Laying foundations for sight-reading facility

Why teach sight-reading?

Reading facility is not just a useful additional skill for
a musician to have: it is in a sense, necessary for full
membership of the musical community
(Sloboda, Exploring the Musical Mind, 2005)

In the normal course of a teaching day a

considerable amount of time is spent simply
correcting mistakes caused , mostly, by poor, insecure
or lazy music reading. The development of this skill
will prevent valuable time being wasted on tedious
note learning, and thus allow you to focus on the
musical essence of the piece.
(Harris and Crozier, The Music Teachers Companion, 2000)

A definition of sight-reading
Sight-reading is music which is understood or
performed on sight, without previous familiarity or
preparation (Websters Student Dictionary, 1996).

What is meant by understood?

visual/ aural/ kinaesthetic

 Sight-reading is a skill like any other and can

therefore be taught, practised and developed.
Often, sight-reading is not taught systematically or in
any depth, being introduced to a pupil in the few
weeks leading up to an exam with limited guidance.
Sight-reading skills and technique/ability to play
repertoire are often at different levels.

Multi-tasking
adapted from Paul Harris, Improve Your Teaching, 2006

Notes and
melodic
patterns

Rhythm

Technique,
eg fingering,
bowing,
articulation

Aural

Remembering
the key

Verbalising

Reading
ahead

However, some pupils struggle to decipher both pitch and

rhythm at the same time, let alone multi-task with all the
other elements involved.

Sightsinging

Sightreading

Towards theoretical knowledge and audiation

Rhythm

Pitch

Beats, bars, note lengths,

rests, time signatures,
ties, syncopation

Stave, clefs, note names,

ledger lines, steps, leaps,
repeated notes, intervals,
key signatures,
accidentals

Tempo,
Pulse and
Rhythm

Key,
Melody
and
Phrasing

Continuity
and
Accuracy

Structure,
Expression
and
Character

Suggest a teaching activity/strategy which could help

prepare a beginner pupil to sight-read this:

What stages would a pupil need to go through/learn before

being ready to confidently sight-read a rhythmic exercise
like this?

Teaching and Practice Strategies 1

Tempo, Pulse and Rhythm

Choose a realistic
tempo and always
set the pulse

Dont just start!

Remember to count
in for several bars

Try to hear/sing the

rhythm of the
opening bars in
your head

Look for repeated or

recurring rhythmic
patterns

Continue to count in
your head
throughout

Practise clapping
the rhythm against
the pulse

Practise playing the

rhythm on one note

What teaching ideas can you suggest for these melodic

exercises?

Teaching and Practice Strategies 2

Key, Melody and Phrasing

Always observe
the key signature

Identify which scale

the piece is based
on. Encourage
pupils to think in the
key

Look out for

accidentals how
do these affect the
key?

Look for repeated or

recurring melodic
patterns. Practise
singing/internalising

Try to hear/sing the

melody of the
opening bars in
your head

How long are the

phrases? Equal or
unequal lengths?
Anacrusis or not?

Notice when the

music moves in
steps, leaps or
repeated notes

What stages would a pupil need to go through/learn before

being ready to confidently sight-read/sing a melodic
exercise like this?

Teaching and Practice Strategies 3

Structure, Expression and Character

Always scan the

music right through
to the end

Identify the
structure

Check out phrase

lengths, articulation
marking, meanings
of words

Look for loud quiet/

sections - how can
phrases be
shaped?

Ensure the pupil

knows the
meaning of repeat
signs, DS, DC al
Fine, Coda

Can the pupil

understand these
and perform them
all out of context?

Can the pupil play

with character and
communicate the
mood/message?

Helping anxious pupils

Aim to make sight-reading the norm rather than
introducing it just before an examination.
Ask pupils what they are thinking and feeling, and
specifically what they find difficult.
Let pupils know that its ok to make a mistake as long as
they dont backtrack to correct it.
Emphasise the fact that a sight-read performance
featuring strong pulse and mostly correct rhythm is
preferable to one with frequent lapses, even if there are
some incorrect notes.

Teaching and Practice Strategies 4

Continuity and Accuracy

Always read a
few notes ahead.
(Pupils will find
their own pace)

Dont assume
that beginners
know to read
from left to right!

Can pupils read

rhythms and note
patterns fluently?

Discourage
backtracking

Can pupils match

note symbol to
fingering AND
name the notes?

Practise
increasing speed
and accuracy

Encourage
positive thinking
and self-belief

Tempo,
Pulse and
Rhythm

Key,
Melody
and
Phrasing

Continuity
and
Accuracy

Structure,
Expression
and
Character

Useful websites
https://sightreadingfactory.com/
http://www.practicesightreading.com/
http://sightreadingmastery.com/
http://thepracticeroom.net/