Allow me to introduce myself. I am the voice of rhythm and tonal syllables, breaking from my usual role of speaking in syllables to the musical mind, to attempt to translate that special language for your thinking mind. This translation is not for explaining syllables to your students, as such explanations get in the way of the musical mind and defeat music learning. This translation is for your thinking mind to better understand the wonder of the musical mind and its mirrored reflection in syllables.

Rhythm and tonal syllables, like movement, speak directly to the musical mind. Movement communicates with the musical mind non-verbally, embodying music. Rhythm and tonal syllables communicate with the musical mind verbally, embodying audiation.

Rhythm and tonal syllables literally shed light on audiation. They shine an aural flashlight on audiation in flight.  They “point out” through the syllables themselves, what children know in audiation, leading children to awareness of their own knowing—“meta-cognition”—knowing about knowing, resulting in a deeper level of understanding and ultimately the readiness to move on to music reading.

Rhythm audiation, prior to the acquisition of rhythm syllables, has a non-verbal understanding in sound of the characteristic beat groupings that define each meter.  It registers macro beats and micro beats as the organizing force in each of the various beat groupings, and fits division patterns and more difficult rhythm patterns into the grid created by macro and micro beats, whatever the meter. Rhythm audiation apprehends the difference between beat groupings—meters, yet the similarities across meters—beat  function. Audiation understands beat function, sensing big beats and divisions of those beats in each meter, with further divisions and other variations of those beats fitting into that structure, whatever the meter—the “whenness” of durations in relation to macro and micro beats.

Gordon rhythm syllables provide a mirror for rhythm audiation to become aware of itself. The syllables themselves reflect the differences in beat groupings between meters, yet the sameness in beat function across meters. They underscore the predominance of macro beats and micro beats in audiation, the relationship of durations to macro and micro beats, and the unique characteristics of each meter.  Rhythm syllables provide a verbal association for what audiation knows in sound.

The musical mind acquires rhythm syllables through the same sequence in which it develops a sense of meter—Immersion before Interactivity, the introduction of contrasting meters in successive lessons, Duple meter before Triple, before Unusual Paired, with macro/micro beat patterns before division or more difficult patterns.  This natural learning order of the musical mind stimulates rhythm audiation to reflect on itself at every turn and become one with rhythm syllables. The acquisition of rhythm syllables takes rhythm audiation to a deeper level of understanding, which ultimately provides the readiness for the challenge of rhythm reading. The proper names of meters are incidental initially. It is the syllables that adhere to audiation itself. The proper names of meters serve like acronyms—abbreviations that stand for the syllables.

Tonal audiation, prior to the acquisition of tonal syllables, has a non-verbal understanding in sound of the organization of tones in each tonality and the characteristic tones of each tonality. It responds to the pull of the resting tone as the organizing force, with the dominant next in command. It apprehends other pitches in relation to the resting tone and dominant.  It senses the differences between the various organizations of tones—tonalities, yet the sameness across tonalities—melodic function. Audiation understands melodic function, sensing the “whereness” of pitches in relation to the tonic and dominant.

The tonal syllables developed at the Come Children Sing Institute provide a mirror for tonal audiation to become aware of itself.  The syllables themselves reflect the differences between tonalities, yet the sameness of melodic function—relative placement of pitches in relation to the resting tone or dominant, across tonalities. The tonal syllables underscore the anchors of the resting tone and dominant, the relationship of other pitches to those anchors, and the unique characteristics of each tonality. Tonal syllables provide a verbal association for what audiation knows in sound. 

The musical mind acquires tonal syllables through the same sequence in which it develops a sense of tonality—Immersion before Interactivity, the introduction of contrasting tonalities in successive lessons, the invitation of response of resting tone, and then building from there to the “working tone” (dominant), securing the resting tone and dominant in the context of melodic segments. Notice that once tonal syllables have been introduced in several tonalities that the Voice of Syllables can move into any tonality and children will know the resting tone and working tone, as experience with tonal syllables in several tonalities strengthens the acquisition of syllables in all other tonalities.

This natural learning order of the musical mind stimulates tonal audiation to reflect on itself at every turn, allowing tonal syllables to become one with tonal audiation. The acquisition of tonal syllables takes tonal audiation to a deeper level of understanding, which ultimately provides the readiness for the challenge of tonal reading. The proper names of tonalities are incidental initially. It is the syllables that adhere to audiation itself. The proper names of tonalities serve like acronyms—abbreviations that stand for the syllables.

The musical mind already knows the various tonalities in sound. Syllables are like a flashlight, shining light on the process of audiation, highlighting the nature of tonal knowing. Tonal syllables make audiation take notice of how it hears the resting tone as the prime force in the galaxy of pitches, whatever the tonality, as the syllables reflect its predominance in audiation. Tonal syllables also shine light on the characteristic tones of each tonality, as with the sameness across tonalities of melodic function, yet the uniqueness of each tonality, characteristic tones (like the 4th in Lydian and the 2nd in Phrygian) stick out in syllables, just as they do in audiation—only syllables bring awareness of such phenomena. That awareness is in audiation, and will be expressed through the proper use of syllables rather than through verbal explanations of the thinking mind.

One might think that through rhythm and tonal syllables, children become aware of there being a one-to-one correspondence between syllable and pitch or duration. That awareness in audiation, however, comes later—in music reading.  Audiation does not apprehend single “notes,” but rather, relationships, organizations of durations or pitches. Syllables set the stage so that both rhythm and tonal audiation can grow into the understanding that each galaxy of durations or pitches, for which they perceive an organization with certain predominant anchors, are actually made up of individual durations or pitches, each with its own label. Tonal syllables provide the readiness so that rhythm and tonal audiation can each grow into what it is to become.

The musical mind reflects on its own knowing simply by using rhythm and tonal syllables, which naturally adhere to rhythm and tonal knowing, demonstrating a deeper level of understanding and readiness to move toward music reading.

As “The Voice of Syllables,” I invite you to witness the power of rhythm and tonal syllables and how they mirror audiation as your children acquire syllables. The children will demonstrate the meta-cognition of the musical mind—its awareness of its own knowing—by singing and chanting with syllables as confidently as without. The musical mind, however, will not share its new awareness with the thinking mind.