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Lift Every Voice
Lift E ve r y Vo i ce

A Skills-First Approach to the All-State Choir Selection Process

by Marshaun R. Hymon

“Removing sight-reading from the all-state An educator in the audience raised their hand and
exam suggests that some groups of students asked a question similar to, “I want my students to
can’t read music.” read music at the proficient and excellent levels. I also
know that a primary focus on music reading does cen-
—A 2023 North East Music Education ter whiteness. How do I navigate this?” The clinician
Conference Clinician pushed back and explained that we would not have the
same argument for the reading and writing of the Eng-
lish language. We should encourage everyone to speak
Defining Music Literacy proper English. I thought to myself, “Well, there are
In January 2023, I was a clinician at a state music scholars that argue that African American Vernacular
education association conference in the Northeast. I English (AAVE) is a distinct dialect with clear rules
1
attended the session right before my session, and the and patterns…so yes, centering Standard English does
clinician expressed the sentiment that removing the center whiteness (Eurocentric speech patterns).”
sight-reading portion of the all-state exam does a dis- The conversation went on, a few more people
service to students. The clinician believed that, “Every- shared their thoughts and asked questions, but I could
one deserves music literacy.” not stay silent. I raised my hand to speak. I explained
The clinician went on to explain that with a focus on that I wanted to comment on a previous statement and
music literacy, the appropriate chunking of sight-read- referenced the educator who surfaced the topic earlier
ing patterns (mi-do, me-do-la, me-do-la-so, etc.), and in the conversation. I explained that, in my opinion,
consistently high expectations for students, they have I celebrate the states that have removed sight-reading
been able to successfully support four students in being from the all-state exam. If we think about access to op-
accepted into that 2023 Northeast All-State Choir. In portunity, sight-reading can (and does) limit students’
fact, it was the first time in twenty years that students opportunity to participate in the all-state experience. I
from this particular school had been accepted into the went further to explain that we must also examine our
all-state choir. definition of “music literacy.”

CHORAL JOURNAL February 2024 Volume 64 Number 6 67