, place, and identity.

  In a Kodály-inspired classroom, repertoire is never neutral. The songs we choose shape students’ musical understanding, sense of belonging, and connection to place.

  Culturally responsive repertoire supports strong music literacy outcomes while valuing students’ identities and the cultures embedded in the music itself.

  Below are practical ways teachers can select and use repertoire — including Australian First Nations material — to develop music literacy respectfully and effectively.

  

  1: Start with the Principle: Music Literacy Grows from Meaningful Sound

  Kodály pedagogy emphasises learning music through singing, using repertoire that is aurally rich, memorable, and pedagogically sequenced. When repertoire also reflects students’ cultural worlds — or the place in which they live — literacy learning becomes deeper and more authentic.

  When students connect emotionally and culturally with repertoire, they listen more carefully, sing more accurately, and internalise musical structures more deeply. Prioritise repertoire that lends itself naturally to literacy skills: steady beat, clear phrase structure, tonal clarity, and rhythmic integrity. Use cultural context to deepen engagement before introducing notation.

  Check out some First Nations material in the MTDL

  
  2: Engage with First Nations Music Respectfully and Responsibly

  In Australia, integrating First Nations material is an opportunity to honour Country, community, and living cultures — but it must be done appropriately.

  Cultural safety and respect come first. When handled well, First Nations repertoire can support rhythmic awareness, listening skills, and musical memory without compromising cultural integrity. Explore songs through call-and-response, movement, and rhythmic speech. Discuss where the song comes from, whose Country it belongs to, and its purpose. This extract, taken from the Kodály Vic Seminar: Including First Nations perspectives in the classroom, November 2020, has inspirational ideas and support for our own classrooms: The power of song: sharing First Nations languages through music.

  
  3: Use Kodály Folk Song Repertoire to Celebrate Place and Community

  Much Kodály repertoire originates from European folk traditions, but it can still be taught in culturally responsive ways when teachers are intentional.

  We can aim to frame folk songs as stories from specific places and times, not generic “children’s songs”. Compare folk songs from different cultures to explore similarities in form, function, and musical structure. Encourage students to reflect on how songs relate (or don’t relate) to their own experiences and environment.

  Use folk songs with clear pentatonic or modal structures for pitch literacy, or select rhythmically strong repertoire for beat, metre, and rhythmic pattern work. Then, build reading and writing tasks directly from sung material.

  Check out an example of this in the MTDL

  4: Sequence Repertoire with Both Pedagogy and Culture in Mind

  Strong music literacy depends on well-chosen repertoire that introduces concepts gradually and aurally.

  When planning your repertoire selection, consider these questions:

  • Does this song clearly demonstrate the rhythmic or melodic concept I’m teaching?
  • Is the song developmentally appropriate for my students’ voices?
  • Have I provided enough cultural context for students to engage respectfully?

  Check out an example of this in the MTDL

  
  5: Invite Students into Repertoire Selection and Creation

  Culturally responsive classrooms are dialogic — students are participants, not just recipients.

  Invite students to share songs meaningful to their families or communities (with appropriate boundaries). Explore how these (and other) songs function, for example, lullabies, work songs, celebrations, games. Encourage simple composition inspired by studied repertoire — rhythm patterns, melodic contours, or form.

  Consider contemporary artists, such as this in the MTDL

  
  6: Reflect on Whose Voices Are Heard

  Culturally responsive teaching is a journey. Regular reflection ensures repertoire choices remain inclusive, respectful, and musically purposeful.
  
  Music education shapes students’ understanding of the world. Repertoire that honours culture and place supports not only music literacy, but empathy, identity, and respect. So, for reflection, ask yourself:

  • Whose music appears most often in my program?
  • How am I contextualising repertoire for my students?
  • Am I teaching about culture, or engaging with it meaningfully?

  There’s plenty of ready-made activities, songs and games in the Music Teacher’s Digital Library to support culturally-responsible repertoire selection in your spaces.

  Happy music-making, everyone! – Deb

• Top 6 Tips for Integrating Music Technology into a Kodály-Inspired Classroom

  February 13, 2026 8:00 am Comments Off on Top 6 Tips for Integrating Music Technology into a Kodály-Inspired Classroom

  Practical ways to enhance and practice music literacy, theory, and aural skills with purpose-driven tech tools!

