ACDA Choral Journal Article on Sight Singing Requirements at Allstate Auditions~ Lift Every Voice

I just read an article in the Choral Journal written by Marshaun R. Hyman about the manner in which various states weigh sight singing scores at Allstate Auditions.  

The premise~ why are many states weighing the sight singing component of Allstate auditions so heavily?   In most states, they learn the music with tracks.   

I’m simplifying.    

You can read it here…. https://choralnet.org/archives/780507

In my view, annual choral assessments and adjudications are where sight singing should be evaluated.   Allstate chorus is not the place…especially if Allstate prep occurs as it does in most states where students are given tracks to learn basically by rote.  

As a clinician who has had the honor and privilege of conducting two Allstate Chorus events thus far in 2024, my wish is simple when I walk in the door to prepare the students  ~ please know every pitch and every rhythm perfectly and preferably have it memorized.   That way, I’m not doing remediation, and I’m not having to make the difficult decision to cut a song so we can create artistic memorable moments.  As a conductor who has the privilege so conducting the highest achieving choral music students in your state, I want to create experiences for the students, their parents, and their teachers to FEEL because the feelings are what art is about.  Maya Angelou~. People forget what you say.   They forget what you do.   They don’t forget how you made them feel.   The art we create if they know pitches, rhythms and words will ignite passion for the students to take back and create a hunger to experience and create more…and we will truly change our art form because we served the highest young achievers in our art form.  

In my own state of Georgia, sight singing is weighted very heavily for Allstate auditions.  … Too heavily in my opinion.  But in the past, (and maybe currently… I retired in 2022 after 30 years) they’ve included an audition to “check” the music and they cut students who weren’t ready.  

This is ideal. 

The time to create your sight singing standards for teachers to try to accomplish is at annual state choral assessments.  

Two prepared pieces and choral group sight singing.   

During my career, I taught in three states.  North Carolinas requirement for middle school sight singing was unison stepwise with no syncopations.  

New Jersey had no sight singing requirement at choral assessment.  

Georgia, where I spent 20 of the 30 years, had such a high requirement that I called a colleague and said-  “Is this for real?   I couldn’t have done this a capella in my junior year of college.   Seriously.”   

I had to find a way to address the high standards so my beginners could avoid walking out of the sight singing room dejected and wanting to quit chorus and that’s what I did.  

So thank you for this article.  It is sure to ignite conversation.  

I hope our national organizations will continue to guide states on standards and best practices as they relate to sight singing so our beginning students walk out of chorus classes literate musically.   

I waited for 30 years for my little middle school Mozart to show up and lead the alto section. 

It never happened.  

In public school especially, we’ve got to serve the students who land before us.  

Thank you,  

Dale Duncan

Creator o S~Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners