This research focuses on the impact of singing activities within individual brass lessons on the reading skills and aural imagination of pupils in part-time arts education. Based on the observation that pupils often approach music-making in a technical or motor-skills-based manner, this master’s project investigates how the systematic integration of singing can contribute to a stronger inner musical understanding and a more accurate sense of pitch.

The central research question is: “In what way does the systematic integration of singing activities within individual brass lessons influence pupils’ sight-reading skills and auditory imagination?”. To investigate this question, a combination of literature review, interviews and a practice-oriented study and experiment was used, involving thirteen horn pupils and one trumpet pupil, mainly from the second stage of part-time arts education.

The literature review is based primarily on Edwin E. Gordon’s theory of audiation, whereby music is heard and understood internally before it is performed. During the practical research, pupils were given sight-reading exercises in which one part of the exercise was played immediately and another part was first sung before being played on the instrument.

The results show that, for most pupils, singing had a positive influence on auditory imagination, pitch accuracy and sight-reading accuracy. At the same time, the effect was found to depend on factors such as age, previous singing experience and the way in which pupils process music internally. The research thus emphasises the importance of auditory musical thinking within brass education and suggests that singing can form a valuable pedagogical addition to individual instrument lessons.