Sight
Reading
By:
Julia Crawford
Table
of contents
Page 2
Know your
Instrument
Page 3
know your sight
Reading level
Page 4 Finding your
Music
Page 5 what
to check
Before starting
Page 6 the
importance of
Sight
reading
Page 7
why is tempo
Important
Page 8
including sight reading
To
your practice
Page 9
Bibliography
Know
Your Instrument
Sight
reading is very important part of everyday practice. It helps us to learn the
notes of our instruments better which overall helps us to learn songs, or
pieces quicker.
This
may sound exciting to do, but before be dive into it lets go over the basics.
To sight read anything you have to know the following terms:
1. notes
2. staff
3. tempo
4. key
signature
5. clef
If you donÕt
know these terms, or simply forget, letÕs brush away the cobwebs and start
reviewing. Notes are the indications that tell you where to sing or play on your
instruments. These notes are written on a staff. A staff is the set of 5
lines and four spaces where the clef and key signatures along with the music is
written. A clef is the symbols that tell us if the music is written in the
higher octaves or lower octaves. Key signature is the
sharps or clefs that are indicated in the beginning of a piece of music. These sharps
or clefs are held out through the whole piece unless otherwise instructed. The
tempo is the last and one of the most important things when it comes to sight
reading. Tempo is how fast or slow you play a piece of music (page 7). Great!
Now that we have refreshed our memories, were ready to start!
Know your sight reading level
Knowing
your sight reading level will help you in many ways if you are online searching
for sight reading music. When rating your sight reading level you need music,
right? There are 6 levels of sight reading. Level 6 is more experienced then
level one. First you need to go to:
www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/freebies.html
There is free sheet music on this
website. Scroll down past Òfirst piecesÓ and Òprimer piecesÓ and you will see levels
one through four consecutively and Òkeyboard classicsÓ. Print out 1 piece from
every level including Òkeyboard classicsÓ. Play every piece at a slow tempo.
The piece that was difficult but not impossible will be the piece in your sight
reading level.
If
you play another instrument or sing, then you can do about the same thing. Look
on google.com or another search website for free sight reading music. If youÕre
lucky, you may find a website with difficulty levels. You might want to ask
your teacher about getting a sight reading book. You can also take a flash into
the past and search through your old books. Never play a piece or sing a song
more then once when you are sight reading
Finding
your music
It is
important to find the right music. You always want to find music that is
difficult but not impossible. You might want to ask your teacher about getting
a sight reading book. You can also take a flash into the past and search
through your old books. Never play a piece or sing a song more then once in a
month when you are sight reading. This is important because then you are not
improving your sight reading, your improving the piece. You want to be able to
have a new piece set in front of you and be able to play most if not all of it.
Some books or series that you may want to look into for sight reading are:
What
to check before starting
Wait! Where almost ready to
start but there are some things that you might want to check before diving in.
first check your posture. Are you sitting up straight? Are you standing with
your feet shoulder width apart? Is your head looking straight forward? If not
then raise your stand and sit up straight! You always want to be prepared to
use a lot of breath. You never know what the piece has to offer. Did you check
the key signature? Now that we reviewed what it is, you should defiantly check.
If you donÕt you may end up playing the piece very wrong. Accidentals are the
sharps, flats, or naturals that are thrown in to a piece to make the sound
softer on the ear. Are there any accidentals in your piece? Finally make sure
you start at a slow tempo (page 7). DonÕt stop while playing through a piece!
The
importance of sight reading
Why do I have to practice
sight reading? This is a question that you might be asking your self. Sight
reading is very important. When your teacher puts a
piece of music in front of you, can you play or sing it perfectly. No because
no ones perfect! But can you play it well? That is the purpose of sight
reading. When you practice sight reading it is getting a new piece of music in
front of you and playing it to the best of your ability. Some day you will need
to apply that to the real world so when you do get a piece of music you will
learn it faster.
The importance
Of tempo
Tempo
is very important when it comes to sight reading. When you play a piece or sing
a song with a fast tempo you are bound to mess up. When you start on a new
piece of music you are bound to mess up. You need to slow down. This will
help you tremendously. Because you can not stop while playing through a piece
or singing you need to go slow. If you were to be evaluated on sight reading
you want to be able to play as many notes correctly and sign your runs
correctly and look for the key signature and accidentals so you need to play or
sing slowly! So before you start count out your tempo in your head so you
donÕt start off playing quickly out of nervousness or just not preparing your
self before you start.
Including
sight reading into your practice
Now you are
almost ready to start. Before you do you must make a commitment that you will
actually practice your sight readingÉ every day! It will only take 5-15 minutes
of your practicing time. That isnÕt too much to ask now is it? Now youÕre
ready. You have refreshed your memory and you learned something new today! Now
next time that you go to have a lesson with your teacher I am sure that you
will impress him or her very much. Since you have committed go and play away or
sing until your lungs give out. Just remember to have fun!
Bibliography
www.dictionary.com
www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/freebies.html
http://www.geocities.com/mecmirror/sight.htm
