There are many benefits to using solfège in the music classroom. Students gain awareness of the music system through ear training, the use of Curwen hand signs is tactile and provides a framework for identifying the notes of a musical scale. Teaching sol and mi is especially important for your youngest singers. It’s the framework for many folk songs, it’s a natural child’s song (think “nah, nah, nah, nah, boo, boo!”) lastly, it’s the most common interval used in music.
I am always looking for new strategies to teach Sol and Mi. Some of the most common ways music teachers teach Sol and Mi include…
- Children’s Songs such as Rain, Rain Go Away and Starlight, Star Bright
- Singing Games such as Apple Tree
- Kodaly Training and Exercises
- Videos such as Preschool Prodigies
All of these resources are fine but I wanted to create something unique, different and inspiring for your youngest singers!
The New Music Student
The New Music Student is an interactive story lesson I designed with the intention of teaching Sol and Mi to young singers. It uses a simple fictional story to introduce children to the character Elodie, a new student and a shy singer. Through singing prompts and active participation, students in your class can encourage Elodie to sing using Sol and Mi!
How Sol and Mi is Introduced
In this interactive story, Sol and Mi is introduced in a variety of ways including…
- Echo Singing
- Curwen Hand Signs
- Composition Activities
Who Is This Lesson For?
Generally this lesson should be used by your youngest singers (think grades K-2). It would work great as an introductory lesson to Sol and Mi as well as a lead-in to composition. The best part is I designed it to be versatile and applicable in ALL teaching scenarios. That includes…
- In Person Teaching
- Remote Teaching
- Hybrid Teaching (both in person and virtual students!)
Here is a video of me using the lesson with my students during a hybrid music lesson. You’ll see I am able to present the lesson to my in person and virtual students and engage with both of them at the same time!
How Do I Use The Lesson for Teaching Sol and Mi?
This is a Google Slides resource so you’ll need reliable internet access. You can use this lesson however it fits into your music curriculum. I always start my little singers with a Hello song. For this lesson, I sang a greeting to each student using Sol and Mi. Exaple: “Hello Emily!” (S-M-S-S-S-M). Then after attendance and a bit of moving and grooving, I launched into the main lesson (this resource). There’s no right or wrong way to use it! To make things easier, you can find complete instructions on slide 2 of the resource.
Lesson Extension
The New Music Student Lesson includes a follow-up extension worksheet where students will be able to compose their OWN greeting to Elodie using Sol and Mi. This might seem a little tricky for younger students which is why I have included a very similar activity on slides 51 and 52 of the lesson. This allows you to model the composition process for student before allowing them to experience the creative process themselves. I do recommend monitoring students and providing feedback during the composition process so students understand the parameters.
Get The FREE Lesson for Teaching Sol and Mi
Interested in trying this lesson in your music class? You can make a copy of it for FREE by clicking here. Please consider sharing a comment below on how you used this lesson with your students! Thank you for checking out my freebie lesson!
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