A new and welcome addition to my multi-sensory tribe
You can’t see sound. Apart from capturing sound in a recording, human civilisations have discovered ways to represent sounds with visual / tactile symbols (written languages, conventional music notation, graphic scores) and have found that movement can emphasize their meanings.
Since September 2025, I have been accompanying the Singing Community of Choirs in Sutton Coldfield. This lovely choir led by Artistic Director Richard Jeffries uses Kodaly and Dalcroze approaches to teach music to young children.
These multi-sensory approaches are a standard feature in my own music teaching practice because they provide controllable visual movements which strongly reinforce abstract musical concepts. So it felt like finding my musical tribe when I joined the SC Choirs team. I loved seeing these approaches used effectively in a sustained and holistic fashion – conventional music notation is used alongside solfege and Curwen hands signs for pitch. Here is a video of some of the younger choir members using the Kodaly approach for rhythm and duration:
The use of Curwen hand signs really empower pitch learning! I employ it with instant results when working with vocally-hesitant teenagers and any student who struggle to hear pitch with their ‘inner ear’ (audiation). Have a look at the Little Voices sight-singing:
Musicianship at SC Choirs is taught from the ground up. My favourite part of the sessions without doubt are the highly-enjoyable warm-up exercises which train students to be spontaneous with singing and to listen critically.