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.

Variations on a Theme of Detail-work

Variation 1: Some of my students have given up chocolate, computer playtime and junk food for Lent. I've decided to give up procrastinating, namely, procrastinating on my bookkeeping.Inputting regular expenses and payments is no problem, so long as I don't let it pile up. The thing is, I do let it pile up. Then, mistakes happen. More like - 33 mistakes that need to be fixed before I hand over things to my accountant to file my income tax return.

On one hand, it's fun to be a sleuth. On the other hand, I wish I hadn't procrastinated so much. My head hurts from going through past entries to find out where the breakdown occurred. I fixed three this evening. The jury is still out whether Quickbooks is my friend or my foe.

Variation 2: One of my Iaido buddies - a pretty smart 15-year old - asked me to take a look at his arrangement of Handel's Sarabande in d minor. He took this keyboard piece and arranged it for string orchestra. Joe asked me to tweak it a bit. I enjoyed playing with the variations - adding more dialogue between the instruments so much so that I remembered how much fun it is to arrange.

Variation 3: One of my students has come up with a beautiful song, which is stuck in her musical ear. Her theoretical knowledge isn't at the same level as her musical ear, so I'm helping her transcribe it before she performs at the upcoming music festivals. Talk about a feat in ear training - rhythmic, harmonic and melodic dictation all rolled up into one. I haven't worked this hard since university on a dictation exercise!

Author's note: Click here to learn more about "theme & variations".

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

On Sturm und drang - Second Movement

Perhaps the spirit of my former piano teacher Irina Ginzburg was hovering as I was filling out my own registration form for the APTA Festival. She would want me to challenge myself. Before I could stop myself, I registered for the Teacher Recital class, which means three songs. It's not too scary, at least, I hope it isn't. It's just that I now have to add two senior level pieces to my practice list (on top of students' songs and gig repertoire...to practice in the wee hours in the night).

I'm pretty happy with my selections. I've been meaning to learn Chopin's Nocturne in e minor, op. 72 #1 for years; ever since I heard it in the Hallmark TV production of The Secret Garden. It's only four pages - however, the return of the A theme is a doozy! I've sightread Bartok's Bagatelle, op. 6 #5 before and find the rhythms catchy. Hey, if I can sightread it - then it's do-able. Both songs are Gr. 10 level, which provides a bit of a challenge without taking too much time. The final selection is Houki Boshi (Comet). It's one of the theme songs from the Japanese show Bleach. I plan on embellishing and improvising a bit, something which I already do with it.

The question is whether or not I will memorize all the songs. I'll play that by ear.

So all in all, not too bad. It's still added sturm und drang though. When to practice?

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

On Sturm und Drang

"Sturm und drang" - "storm and stress" - these words not only apply to music, but to other aspects of life.

It's amazing how much "sturm und drang" in one's personal life affects other areas. Things are settling down on the home front. One of my room-mates moved out earlier in the month. Let's just say that things really didn't work out. The house has regained its tranquil feel. I no longer have the urge to play the most dissonant music on the planet at triple fortissimo (although it was great stress relief). Maestro and my remaining room-mate have a spring to their step once again. I've been playing perky songs.

Most of my students are heading into festival/exam season in a pretty good position, with most of their repertoire and technical requirements memorized. Each year, we get better at timing. The main challenge now is to help the students take their music to the next level of musicianship and expression without them peaking too soon before performance day. There are a couple of students who could go either way. If they buckle down now, they will do fine on the exam. If they don't...the road will be very stormy and stressful indeed.

For the first time in APTA Festival history, the organizers are offering a Teacher performance class. I've been humming and hawing whether to learn something new or enter one of my senior student's songs, which I must practice anyway. I've got a few days to decide. With another busy year on the ARMTA Calgary Board ahead of me, I will most likely pick something that will provide enough of a challenge without undue stress.

Thankfully the Calgary Iaido Club has decided to host a seminar on Niten Ichi Ryu instead of both the seminar and the national Iaido Tournament. As exciting as the latter would have been to host, it would have been a challenge for us to make it work for this year.

All in all, life if back to a manageable level of sturm und drang.

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

On Group Classes & Boomwhackers

On the weekend, Maestro and I held two intermediate group classes for the piano kids. Although I'm sure we all would have loved to sleep in on Saturday, it seemed like everyone was having a good time.There were seven junior intermediate students in the morning class. They introduced themselves by setting their names to a rhythm and joining in one person at a time. The polyrhythms meshed together nicely.

The kids then played a song they are currently working on - a kind of "show and tell". The student in the audience, armed with markers, wrote down words or sketched something to describe what they were hearing. Two students played their songs twice - once according to the original score and a second time with their version; a shy pixie who played The Mouse in the Coal Bin by Charles Peerson and one of my hardest working students played The Prowling Pussy Cat by William Gillock. They succeeded in their performances as the others described them as "sneaky", "sly" and "mysterious."

The afternoon class was comprised of four of my senior intermediate students. They enjoyed playing with the Boomwhackers (far more than they enjoyed playing for each other). I jotted down the letter names of the notes to a famous tune on the whiteboard, such as Aloha, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mary Had a Little Lamb. Each student was in charge of two notes. Without speaking, they had to sightread the notes and come in at the right time. We had to repeat the songs a few times before they became recognizable, but it was a fun process.

Maestro was in seventh heaven. He managed to steal the bongo drums a couple of times in class and play them with his paws. He has this "scratch, scratch, pat, pat, arf arf, flip the drums over"rhythm that he likes. He snagged the tambourine once as well. Yes, Maestro is a bit of a show off.

I wish my piano teachers held group classes when I was younger. The social interaction and the music games really get the kids going. At the end of the last class, I overheard one of my students asking the rest of the students for their e-mail addresses so they could keep in touch.

Now that's a great idea.

Boomwhackers and Resources:

look inside

Boom 'n' Tunes: Just for Fun Composed by Linda Forrest. Novelty. Accompaniment CD, reproducible. Heritage Music Press #30/1946H. Published by Heritage Music Press (LO.30-1946H).

look inside

Boom 'n' Tunes: Easy Folk Tunes Composed by Linda Forrest. Accompaniment CD, reproducible. Heritage Music Press #30/1947H. Published by Heritage Music Press (LO.30-1947H).