Week 1: Singing & Hearing with Scale Degrees

Focus

Developing comfort with singing, audiation, and pitch relationships using scale degrees.

Core Skills

• Movable “do” system

• Singing stepwise and skip-based patterns (1–2–3, 1–3–5, etc.)

• Call-and-response using numbers instead of note names

• Connecting scale degrees to familiar songs

• Understanding and Identifying Intervals

Collaborative Exercises

• Partner call-and-response (one sings numbers, one echoes)

• Group improvisation using only scale degrees 1–3–5

• Translate simple melodies into scale degrees as a group

Teaching Application

• Design a 5-minute warm-up using scale-degree singing

• Practice introducing scale degrees to complete beginners

Reflection Questions

• What felt uncomfortable about singing without notation? Why?

• How might scale degrees simplify pitch understanding for beginners?

• Where could this fit naturally into your current teaching routine?