About

Charlotte Mujcic-Wolf (born 1998 in Oldenburg) grew up in Osnabrück, where she completed her bachelor's degree in classical violin with Prof. Hauko Wessel at the Institute of Music (IfM) of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. She completed her master's degree in "Music and Mediation" (violin with Prof. Midori Goto) with an additional qualification in Elementary Music Education at the University of Music Münster. Alongside her practical experience as a music school teacher in Rheine (violin, EMP, ensemble work, JeKits), she works as an adjunct lecturer for didactics of classroom music-making (strings) at the IfM Osnabrück. Since May 2025, she has been working on her doctorate at the University of Music Münster (supervisors: Prof. Tomoko Akasaka and Prof. Dr. Kerstin Weuthen, RSH Düsseldorf).

Research approach & motivation

She first encountered relative solmization at the age of 12 in the pre-college program (SVA) at the Music and Art School Osnabrück. She came across solmization again during her bachelor's studies. In her later teaching, she found that solmization is hardly established across instrumental pedagogy, even though literature and teaching materials exist. This discrepancy raised central questions for her research: Why is the method used so little in practice, and what exactly do string teachers need in order to use it successfully in beginner lessons?

Research focus

Solmization in beginner string lessons: To answer these questions, the project is embedded in the methodological framework of design-based research (DBR) in order to combine theory and practice. At its center are practice-oriented workshops for string teachers in which they learn the solmization-based method. The teachers then try out the method themselves and reflect on it in a concluding group discussion. The evaluation is carried out by means of a content-structuring qualitative content analysis according to Kuckartz and Rädiker. The resulting insights lead to a redesign of the workshops and the materials.

After the first cycle took place in Rheine in the spring, the revised second cycle will follow in October at the IfM Osnabrück.

Registration is possible until October 1, 2026.

Modern music education faces a fundamental challenge: How can relative solmization be woven into instrumental and vocal pedagogy so naturally that it becomes an intuitive, self-evident tool for teachers and learners alike?

The research goal and its historical roots

At the center is the vision of a solmization-based teaching practice – embodied, among other things, in Solmization-Based Instrumental and String Didactics (SIS) (https://www.hs-osnabrueck.de/prof-hauko-wessel/#c160844). Looking at this approach, a historical question inevitably arises: How could instrumental and vocal pedagogy, over many centuries, have so consistently closed itself off to the great possibilities of relative solmization?

For a long time, the separation of theory and practice and the claim to absoluteness of pure notation dominated. Music was often understood primarily as an optical and mechanical phenomenon (notation fingering pattern) instead of taking the decisive path via inner hearing and relative pitch relationships.

Where does change need to begin?

If this situation is to be overcome for good, an approach at music schools alone falls short. If the teachers trained at universities of music have not internalized the tools of relative solmization themselves, it can hardly take effect across the board in teaching.

The decisive lever therefore lies in the module plans of universities of music and universities. To guarantee real practical suitability, future music teachers must be trained so that they master and use relative solmization as a matter of course. This requires a methodically structured progression over several semesters, accompanied by practice-oriented examination formats such as sight-singing, sight-reading and specific teaching demonstrations.

Current survey: the research consortium with KPH Vienna

To put this reform of university teaching on a solid foundation, a current research consortium together with KPH Vienna is carrying out a central survey: How many semester hours per week (SWS) are actually taught in relative solmization and related relative music-making approaches (such as Ward or Gordon) at German-speaking universities of music and universities?

The results of this consortium provide important insights into the status quo and show where curricula and module structures should be sharpened in order to make the enormous potential of relative solmization usable for professional training.

Further materials, essays and insights into Solmization-Based Instrumental and String Didactics (SIS) can be found at www.hs-osnabrueck.de/prof-hauko-wessel/.