Choral Artistry: A Kodly Perspective for Middle School to College-Level Choirs, Volume 1

Choral Artistry provides a practical and organic approach to teaching choral singing and sight-reading. The text is grounded in current research from the fields of choral pedagogy, music theory, music perception and cognition. Topics include framing a choral curriculum based on the Kodly
concept
launching the academic year for beginning, intermediate, and advanced choirs
building partwork skills
sight-reading
progressive music theory sequences for middle to college level choirs
teaching strategies
choral rehearsal plans as well as samples of how to teach specific repertoire
from medieval to contemporary choral composers.

As part of the Kodly philosophy's practical approach, authors Michel Houlahan and Philip Tacka employ two models for learning choral literature: Performance Through Sound Analysis Pedagogy (PTSA) and Performance through Sound Analysis and Notation (PTSAN). Both models delineate an approach to
teaching a choral work that significantly improves students' musicianship while engaging the ensemble in learning the overall composition in partnership with the conductor. The final chapter of the book includes rubrics to assess the effectiveness of a choral program. This book does not purport to
be a comprehensive choral pedagogy text. It is a detailed guide to helping choral directors at all levels improve the choral singing and musicianship of their students from a Kodly perspective.