A New Curriculum Proposal for Voice Training Courses at Undergraduate Level (L1) in Higher Education Institutions: “Introduction to Voice Training”

Voice training program is a mixed program prepared based on the course contents of the voice training courses in the Faculties of Fine Arts, which are among the institutions providing music education at the level of higher education, especially Departmenst of Music Education Programs of the Education Faculties and Departments of Opera/Vocal Performance programs at the State Conservatory. This course, which is mostly prepared as a sample of Music Teaching course contents, needs to be restructured by taking into consideration the credit and number of instructors. It is known that new approaches, methods and suggestions play a major role in improving the existing courses in educational system. It is considered that forming a new course structure by using approved methods and adopting different approach and techniques will improve the quality of music education. In the Music Departments of Fine Arts Faculties, a limited number of voice training courses are given in the form of ‘Individual Voice Training’ and ‘Collective/Choral Voice Training’. In the light of this information, the process of this course in the Department of Music, Faculty of Fine Arts in Erciyes University from the 2006/2007 academic year to present has been assessed and information about the content of “Introduction to Voice Training” that was introduced as a course of two semesters in Undergraduate Level (L1) and about new structure of voice training courses in the curriculum are provided. Considering the lessons given at Higher Education Institutions particularly in the field of voice training in Turkey, it is observed that the number of student is high and the number of the instructor is insufficient and that a course normally should involve one student at one hour, but it involves two or three students. As this situation, contrary to the objectives of the course, would affect the understanding of quality in education, it would be correct to focus on new practices. The aim of this study is to bring forward a new curriculum proposal for voice training courses in Higher Education Institutions. Today, this innovation brought to the curriculum in the field of Voice Training at Erciyes University is also an example of providing a joint program content of the music education departments of other Higher Education Institutions and especially the Faculties of Fine Arts. It is considered that the course will be appropriate to be in the curriculum of the Faculties of Fine Arts with a single common content and the name as in the curriculum of Erciyes University