4-Minute Mastery™
A High School to University level Choral Sight-Reading Program
The ability to sight-read is essential for building top-notch choirs. That’s why we developed 4-Minute Mastery™
4-Minute Mastery™ teaches basic concepts of rhythm, interval training and part singing in short packages using a standardized format. Each lesson is complete on a single page, so everything you need to conduct your 4-minute exercise is right in front of you and your choir. Difficulty levels are raised in small, incremental steps from lesson to lesson.
Make Teaching Music Easier!
Teach all the fundamentals of music while your singers enjoy the thrill of mastery!
Count accurately and independently
Read key signatures and find their own starting pitches
See and "hear" intervals before singing them
Independently sing their own parts
Understand and apply many common musical terms, articulations and musical expression marks
Evaluate their own progress
Meet or exceed state and national standards
Watch 4-Minute Mastery™ in action!
4-Minute Mastery™ works because it’s simple, clear and comprehensive!
• Each lesson incorporates ALL aspects of sight-reading on a single page.
• Lessons progress gradually as students gain skills.
• Musical terms are introduced in context.
• Lessons may be printed and distributed to your students, or projected onto a screen as you’ll see in this short video:
In this unrehearsed video you will see conductor Erik Ronning begin his high school choir class with a lesson from 4-Minute Mastery. Imagine a daily 4-minute entrance activity that focuses your class, teaches them a wide range of musical skills, and improves their sight-reading day by day!
4-Minute Mastery™ trains the student to recognize intervals and patterns, both ascending and descending, before they sing, and reinforces skills through concept repetition (drill).
Each lesson also provides a framework on which to build other aspects of musical mastery: dynamic expression, phrasing, breath control, key signature recognition, finding DO, solfeggio, expression markings, comprehensive variety of meters, and musical terminology. This structured approach can help students master necessary musical tools. All lessons are provided in separate treble, bass and mixed voicings.
4-Minute Mastery is composed of four parts: an Introduction including Primer Lessons, and three progressively challenging books of lessons. Each of the three books includes 30 lessons each in Treble, Bass and Mixed voicings, for a total of 90 lessons per book. All purchases include a copy of the Introduction. 4-Minute Mastery lessons are particularly effective as an entrance activity to begin choir rehearsals!
Note that our You Won’t Miss A Beat™ Choral Assessments are derived from, and coordinate with, 4-Minute Mastery.
Free Sample Lessons
We invite you to download and try out these sample lessons in Treble, Bass and Mixed versions. In just minutes a day, your students will begin to develop confidence and a broad range of musical skills while having fun!
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One Book
Book 1, Book 2, or Book 3
$75
Three Books
All three 4-Minute Mastery™ Books!
$175
- A $225 value!
Two Books
Any two 4-Minute Mastery™ Books
$125
- A $150 value!