Fostering Music Literacy in Rehearsals and the Music Classroom

Helping individuals become musically literate is central to the school, community, and church music curriculum. Working from the premise that students learn musical skills in much the same order as they do language skills, participants will explore how we ‘learn’ music through hearing and imitating patterns before reading and writing. The pedagogy also includes sequential techniques for teaching improvisation and dictation, key components of music literacy. Workshop participants will also be presented with teaching strategies and techniques for integrating and applying literacy skills to appropriate repertoire. Special attention will be given to the development of music literacy curriculum maps and diction maps. Dr. Hillary Ridgley will be your clinician (hridgley@su.edu).

Please indicate if you will join us in person for the best experience, or if distance is prohibitive, please select the online option. Online connection information will be emailed the week before the event.

Register and join us on June 22-24, 2026 from 9am-3pm

The workshop will be held both at Shenandoah University, Henkel Hall Auditorium, and online. 

If you have questions about registration or university credit, please contact Dr. Stephanie Standerfer, Director of Music Education (sstander@su.edu).

No refunds after the first day of the event.