Who Levelled Up in My First Sight-reading Challenge?

October has come and gone and Stage One of my Sight-reading Challenge is behind us. It was an interesting experience for my students and I. Here are our Stage One Results:

• 72% did 4/4 weekly challenges

• 12% did extra songs

• 40% advanced one level

• 16% advanced two levels

• 8% advanced three levels

• 36 % stayed at the same same level

As for me, I didn't do nearly as well as I had hoped. It took me two weeks to clear my first challenge because of a nasty cold. In the end, I got through three pieces but not well enough to move my pin up a notch on the game board.

My adult students and Grade 12 students were in the same boat as me. There just wasn't enough time or energy to get through all of the challenges. I will have to plan how to make this work more effectively in Stage Two.

I was able to take advantage of the post-Halloween candy sales and give away some of my excess Halloween candy. Not only that, I did get regular and jumbo sized chocolate bars on sale too. It still wound up costing about $30, but I have lots of leftovers.

The funny part about this sight-reading experience is that my students have been asking why they didn't have a sight-reading challenge during Week 1 of our rest period. I suppose they got used to it.

The nice side benefit that I am seeing is that more of my students are taking the initiative to learn some songs on their own. Not just one song, but two or three. Others have taken to signing out some music books from my studio library and sight-reading music from cover to cover on their own.

Another student is using this time off to relearn all of her favourite songs from last year. She thought it was fun. I thought it was a fantastic way for her to relearn and reinforce information and techniques that she had forgotten about.

I have two weeks to prepare for the next sight-reading challenge for my students. It has been a great project for all of my students (and for me too!).

Now that I know how much time is involved with picking out pieces, I will get everything all selected in advance. Wish me luck.

Related Reading:

Efficient Sight Reading by Li-San

Improving Your Sight-reading by Melanie Spanswick

Why Sight-Reading is Important by Robert Estrin

Sight-reading Music for Fun

Summer music practicing should be fun, don't you think so? One way that I've been keeping it light but still maintaining my skills is to sight-read. I recently bought a bunch of music while at the music teachers' convention. I plan on doing book reviews on most of them, so I've decided to sight-read my way through them. Sure, some of it is easy peasy for me, but there are enough books in my "To Read" pile that do remind me to utilize the sight-reading tips that my colleagues and I give to our students.

It's been an adventure. I'm not familiar with all the composers or the pieces in these new books so I have no idea where the composers are going to take me.

Give it a try. If you are in need of sheet music to sight-read, head to your local library to borrow some song books. You can also visit your local music store. If you want to buy some music online, there's always Sheetmusic Plus and Musicnotes. Happy exploring!

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

(c) 2007 by Musespeak(tm), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.