Connecting aural training and choral singing

Abstract

This presentation is based on a paper given at the GEFFF conference in October 2012, which in turn was based on the present author’s dissertation (Jaakkola 2012), where methods for connecting aural training and choral singing were explored. The study focused on choral aural training, which is understood as activities in choirs intended to improve the music literacy and aural training skills of choral singers. The research was a qualitative content analysis of sight-singing books (n = 41) written for amateur adult choral singers. These books were published in the Nordic countries, central Europe and North America between 1980 and 2007. The material included a number of sight-singing books with very different approaches, and the six books that stood out from the rest were discussed as case studies. These six featured a diversity of perspectives on aural training that led to the outlining of six approaches or ‘pathways’ to choral aural training. These pathways are briefly introduced in this presentation. Keywords: choral aural training, music literacy, aural training, sight-singing, choral education