Introducing The Choral Musician Digital Workbook Series
The noted choral educator Donald Neuen described a chorister as equal parts singer, actor and musician. This workbook series will focus on the musician piece of that chorister pie. By teaching your students to be musicians, they will learn to speak and then read the language of music.
Introducing The Choral Musician
The Choral Musician is a series of student workbooks inspired by the pioneering Music Learning Theory research by Dr. Edwin E. Gordon. Music Learning Theory (or, MLT) describes how students learn when they learn music. If a chorister is one-third musician, then students should learn the inner workings of rhythm, harmony and melody. The Choral Musician provides an audiation framework for students.
Choir Teachers:Teach Audiation
I created these workbooks for my students in my choirs.
I have been using Music Learning Theory to inform my choir teaching, learning and instruction for over a decade and the results have been fantastic.
However, all of the necessary materials for teaching audiation were always in my hands. I was the keeper of the lore. I was the one who had the patterns and the tonalities. I struggled to find a way to distribute materials to students and grant them access to a "virtual Mr. Mullen," and all of my audiation expertise outside of my class.
And so these workbooks were born.
My students were so used to the Google slides universe, that I decided that this was the best format for them to be most successful. And after testing it out, they really appreciated having everything in one place...
Warm-ups, pattern videos, pattern tracks, explanations of audiation concepts, improvisation and generalization activities, reading demonstrations, pattern reading, and sight-reading examples...it's one stop shopping!
Maybe your students will feel the same way.
About The Choral Musician Digital Workbook Series
As of now, there are three digital workbooks in The Choral Musician series, with more planned for the near future. The workbooks are a mix of teaching a listening and audiation vocabulary, a performance vocabulary and a reading vocabulary.
Digital Workbook 1
This workbook provides students with an audiation foundation in major and minor tonalities, and duple and triple meters.
In this workbook, students will develop a basic vocabulary of tonal and rhythmic contexts and words so that they can speak the language of music. This is done through tonal patterns and rhythm patterns, or "musical words." Students will learn rhythm patterns, harmonic patterns and scale patterns that they will be able to sing, improvise with, generalize in order to teach themselves new patterns, and use as the preparation with reading for understanding just as they do in language.
Digital Workbook 2A
This workbook guides students in how to read (notationally audiate) all of the rhythm content and harmonic patterns from Digital Workbook 1.
If we follow the language analogy, we learn to read words that we have already heard, spoken, understand, and improvised with. We will learn to read rhythmic words and harmonic words separately, and then will combine tonal words and rhythmic words into "musical sentences" which form the basis for sight-reading.
Digital Workbook 2B
This workbook guides students in how to read (notationally audiate) all of the stepwise scale patterns (in association with the same rhythm content) from Digital Workbook 1.
After we make the connection between audiation of tonal context and harmonic content, students will learn how to read stepwise scale patterns. After notational audiation has been established in Digital Workbook 2A, teachers are encouraged to navigate back and forth between Digital Workbooks 2A and 2B to meet the needs of their students and their curriculum.
Try Before You Buy!
Interested in these materials? Well, you can download The Choral Musician Sampler to peruse the materials before you buy. Try them out with your students, and if you like them, buy The Choral Musician Bundle for your program.
Click the image to view The Choral Musician Sampler
Bonus Content: The General Musician
Included with your purchase of The Choral Musician
If you're like me, you likely teach choir AND general music. So, I brewed a pot of coffee, added a new coat of paint to these materials, and VOILA, you have an identical series for your general music students, too! No additional charge.
About Andy Mullen
Andy Mullen is an audiation-based music teacher in Burlington, MA, a suburb north of Boston, where he teaches both general music and choir to middle school students. He loves singing weird songs about snails and bubble gum to his students, hearing them sing, improvise and compose, and seeing them grow every single day as musicians.
Andy is on the Elementary General and Choral faculty of GIML, the Gordon Institute for Music Learning, and also serves as chair of the Media and Communications commission, and is President-elect.
He is a recovering singer-songwriter, and is an active folk musician.
Purchasing Options
You can either:
INDIVIDUAL
Buy each
$
50
/each
$15 OFF
BUNDLE
One time purchase
$
135
/bundle
BEST DEAL!
BEST DEAL!
FACULTY LIBRARY
Includes The Choral Musician and all of my teaching materials
$
120
/yr
Buy The Choral Musician Bundle
Here’s what people are saying about Andy's materials
Hannah Mayo
Piano Teacher
My students especially love his engaging tunes and videos!
Andy Mullen’s materials have been, and continue to be, one of my favorite supplements! They have taught me so much about being a quality music educator and filled in many gaps in my understanding of the music learning sequence.
Monica Martini
Music Teacher
I thank you for all your resources and inspirations. I love your work in the MLT world.
I have been using Andy's resources since I discovered them and they are now indispensable in my teaching. Furthermore, he is really available for any need or clarification. The resources are adaptable and having multiple voices are useful for all the voice registers present in the classroom.
Melanie Jones
Music Teacher
MLT can be complicated stuff, but with Andy, it is fun for teachers and students alike
His superb website, videos and books are so accessible and clearly presented; they gave me my way in to start exploring MLT, for which I am hugely grateful. Andy’s delightful sense of humor is apparent throughout. I cannot wait to see what he produces next!
faq
Yes, you can either buy them individually, as a bundle, or just subscribe to the Faculty Library and get access to all of them. It's actually cheaper that way, as long as you don't subscribe for another year. I will be releasing more and more workbooks, and they will continue to be included as part of the Faculty Library.
The most immediate plans are as follows:
1) Release The General Musician, which is a set of cousin materials. They will be the exact same materials as The Choral Musician without any of the choral stuff. These materials will be included in the Faculty Library. This is planned for August 2023.
2) Release Digital Workbooks 3A and 3B: Rhythm Bootcamp. In Digital Workbooks 1, 2A and 2B, there is a very limited rhythmic pallet. These new workbooks will contain all other rhythmic functions in duple and triple: divisions, rests, elongations, division/elongations, ties, and upbeats. This is planned for Fall 2023.
I hear ya! I know this is hard to do without supporting teacher materials. I am on it. In the interim, I suggest you take advantage of the wealth of teacher materials available in the Faculty Library.
I understand that outside of the US, this seems like a lot of money. I'm sure it is. Please reach out to me, and let me know what you can afford, and we will try to work something out.
It sure is! It is included in The Choral Musician Bundle. You will receive a link to The General Musician page where you can download those slideshows for your classes, too.