  Technology is a powerful ally when thoughtfully integrated into a Kodály-inspired approach.

  When technology supports – rather than replaces – core pedagogy, it can reinforce foundational music concepts, deepen student engagement, and amplify opportunities for practice and creation.

  Below are high-impact ways to use technology to enhance music literacy, aural skills, and theoretical understanding with intention.

  

  1: Use Interactive Rhythm & Pitch Tools for Guided Practice

  Interactive rhythm and pitch apps (e.g., rhythm trainers, solfa games, beat matching tools) make abstract concepts tangible. Use them to reinforce the patterns students are learning in class – not as standalone teaching tools though!

  Technology offers immediate feedback (often lacking in traditional drills), helping students internalise patterns more quickly and with confidence. An example of this is to use classroom projection to complete exercises together before letting students practice individually or in pairs, such as the example below.

  Check out a Clever Echo Activity from Speaking Music Level One

  
  2: Digitally Capture and Reflect on Performance.

  Encourage students to record their singing, clapping, or performance work using tablets or simple recording software.

  Reflection is central to learning: seeing and hearing progress makes abstract improvements concrete. For example, after a folk song performance, have students listen back and identify strengths and areas to refine (intonation, rhythm, ensemble). This ties in perfectly with all our performance analysis activities and videos etc.

  Check out a Analysis Activity in the MTDL

  
  3: Visualise Musical Structures with Notation Software

  Tools like notation apps (Noteflight, MuseScore, others) can visually reinforce beat placement, phrase shapes, and melodic contour.

  Visual representation supports literacy development, tying sound to symbol in a way that enhances reading and writing skills. An example might be that after a composition activity, students could notate their short folk-inspired melodies using such a program. Or, you could project student compositions to sing/perform, visually discuss musical elements such as form, meter, phrasing, or solfa application.

  Check out a Composition Practice Activity in the MTDL

  4: Develop Aural Skills through Purposeful Listening Platforms

  Streaming playlists and listening apps become active learning tools when paired with structured tasks.

  Kodály prioritises audiation — the ability to hear and understand music internally. Intentional listening technology fosters this without turning to passive consumption. An example could be to curate listening activities that focus on identifying form, texture, rhythm, or intervallic relationships, as well as to incorporate guided listening journals where students respond to specific, scaffolded prompts.

  Check out a Listening Activity in the MTDL

  
  5: Design Collaborative Composition Projects

  Tech tools make composition accessible for all learners, allowing students to experiment with harmony, rhythm, and melodic contour.

  Creation synthesises skills — students apply notation, theory, aural judgement, and performance in integrated ways. Have students create short ostinatos or solfa phrases using sequencer apps, or partner students to build layered compositions, then perform them live or export audio.

  
  6: Recommended Tech Tools for Kodály-Inspired Music Classrooms.

  The right tech tools can extend classroom learning, support differentiated practice, and reinforce what students are singing, reading, and hearing.

  • StaffWars – Pitch-notation reading game across treble, bass, alto, and tenor clefs — great for fluency building.
  • Chrome Music Lab – Fun experiments like Song Maker and Shared Piano let students explore pitch, rhythm, and sequencing in an intuitive environment.
  • Check out this comprehensive list from our friends at Midnight Music!

  There’s plenty of ready-made activities, songs and games in the Music Teacher’s Digital Library to get you integrating technology in your spaces.

  Happy music-making, everyone! – Deb

• Three metre-based instrumental activities for your rehearsals

  November 18, 2025 8:00 am Comments Off on Three metre-based instrumental activities for your rehearsals

  Read on for ideas for how to use these metre-based activities in lessons, rehearsals or practical classes on instruments. These activities are adapted from singing-based versions available via the Music Teachers’ Digital Library (note, only accessible with a subscription).

  Metre Practice Activity: Inner Hearing Strong & Weak

  In this activity, inner hear strong or weak beats of a known song that is not written on the board.

  Step 1. The students play a known song, melody or passage.

  Step 2. Students deduce the time signature as 2-4 or Duple Metre and sing the rhythm names of the song, melody or passage while conducting.

