Reprinted from CHORAL JOURNAL February 2024 Volume 64 Number 6 67
In January 2023, I was a clinician at a state music education association conference in the Northeast. I attended the session right before my session, and the clinician expressed the sentiment that removing the sight-reading portion of the all-state exam does a disservice to students. The clinician believed that, “Everyone deserves music literacy.” The clinician went on to explain that with a focus on music literacy, the appropriate chunking of sight-reading patterns (mi-do, me-do-la, me-do-la-so, etc.), and consistently high expectations for students, they have been able to successfully support four students in being accepted into that 2023 Northeast All-State Choir. In fact, it was the first time in twenty years that students from this particular school had been accepted into the all-state choir.
An educator in the audience raised their hand and asked a question similar to, “I want my students to read music at the proficient and excellent levels. I also know that a primary focus on music reading does center whiteness. How do I navigate this?” The clinician pushed back and explained that we would not have the same argument for the reading and writing of the English language. We should encourage everyone to speak proper English. I thought to myself, “Well, there are scholars that argue that African American Vernacular English (AAVE)1 is a distinct dialect with clear rules and patterns…so yes, centering Standard English does center whiteness (Eurocentric speech patterns).” The conversation went on, a few more people shared their thoughts and asked questions, but I could not stay silent. I raised my hand to speak. I explained that I wanted to comment on a previous statement and referenced the educator who surfaced the topic earlier in the conversation. I explained that, in my opinion, I celebrate the states that have removed sight-reading from the all-state exam. If we think about access to opportunity, sight-reading can (and does) limit students’ opportunity to participate in the all-state experience. I went further to explain that we must also examine our definition of “music literacy.” Is music literacy the ability to read pitches and rhythms on five lines and four spaces? I think it’s much more broad than that. Music literacy is, yes, reading music. It is also expressive singing, understanding and articulating the history and context of a piece, and displaying that in performance. It is feeling the rhythm and beat, producing quality vocal tone in a variety of genres, etc. With this definition, we decenter the academic and Eurocentric notions of literacy and make room for various cultures; and from an accessibility perspective, this definition also respects various learning styles that might be present in our choir spaces. After I shared my thoughts, the clinician pushed back and “respectfully disagreed.”
It’s a Matter of Language
After much reflection, I have come to believe that our perspectives differ due to a somewhat subtle difference in language. The clinician’s argument rested on the fact that every student can become literate and sight-read at an excellent level. I agree. I think we all would agree. My perspective began with the fact that not all students have had the opportunity or resources to learn to sight-read at an excellent level. I believe choir is the great equalizer. Anyone, at any age, can walk into a choir room and contribute to the ensemble in some way. Should students with a natural, beautiful vocal tone be penalized for their lack of opportunity? I think not. So, how do we mitigate the potential exclusion of students who can be successful in an all-state choir experience, but do not yet have the music reading skills to pass a sight-reading exam? The answer is a skills-first approach to selection.
What is a Skills-First Approach?
A Skills-First Approach utilizes skills as a primary measure of success and ability rather than degrees, credentials, or other proxies, and actively seeks to include historically excluded populations. This approach also differentiates required and preferred skills when determining who is best for the role or opportunity. Once the required skills are determined, you must then design a process to assess those skills during the interview or audition process. Most importantly, the identified required skills should be linked directly to expected “on-the-job” performance. Skills-first work has gained momentum in corporate America, specifically regarding the hiring and development of talent. However, this concept is highly transferable to choral music, and music 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 exhaustive, here are a few:
- Consistent intonation: the tonal center is clear through vocal range
- Strong technical preparation: notes are correct and rhythms are accurate.
- Conductor connection: able to follow and respond to a basic conducting pattern
- Musical expression: demonstrates dynamics, tempo, and phasing as indicated
- Independent musicianship: able to maintain vocal line when singing with others
- Tone: a healthy, energized tone with proper breath support • Choral collaboration: able to listen to peers and make real-time adjustments.
In many states, students are expected to have learned the music before they arrive at all-state (in a perfect world). This presents another case of access to opportunity, as schools and districts with poor funding may not have the ability to hire an accompanist or voice teacher to support students in learning their music for all-state.
If it is the case the students must learn their music before arriving at all-state, then sight-reading is not actually a required (preferred, maybe?) skill to be successful “on the job.” And if that is, in fact, the case, then what shall we do with the sight-reading portion of the all-state exam? I say, toss it out! As a note, there are some states that offer a “Sight-Reading Choir” experience. In many instances, students receive their music upon arrival, and I have seen instances where this group will sight-read a piece on stage during their final concert performance. In this one instance, sightreading is a required skill. To center equity, let’s privilege the vocal quality portion of the all-state exam. Until we can account for the gap in resources and access to additional, out-of-school support that exist across this country and within states, we must remove barriers to access. In this case, sight-reading persists as an inequitable barrier.
Closing Thoughts
If you are finding yourself disagreeing with the recommendation to remove the sight-reading portion of the all-state exam, I pose a few reflection questions:
- If a sight-reading exam is truly a quality determinant of success in the all-state experience, how so? And to what end, if music is already learned?
- Is sight-reading a proxy? If so, what skills are we really attempting to measure?
- Is the sight-reading exam possibly a filtering tool to make final decisions easier for examiners? If so, are there other ways to make final decisions 1) more equitable for the student experience and 2) easier for examiners?
A question you might ask is, “If we do remove the sight-reading exam, won’t this endanger the quality of the all-state performance?” Well, the current skills-first research shows that when we focus on required skills that are connected to on-the-job performance, not only do we provide more opportunities to those who have been historically excluded, we tend to make better, more efficient “hiring” decisions, leading to stronger performance.
Marshaun R. Hymon, EdD, is the co-founder and managing partner of True Change Alliance, LLC. MarshaunRHymon.com
ACDA.org