Using the Curwen Hand signs is not that hard.
I learned them in my 30s while creating the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, and I did so through daily use in a gamified setting. I learned the power of lifting and lowering the hands and pulsing to connect the rhythm to their brains. I took it further with exercises like "Follow the Hand". Then I incorporated increasingly subtle hand movements when I added the "Ear Training" component, which is woven throughout S-Cubed.
Using the hand signs with my students was simple, not scary, and a game-changer.
Many choir teachers learned to read music while they were children, taking piano lessons.
In that setting, there are multiple advantages-
*The privilege of private instruction
*The early start to learning to read music
*The kinesthetic/visual/auditory connection that comes while you are reading and hearing the music that you are making while reading it from the page.
Most of our beginners have had none of those privileges.
So, we must find ways to successfully get our students...all of them...to successfully read...no matter what learning limitations they have.
We know that leveraging all three learning styles is one of the best ways to do that, so if you've resisted learning and using the Curwen Hand Signs, rethink it.
When I did it, I literally did so in front of my students through the game Forbidden Pattern each day. They loved the game, and before I knew it, I was fluent in the usage of the hands signs, and so were they.
I've always recommended these charts from Dancing Crayon on TpT because she created them just for my program when I was getting started sharing S-Cubed. She also created one for the Chromatic hand signs that I use in S-Cubed, which is available for you if you dare to get that far into the program.
I've kept track of the reviews and testimonials from teachers who have used my program for years.
If you are thinking about using S-Cubed next year, take time to read them and take a look at the free curriculum map located in my TpT store!
If you have any questions about the program, as always, email me directly- inthemiddlewithmrd@gmail.com. Subscribe to my email list by emailing me and writing "Subscribe" in the subject line.