  Step 3. Students then play the known song, melody or passage, inner hearing all notes that occur on the strong/first beat of each bar.

  Step 4. Students repeat Step 3., inner hearing all notes that occur on the weak/second beat of each bar.

  

  Conducting

  In this activity, students play known songs (“Who’s That Yonder”, “Trees” and “Catch a Flea” or another known song, melody or passage) in a suitable do (for example, Bb concert) while individual students conduct the group showing dynamics, tempo etc.

  

  • Play known songs, melodies or passages using different dynamics as chosen by the group.
  • One group of students plays the beat on a chosen note while another group of students plays the rhythm of “Dog and Cat” on another (complimentary) note. On a given signal from the teacher groups swap what they are playing.
  • Have small groups of students create melodic ostinatos to go with various known canons—these are played while the rest of the class sing the canon.
  • Discuss the chosen ostinatos and whether they work or not and why this might be.

  Metre Practice Activity: Bar Improvisation

  In this activity, students improvise two-beat rhythms to fill bars in abstract Duple Metre rhythms.

  Step 1. Students are given an abstract 2-4 rhythm on the board.

  Step 2. When the rhythm is written on the board, all students play these on their instruments while tapping the beat with their feet.

  Step 3. Using a given rhythm set (e.g. Crotchets, Quavers & Crotchet Rests and Semiquavers), students take turns to improvise each bar that is missing two beats by individually playing these while the rest of the group continues keeping the beat with their feet.

  

  Let the Music Teacher’s Digital Library (MTDL) offer you many more met-rebased practice activities!

  Happy practicing, everyone! – Deb

• 3 engaging practice activities for your music classroom

  November 6, 2025 8:00 am Comments Off on 3 engaging practice activities for your music classroom

  Read on for ideas for how to use these engaging practice activities along with links to some examples across several concepts, available via the Music Teachers’ Digital Library (note, these are only accessible with a subscription).

  The MTDL has a wealth of practice activities, detailed within concept strategies, but also setup as generic resources you can apply in any context, across rhythm, melody, metre and more.

  You can search for these using the side menu tags and toggle options to narrow down what type of activity you need and at what stage.

  We’ve also got them organised via main pages like this one for Ways to Practice Rhythm. This houses a collection for early, mid and late rhythm practice activities, as well as the various types – aural, visual, written & creative.

  There’s similar pages set up for both Ways to Practice Melody and Ways to Practice Metre. So, let’s explore some example activities now.

  Metre Practice Activity: Bar Improvisation

  In this activity, students improvise two-beat rhythms to fill bars in abstract Duple Metre rhythms.

  • Students are given an abstract 2-4 rhythm on the board.
  • When the rhythm is written on the board, all students say the rhythm names while tapping the beat.
  • Using a given rhythm set (e.g. Crotchets, Quavers & Crotchet Rests and Semiquavers), students take turns to improvise each bar that is missing two beats by individually saying rhythm names while the class continues keeping the beat.

  

  Melodic Practice Activity: Student Melodic Sightreading

  In this activity, students read (and create) abstract do re mi so patterns from students “being” the notes.

  • The teacher invites students to come up to the front and face the students in a line – one student per note in the tone set being practiced.
  • The first student on the left is do, the second from the left is re, the third from the left is mi and so on.
  • The class must decide how best each student is positioned to show their note best e.g. if do sits crossed legged on the floor then re could be in a half kneel (kneeling with backside down onto heels), mi could be in an upright kneel and so on.
  • Keeping a steady beat, the teacher points to, or lightly taps, students in turn (and rhythm if desired) creating melodic sightreading exercises for the class to sing back in solfa showing handsigns.

  

  Rhythmic Practice Activity: Pass The Rhythm

  In this activity, students sing known songs with the rhythm names and take it in turns to clap the rhythm on beats of the song.

  • The class sit in a circle and sing a known song with the words and then in rhythm names, while tapping the beat on their knees.
  • The class sings the song again, tapping the beat on their knees while the first student claps the rhythm on the first beat of the song, the student on their left claps the rhythm on the second beat of the song and so on.
  • Continue around the circle until all students have had several turns.

  Let the Music Teacher’s Digital Library (MTDL) offer you many more practice activities!

  Happy exploring, everyone! – Deb

• Top 6 Tips for Kodály-Inspired Teaching: Rhythm Names

  October 21, 2025 8:00 am Comments Off on Top 6 Tips for Kodály-Inspired Teaching: Rhythm Names

  Rhythm Names, also known as time names, rhythm syllables etc, are functional rhythm! Rhythm names give a VERBAL rhythmic language that sounds correct when spoken.

  This means you are learning the SPELLING for rhythm so when you hear a rhythm you know how to SPELL (write/say) it.

  Rhythm syllables were developed so that students could have a musical way to read rhythm.  

  The idea is that this system could get away from mathematical counting (which feels unmusical) while still showing durations and relationships between notes, so let’s explore!

  

  DEB’S TOP 6 WAYS TO IMPROVE MUSICIANSHIP WITH RHYTHM NAMES!

  1: Rhythm names are real.

  By far the biggest win they have going for them is that rhythm names actually “sound” like the rhythm they represent and last for the same amount of time. For example, “to-o” for a minim/half note and “ti-ti” for a set of quavers/eighth notes.

  
  2: Rhythm names are relevant.

  They give you a tangible thing to say and think for rhythm, just as solfa – do re mi etc. – give a tangible thing to say or think when representing pitch. This is a game-changer in an ensemble rehearsal for helping everyone read, count and understand rhythm.

  
  3: Rhythm names are internal.

  In the same way as they offer a tangible language for rhythm, this also means you’ve got a way to internalise (or inner hear) rhythm, ideal for sightreading or silent practice!

  

  4: Rhythm names are empowering.

  Have you ever gone to sightread a new piece and not known where to start? Maybe you’re trying your hardest to practice a difficult bar or two but you’re not sure how to unpack what’s causing the stumble. Separating rhythm out in this way, or making it the first thing you try when sightreading is a great start.

  
  5: Rhythm names are revision-ready.

  They can also help you recognise and transcribe rhythmic patterns! Understanding what the rhythmic grouping is called and having a naming system to use, gives you the tools to say, count and keep it in your memory banks for when you hear (and need to write it!) again. 

  
  6: Rhythm names are powerful.

  Overall, they can aid in lots of music-making skills, including reading, writing, memorisation, dictation, practice, and performance!

  There’s plenty of ready-made activities, songs and games in the Music Teacher’s Digital Library to get rhythm names rollicking in your spaces.

  Happy rhythm-naming, everyone! – Deb

• Analysis Series: Repetition & Transition

  September 16, 2025 8:00 am Comments Off on Analysis Series: Repetition & Transition

  Read on for examples for teaching & practicing repetition & transition, along with links to some great activities, available via the Music Teachers’ Digital Library (note, some are free, but others are only accessible with a subscription).

  

  Repetition

  As the name suggests, this is where musical material (e.g. idea, phrase, section etc.) occurs more than once, or is repeated.

  Identified by the Victorian Curriculum & Assessment Authority (VCAA) as a compositional device, repetition is “a musical pattern or idea is established and used again”.

  It is worth noting that it differs from another compositional device— variation—defined by VCAA as “changes/modifications to established musical ideas and patterns, while retaining significant recognisable features”.
  
  Access the full list of techniques and processes that could be used to explore repetition from VCAA on page 16 of the VCE Music Study Design 2023-2027.
  

  Repetition Example

  Work: ‘I Am the Doctor’
  Composer/Creator: Murray Gold
  Performer: BBC National Orchestra of Wales
  Album: Doctor Who Series 5: Original Television Soundtrack (Silva Screen Records, 2010)

  • a series of repeated patterns feature in the harmonic accompaniment of this excerpt – the first pattern is established on strings and repeats, with syncopated stabs on woodwind as another repeated motif enters, retaining the same crisp articulation to create a sense of excitement and energy
  • the second repeated accompaniment pattern introduced later in the excerpt (at 1’41”) brings a plucked guitar to the foreground of the texture, building momentum
  • the first main melodic idea, a sustained and noble series of chords, is presented in upper brass and is a repeating melody that is heard soaring above the texture, before returning in repeated form with gradually increasing dynamics and density of texture

  

  Transition

  VCAA identifies transition as ‘the shift from one musical idea or section to another.’
  
