[HANASHIR:10206] Re: Trop teaching

[LizBolton <LizBolton...>]

To Rachelle and Hevre:

Quick responses to the trop teaching questions:

1) Hand signals for trop are termed "chironomy" and probably preceded the 
Masoretic signs.

2) Good highlighter colors to consider using are:

pink (the closest to red) for the sof-pasuk groups (STOP!)
yellow for the et-nahta groups (PAUSE!)
green for the katon groups (GO!)

I would love to credit the right person for this - I may have gleaned it from 
Hazzan Sheldon Levin, who has also published some excellent "Best Practices" 
materials in a trade-size booklet published by the CA.

(I save blue for what is often folks' "favorite" sign, revi'a!)

3) To accompany the highlighter colors, teaching the three main groups first, 
and as groups helps to reinforce the patters that recur. And for those who 
learn visually, seeing the page almost filled by those 3 colors helps them 
with a sense of "knowing" a lot quicky, speeding up the learning curve, and 
giving them confidence.

4) Teaching each of the possible patterns (4 each for sof pasuk and et nahta, 
for e.g.) along the lines outlined in Binder's book on trop, also helps teach 
your students the fluidity and flexibility of the trop system. Hazzan David 
Tillman used to make a booklet with the Binder notation on the left side, and 
just the signs and their names on the right side, with each of the possible 
combinations in a group; for E.G. 2. (a) mercha-tip'ha-munah- et nahta b) 
merha-tip'ha-et nahta, etc.).

Kol tuv,
Liz

Elizabeth Bolton
Director, Music and Liturgy Project
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
Rabbi, Congregation Beit Tikvah
Baltimore, MD  

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