 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: c@p
Date: 2004-02-10 03:34
No one has ever told me how to practice sight reading except to sight read as much as possible. OK. That makes sense to me.
Should I try to read at a slow speed to make sure I am accurate and then slowly build up
or
Should I try to read fast and slow down to accommodate my current skills and then build up again as I can
or
What would you suggest?
BTW, it seems to me that if one practices what one just sight read one is no longer sight reading. Just a thought. Any comment?
Thanks
C@p
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2004-02-10 04:33
1) Don't stop in the middle of a piece. Make yourself keep going, start to finish.
2) Don't bite off more than you can chew, at least to start. Sight read at a speed a bit faster than you are comfortable with, but not so fast that you miss everything.
3) Read ahead. Try to see, read, and prepare the notes before it comes to play them. With time, you'll be able to read more notes ahead.
4) Downbeats. No matter what, know where the downbeats are, and play them.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-02-10 15:59
C@p -
There's playing and faking, and you have to be able to do both.
When you're sight-reading, your purpose is to keep going, no matter what. It helps to have a better player with you, whom you can catch up with when you get your fingers tangled up.
This doesn't work, and shouldn't be used, when you're developing your technique by working on scales and arpeggios. That is, you'll find that you can play a scale exercise at a slow tempo, and get through it at a quick tempo, but in between there will be a "sticking point" where you repeatedly break down. Anything faster is faking. If you fake your way through this material, what you're practicing is playing inaccurately and without control.
Faking is great when you need to get through something, but it's the downfall of anyone who wants to be a pro. I suggest that it's at the center of what SWK meant when he said http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=133733&t=133716 that the #1, #2 and #3 things that count in auditions are "rhythm and time."
What separates pros from amateurs is that they have worked their way through the basics so that they can play them at high speed, perfectly even an accurate, every time.
Once you learn to do that, the scale and chord patterns are "in your fingers." You recognize them as groups of 4, 8, 16 notes or more. This lets you play tonal music at sight, because you already know the patterns. This is the right way to improve your sight reading.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: paulwl
Date: 2004-02-10 16:48
*** deleted by poster *** -P.
Post Edited (2004-02-14 14:05)
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-02-10 20:33
One things certain about sight reading ... you're either "born" to do it, or you struggle with it ... and if the later's the case then you're probably very good at memorizing.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-02-10 21:20
Quote:
and if the later's the case then you're probably very good at memorizing. Very true . . . however it's worse when you're not that great at either. Then you know you have an even TOUGHER road ahead. . .
US Army Japan Band
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-02-10 21:39
sfalexi ... just keep chipping away ... I find my best practise time is in the morning when my brain's fresh - not in the evening after a day's events.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-02-10 21:52
Thanks Diz. You're right, it's slow progress. But I know that I am progressing. I see the difference from last year to now. And hope that if I continue that I'll see the difference in another year! And by the time I'm brave enough and settled enough to earn a music performance degree as a part-time student I hope to be able to blow those young high school whipper-snappers out of their holey socks!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2004-02-11 23:32
There was an excellent article on sight-reading in the last issue of the Clarinet magazine.
At first, try to look at one note ahead of where your fingers are-you should never be looking at the note you are actually playing. Then try to see groups of notes-these might be scales, arpeggios, phrases or rhythmic groupings.
Take advantage of long notes and rests to look ahead-many students stop looking, counting, thinking, and blowing whenever there is a rest or a long note.
Choose an appropriate tempo that will allow you to look ahead without stopping-if you have to stop you are going too fast.
Study solfege. This is not the same as sight-singing-you don't sing, you say the name of the notes. There are many excellent French solfege etudes. You learn to read all the clefs and there are constant clef changes, then when you go back to treble clef everything seems much easier.
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Author: atl4413
Date: 2004-02-12 01:09
Very good suggestions, especially those from Ken S. & Elmo L.
I wish that I had access to this board in 1983 (8th gr.) when I had music thrust in my hand at my first Solo & Ensemble......
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Author: c@p
Date: 2004-02-12 03:13
Thanks to all who contributed (or will contribute) to this thead.
Elmo, is the Clarinet Magazine articel on line somewhere?
Thanks
C@p
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Author: Ben
Date: 2004-02-12 03:16
Don't forget transpositions!!! I recently had an audition where I was asked to do some sightreading (which I played very well), and then I was asked to sight read a bit more a whole step up (Bb to C clarinet), which I had a couple mistakes with...
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