Ask an Expert: Archive Q: What are some good techniques and or guides, tips, or comments to help me improve my sight reading? A: That is a great question, Shawna! The short answer is simply to make yourself sight read every single day as part of your practice routine-maybe spend 15-20 minutes warming up, and then spend 15 minutes simply reading out of a flute method book on marimba, or out of one of the Goldenberg books, or whatever might be around. Sight reading is a skill, and it has to be developed--just like all of the other skill sets we have to develop. And unfortunately it doesn't happen overnight. In the meantime, here are a couple of starting points that might make the process more fun and productive for you! 1) Go slowly at first, and don't start off trying to sight-read Exotic Birds. You want to build confidence, so pick some readable literature and set your metronome to a tempo that gives you a great shot at playing things accurately in all aspects (time, sound production, consistency, dynamics, etc.)--you can always ratchet up your tempos later. And don't stop for anything, period (missed notes, missed rhythms--just keep on going). 2) Don't worry about what people will think of you when you miss notes while sight-reading "Hot Cross Buns Variations" or something like that. You're in the practice room for a reason, and you have to let go of the "they're going to think (who are "they" anyway?) I'm sounding horrible" baggage. I mean, would you rather make a mistake in the practice room and nail something in a recording or reading session, or the other way around? And chances are you’ll be in the practice room more at this point than the recording studio, so take advantage of the opportunity to work and make mistakes that don’t cost you anything. 3) I learned this from Eric Sammut's recent PASIC clinic-just stand in front of the marimba and look at the music stand in front of you and concentrate on just how much of the keyboard you can see without looking down at it. Pretty amazing! Try not to let yourself look down when you’re reading, lest you train yourself to "hunt and peck", and finally you might keep a journal of your progress and thoughts during the process--I used to do this for all kinds of things (orchestra auditions, recitals, etc.) when I was in school. Keep working hard and good things will follow! A: I recommend making sight reading a regular part of your practice routine. I got in the habit of reading with friends at the end of my practice day when I was in school at Eastman. It was a great way to "warm down" and reading with others is, in my opinion, the best way to improve this skill. I say this because when we practice sight reading alone we tend to do just that, "practice". What I mean is that our natural instinct is to stop and fix mistakes instead of pushing through. This is vital. One of the main things I look for in a good reader is the ability to keep a steady tempo even if it means glazing over a couple notes here and there. Learning to be better sight readers is all about learning to look ahead and absorb more material. We should always be looking at notes 2 beats to a measure in front of the notes we are actually playing. If you were to read a sentence out loud I think you would notice that the words you are speaking are NOT the words you are actually looking at. Your eyes are most likely several words ahead of the ones you are vocalizing. This same aptitude is what makes for a good sight reader. We should be training ourselves to always look ahead, not getting caught up in the minutia of a difficult passage. Reading with others enforces this concept. Another good way to practice this skill is to have a friend hold an index card over the notes you are playing to force you to look ahead. Start with the card covering a couple beats and push yourself to an entire measure eventually. Michael Burritt |
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Siwe Guide to Solo and Ensemble Literature Literature, Recordings and Video Reviews |
