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Lift E
Lift Every Voice
Is music literacy the ability to read pitches and in some way. Should students with a natural, beautiful
rhythms on five lines and four spaces? I think it’s much vocal tone be penalized for their lack of opportunity? I
more broad than that. Music literacy is, yes, reading think not. So, how do we mitigate the potential exclu-
music. It is also expressive singing, understanding and sion of students who can be successful in an all-state
articulating the history and context of a piece, and dis- choir experience, but do not yet have the music read-
playing that in performance. It is feeling the rhythm ing skills to pass a sight-reading exam? The answer is a
and beat, producing quality vocal tone in a variety of skills-first approach to selection.
genres, etc. With this definition, we decenter the aca-
demic and Eurocentric notions of literacy and make
ing styles that might be present in our choir spaces. Af- “ I believe choir is the great equalizer.
room for various cultures; and from an accessibility
perspective, this definition also respects various learn-

ter I shared my thoughts, the clinician pushed back and Anyone, at any age, can walk into
a choir room and contribute to the
“respectfully disagreed.”
ensemble in some way. ”

It’s a Matter of Language
After much reflection, I have come to believe that
our perspectives differ due to a somewhat subtle dif- What is a Skills-First Approach?
ference in language. The clinician’s argument rested A Skills-First Approach utilizes skills as a primary
2
on the fact that every student can become literate and measure of success and ability rather than degrees, cre-
sight-read at an excellent level. I agree. I think we all dentials, or other proxies, and actively seeks to include
would agree. My perspective began with the fact that historically excluded populations. This approach also
not all students have had the opportunity or resources differentiates required and preferred skills when deter-
to learn to sight-read at an excellent level. I believe mining who is best for the role or opportunity. Once
choir is the great equalizer. Anyone, at any age, can the required skills are determined, you must then de-
walk into a choir room and contribute to the ensemble sign a process to assess those skills during the interview
or audition process. Most importantly, the identified
required skills should be linked directly to expected
Get more attached “on-the-job” performance. Skills-first work has gained
momentum in corporate America, specifically regard-
ing the hiring and development of talent. However, this
to your music. concept is highly transferable to choral music, and mu-

sic education broadly. So, let’s transfer.

Applied to the All-State Experience
From a skills-first perspective, what are the required
skills to be a successful all-state student? While not ex-
haustive, here are a few:

• Consistent intonation: the tonal center is clear through
vocal range

• Strong technical preparation: notes are correct and rhythms
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68 CHORAL JOURNAL February 2024 Volume 64 Number 6