Random Sight-Reading Exercises to Boost Music Literacy

Growing up, I was extremely jealous of my classmate Trish Evans. She probably has no idea.

Trish could improvise at the drop of a hat and make up songs that had our classmates gushing over her skills. On the other hand, I felt compelled to play everything as written and suffered stage fright up until university.

Then, I heard that Trish formed a rock band. A really cool one, called Zoey's Closet. Meanwhile, I talked myself out of joining jazz band because lead sheets and improvising scared the bejeebers out of me.

I have since taken a bit of jazz piano and rely on lead sheet reading to get me through choir more often than not. Progress.

Trish and I caught up over tea and talked shop last month. She told me about her piano teacher's efforts to improve Trish's music literacy (great ear, weaker reading skills at the time).

For the first 15 minutes of each lesson, Trish's teacher made her sight-read random music. Sometimes, the pieces were several levels above her playing level. Other times, just below.

While she was sight-reading, Trish's teacher would give comments to guide her. The teacher would play each excerpt before assigning a new one. It gave Trish a way to measure what she sight-read well (and what she didn't).

Last month, I tried this out with my "weaker" readers. My strategy has been to make the first piece several levels above their current one. The second one is closer to their current level, while the third (if there is time) is below their reading level. I drag my finger across my bookcase and stop at a random spot.

This is not the first time that I've heard about starting each lesson with sight-reading. One of my university classmates, Gregory Knight, had lessons like this too. Now, he works as an accompanist at the University of Lethbridge. His sight-reading skills are top notch, which is a useful skill as an accompanist.

I have already noticed an improvement in their musical literacy. A fringe benefit has been that these students are starting to work on music independently. Two of them walked in last week with a new piece to show off to me.

This week, we will begin the second stage of my sight-reading challenge. It will be interesting to see how my so-called "weak" readers will perform this time round.

The Sight-Reading Challenge

One of the presenters at the CFMTA "Music Inspires" Teachers' Convention, Alessandra DeCienzo, gave an inspiring presentation called, "Love at First Sight". She shared several ideas and activities that she has used in her studio to improve sight-reading.

One of the ideas was a year-round sight-reading challenge. Each week, students would have a sight-reading assignment. Exam students participated in a less strenuous variation of this, completing their sight-reading assignments at their leisure.

I decided to do a variation of her weekly challenge this year. Instead of running it year-round, I have set four stages, which take place in October, December, February and April. That gives all of us a one-month reprieve to explore other areas.

All of us (yes, me too!) have a pin on my game board:

How the Sight-Reading Challenge Works

We all are starting approximately four levels below our current playing level. It is my hope that my students will be able to comfortably sight-read music at their current playing level by April, or get to one level below it. In the process, I also hope that my slower readers will be able to "level up".

This month, I have been assigning spooky music for sight-reading. My students have the option to officially learn the music once they've "cleared" the sight-reading challenge for a piece. Like Alessandra DiCienzo's students, my students are to play the piece once per practice, without any pauses or corrections.

If they can do that at their next lesson, then they've cleared the challenge of the week and move onto the next one. Some of my students are still on the first challenge, while others are already working on a bonus challenge.

As for incentives, they are working for treats. If they clear only one assignment in the month, they get a small candy. If they complete their four and choose up to three extra songs to do for the bonus challenge, they will the equivalent of a giant chocolate bar.

Repertoire Selection for the Sight-Reading Challenge

Selecting the pieces for the sight-reading challenge has been an adventure and a chore. Thankfully, Alessandra shared some excellent links. Plus I have a growing list of online music teaching resources to draw from. Here are some of them: IMSLP Petrucci Music Library, Wikifonia, Susan Paradis Piano Teaching Resources, G Major Music Theory and Debbie Dee. I keep track of my selections on a spreadsheet saved on Google Drive, complete with the URL's.

In December, we will explore seasonal music: Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. We'll either do romantic or wintry music in February and spring-themed music in April.

I have found that this is a great way to introduce students to different styles of music, cultures and different notation (i.e., standard versus a lead sheet or a sheet of chords). In this way, I hope that my students learn that sight-reading doesn't have to be a chore. It can be an exciting adventure.

Springtime Sightreading

Sight-reading isn't my strong suit. As a piano accompanist and choir member, sight-reading is a survival skill.

I've decided to work through the keyboard binders for my church choir as my piano sight-reading practice. Sometimes, I'll start by running through the harmonies. Other times, I set the metronome on and barrel right through the music. And then other times, I just pick a comfortable tempo to read at.

One thing I should do more is sight-sing. When I sing or conduct, I do try to sight-sing. Let's just say that it's a work in progress.

I still have my sight-singing book from university: Boosey and Hawkes 333 Elementary Exercises In Sight Singing - Kodaly Choral Method (Standard). It's been helpful - when I remember to use it.

look inside

333 Elementary Exercises in Sight Singing Composed by Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967). Arranged by Percy Young. BH Kodaly. The Kodaly Choral Method. Edited with annotations by Dr. Percy Young. 20th Century, Instructional and Sight Reading. Instructional book (softcover). 36 pages. Boosey & Hawkes #M051305209. Published by Boosey & Hawkes (HL.48002815).

Sight Reading Tips

Busy week - three posts from me. I've had to do some research for students so I have lots of information to share this week. A while back, one of my beginner students (and her dad) asked me why we had to work on sight reading (playing something you haven't seen before). The easy answer? It makes you a better musician.

There is a practical reason to why students are tested in this area.I told my student that there will be times that she's at a social function, ensemble rehearsal or school when someone will place unfamiliar music in front of her and say, "Play this."

I have a handful of students who need work in this area. We've been spending a lot of time lately going through a passage several times, with them focussing on one area (rhythm, touch, melody, dynamics, etc.) before trying to put all the elements together. Some of them look at me funny when I say, "For the first time through, don't bother getting any of the notes right." It helps though because it lifts the pressure off their shoulders to get it perfect.

Sight reading is also one of my weak spots. Since I've been teaching, I have been improving steadily. Some things I've learned along the way are:

• Look for patterns, be they melodic, rhythmic or harmonic

• Ditch "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" and all those other phrases to remember note names. Follow the note heads instead, reading intervallically, e.g., C then up a step, then down a skip, etc.

• Getting the rhythm and keeping a steady beat is more important than getting every note right.

• You have to practice sight reading - start easy and work your way up.

• Learn to play by feel - without having to look at your hands.

Here are more useful tips in these articles:

Some Tips on Sight Reading More Tips on Sight Reading Sight Reading Studio 1.0 Software

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