  Taking VCAA’s definition, we then have to identify and explore transition as a passage that links one section of music to the next, sometimes introducing new musical material.

  However, transition also occurs through changing key, modulation or using effects such as snare drum rolls, vocal riser transitions or more.
  
  Access the full list of techniques and processes that could be used to explore transition from VCAA on page 16 of the VCE Music Study Design 2023-2027.
  

  Transition Example

  Work: ‘Enterprising Young Men’
  Composer/Creator: Michael Giacchino
  Performer: Hollywood Studio Symphony
  Album: Star Trek: Music from the Motion Picture (Varèse Sarabande, 2009)

  • the main theme is first established in this excerpt on flute and is then presented by the full orchestra in brass and strings, before entering a transitory passage with dramatic changes in phrasing from 2’18”, with a sudden shift in texture, instrumentation and dynamics
  • during the transition passage, at 2’43”, a repeated pattern from upper strings establishes the tempo of the new section, adding a suspenseful and exciting character as a new melodic idea is introduced at 2’48”, building to the end of the excerpt

  Let the Music Teacher’s Digital Library (MTDL) offer you many more listening activities & sample answers!

  Happy exploring, everyone! – Deb

• Ways to gamify melody in your music classroom.

  September 2, 2025 8:00 am Comments Off on Ways to gamify melody in your music classroom.

  Melody and pitch is the cornerstone for a lot of what our students need to do aurally, and it fosters several skills at once.

  This means there’s a bunch of different ways we can approach practicing it in our Kodály-inspired spaces which increases the likelihood ALL of your students will have the time and means to understand melody.

  So, here’s a few suggestions for gamifying melody in your classroom, available via the Music Teachers’ Digital Library (note, some are free, but others are only accessible with a subscription).

  

  Poison Solfa Knockout

  Let’s start now with this generic practice activity which gamifies melody by explicit design!

  Step 1. Choose a poison note out of all known notes e.g. so

  Step 2. Students stand in their places with their eyes closed.

  Step 3. The teacher sings a note (either do re mi or so) and students show the handsign of the note they heard, unless it is the poison note in which case they put their hands behind their backs.

  Step 4. If correct, the student remains standing. If incorrect they sit down but continue playing the game and when next correct they can stand up again.

  Step 5. To increase difficulty, the teacher sings two notes for students to show and so on.

  Step 6. Last student standing is the winner.

  Brodie!

  This song is great for practicing so as well as just being loads of fun!

  • Students stand in circle facing inwards. One student moves around the inside of the circle facing the other students.
  • On the words ‘run-ning in the’ tap rhythm on knees
  • On the words ‘park it’s’ clap rhythm
  • On the words ‘Brodie! Brodie!’ student in middle and person they are facing clap right hands together then clap own hands then clap left hands together and clap own hand (pat-a-cake). All other students clap the rhythm.

  Once students know how to play the game they can:

  • Sing in solfa while playing game
  • Sing in solfa INNER HEARING (link to resource) all sos
  • Sing in solfa INNER HEARING (link to resource) everything EXCEPT the sos
  • NOW it gamifies melody!

  The steps change with the following phrases, so why not watch the video to see them in action!

  do re mi so Bingo

  This activityis perfect for gamifying melody, as students use bingo cards to practice recognising do re mi so

  Hand out laminated bingo cards & a whiteboard marker or 9 tokens to each student.

  Teacher or a student claps a rhythm from the master sheet (which is then crossed off from the master sheet).

  Students clap the rhythm back (no rhythm names).

  Students mark (with marker or token) the rhythm off if on their sheet.

  Class say rhythm with rhythm names as a teacher/student writes on the board to check.

  Note: To win BINGO a student must have any three across, down, or diagonally or for the longer version – all!

  And remember…

  Practical games and activities like those above use singing and teach aural perception and musical memory.

  The takeaway is that as well as being lots of fun, your classroom is also inclusive and open to any musical (or non-musical) background of your students.

  Happy gaming, everyone! – Deb