Charlotte Mason fans: solfege?

[Dulcimeramy]

Does anyone else teach their children to sing using shape notes? I have a few videos of my dc singing, but I don't know if anyone would want me to share them. If anyone else does this, I'd love to hear how it works at your house.

Anybody want to talk do-re-mi?

[dragons in the flower bed]

I have a few videos of my dc singing, but I don't know if anyone would want me to share them.

YES WE DO!

I mean, I'd like to see them, if you have the time to post them.

[Dulcimeramy]

oh! well, thanks!

These aren't good quality, I am still learning to do videos with the digital camera. The first is our 3 older boys, ages 7, 10, and 11. The others have Dh with the boys because our 11 yo. soprano wanted to sing bass (LOL)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYcHNvXzOY0 All Things Praise Thee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9E4Yhey3ZM&feature=user We Praise Thee, O God

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYH8PSmyN4M&feature=user Nothing But the Blood of Jesus

[chiguirre]

I'd love to see solfege in action.

Pretty please!

[Lisa in Jax]

Amy,

My oldest daughter attends a high school of the arts. Our vocal department's website has a couple of solfege resources that you might like, including printable hand signs.

HiH,

Lisa

http://davocal.org/index.php?view=article&catid=132%3Asolfege&id=212%3Asolfege-hand-signs&option=com_content&Itemid=64

[Testimony]

Amy!!!

:hurray:Your boys are awesome. I am totally impressed. I cannot do that with my boys. You go!! AAA!:thumbup: You are the mom!!!!

As Darth Vader would say,"impressive! Most impressive indeed!!"

Go! Amy! Go!:party: This is the best picture I could find of something that looks like a cheerleading squad.

Blessings to you in your homeschooling journey!

Sincerely,
Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Dulcimeramy]

Amy,

My oldest daughter attends a high school of the arts. Our vocal department's website has a couple of solfege resources that you might like, including printable hand signs.

HiH,

Lisa

http://davocal.org/index.php?view=article&catid=132%3Asolfege&id=212%3Asolfege-hand-signs&option=com_content&Itemid=64

How interesting! Thanks for sharing! We've never used hand signs. Our family has a heritage of shape note singing, learned in churches. Our tradition is to have all generations sing together often, and by the time the kids are teenagers they are almost as good as adults.

I have a chart with the shapes and names of the notes that we use during teaching sessions. I work with the boys one on one, song by song, note by note, until they can sing their part independently. Then we put it all together.

I think my youngest would like the hand signs, I'm going to print them out.

[Dulcimeramy]

Amy!!!

:hurray:Your boys are awesome. I am totally impressed. I cannot do that with my boys. You go!! AAA!:thumbup: You are the mom!!!!

As Darth Vader would say,"impressive! Most impressive indeed!!"

Go! Amy! Go!:party: This is the best picture I could find of something that looks like a cheerleading squad.

Blessings to you in your homeschooling journey!

Sincerely,
Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony (http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony)

Wow! Thank you so much, you made my day! :D :D :D

[dragons in the flower bed]

Oh, Amy, thank you so much for sharing those! They are inspiring! Your boys are awesome. Bravo, Mama! Keep up the good work!

[Parrothead]

Most excellent videos. They did a great job.

[dragons in the flower bed]

Our family has a heritage of shape note singing, learned in churches. Our tradition is to have all generations sing together often, and by the time the kids are teenagers they are almost as good as adults.

http://www.wackyb.co.nz/yh/Yahoo_v700426_Smileys/yh700426_107.gif I went and watched your boys on the dulcimer and fiddle together in your YouTube account, and now I am wrestling with feelings of inadequacy. :glare: At what age did your kiddo start playing the fiddle?

[Rebecca in VA]

Your boys are wonderful!! Thank you for sharing the videos. How long have they been singing and playing together? Do you and your husband have a lot of musical training to be able to teach them this?

I really can't get over my admiration! You have a very talented family!

[M&M]

Thank yo for sharing. That was amazing. What a wonderful way to start Sunday morning.

[Shannon]

Wow! Great job, Amy! They are really good. How do you go about teaching this to them? Is this something that is more for the musically-gifted?

Thanks!

[Dulcimeramy]

Most excellent videos. They did a great job. Thank you!

http://www.wackyb.co.nz/yh/Yahoo_v700426_Smileys/yh700426_107.gif I went and watched your boys on the dulcimer and fiddle together in your YouTube account, and now I am wrestling with feelings of inadequacy. :glare: At what age did your kiddo start playing the fiddle? Nate started fiddling almost a year ago. We don't teach him; we just play our instruments with him and provide him with books, cd's and dvd's to learn from. He mostly teaches himself. He also plays mandolin, dulcimer, and piano, and is currently tackling guitar. He gets support and help from our local folk music society, too.

Your boys are wonderful!! Thank you for sharing the videos. How long have they been singing and playing together? Do you and your husband have a lot of musical training to be able to teach them this?

I really can't get over my admiration! You have a very talented family! Thank you! Singing together since birth; this is the first year for harmonies for the younger two. We are working on shape note singing but we also play and sing folk music and some bluegrass.

DH and I both come from musical families. He used to be in a band, and currently is in the church choir. He played trumpet in school and plays guitar. He picked up the hobby of solfege in high school; he can listen to complicated ensemble pieces and quickly write the standard notation sheet music for them. I can't do that! He has a beautiful tenor voice.

My family has a heritage of shape note singing, but also of folk music. We are the stereotype of the front porch pickin' and grinnin' except that my father also taught himself to play beautiful classical guitar. Absolutely excellent music. I think Nate gets his good ear and ability to teach himself string instruments from Grandpa. My siblings and their children are musical, too.

I sing, not so well LOL My mother taught me piano when I was small but I never got past the fourth book. I played flute in high school, and taught myself to play appalachian dulcimer. I supervise all the musical instruction at home, and arrange our times of singing and playing together.

Thank yo for sharing. That was amazing. What a wonderful way to start Sunday morning. Thank you, M&M!

Wow! Great job, Amy! They are really good. How do you go about teaching this to them? Is this something that is more for the musically-gifted?

Thanks! Thank you, Shannon! I teach them the way I was taught: they learn the names and shapes of the notes, and the distance between notes. Then they each learn to sing their part for each song by singing the names of the notes instead of the words, then they sing the words, then we put the parts together. The biggest part of learning comes from hearing grownups sing this way. After a year of this, our oldest son can sight read shape notes easily.

We sing the seven shape note style, the "movable do" system used in old churches of Christ. That is our family's religious heritage although we don't attend those churches anymore. It is also the style used in the Sound of Music.

More common is the 4 shape note style, which is Sacred Harp. If you live in the South you can attend Sacred Harp meetings and they'll teach it. I think if it was so prevalent at one time in the US then it must be accessible for most people to learn even if they don't have much other musical training.

I learned from a previous poster's links that shape note singing or solfa is also called "Kodaly" and I'd imagine there are materials or classes involved with that.

Thanks, all, for the nice comments! If anybody else sings with shape notes at home, I'd love to hear about it.

[lovemyboys]

Oh, Amy, thank you so much for sharing those! They are inspiring! Your boys are awesome. Bravo, Mama! Keep up the good work!

Fantastic! can't wait to share with ds here. It was really impressive and videos look good.

[Michelle in TX]

I lead the children's choir at my church and co-op and I use Solfege with the hand signals. I am most impressed that your kids are singing in harmony as I haven't been able to get my choir kids to do that yet. I'm learning as I go since I did not major in music but have been in choirs my whole life and learned Solfege growing up.

Great job! Way to go!

Blessings,

[Katia]

Wow! As a mom that has worked and worked with my kiddos to have them sing parts, I am very impressed! It does take a time commitment but the results are so worth it.

Thank you so much for sharing your links. I only wish that I had thought to video my dc when they were younger and sang together. They have grown up and away; beside which my oldest ds would never, ever sing now. So, I guess the memories will just be in my head. One day, you will be so glad that you have these recorded!