 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2017-08-20 07:01
How do people practice sight reading? Do you try to read unfamiliar music at its marked tempo, and keep going forward despite mistakes? When you get a new piece or a new book, do you take the opportunity to try and sight read it? Are there sources of unfamiliar music to use but not necessarily buy for the purpose of learning?
I've got a pile of music I bought years ago in my "first incarnation", before a little 32-year break from playing. Most of it is at least unfamiliar now, and some of it I don't recall at all, though I must have at least read individual pieces through once. The other day I reached into the middle of the pile and grabbed a piece that I must have bought, though I don't even remember having ever heard of it before: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 22, by Iain Hamilton. I proceeded to sight read it, not quite dogmatically, stopping a few times at difficult or interesting spots.
It was fun to do, though whether the exercise made me a better sight reader is debatable. I didn't do too terribly. The piece is quite fascinating, but I won't be working on it systematically any time soon. I'll probably repeat the experiment with other pulls from the pile.
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Author: tucker ★2017
Date: 2017-08-20 16:00
Similar experience with me... long absence. I subscribed to SmartMusic.com. It has method books, exercises, including sight reading, lots of other music with accompaniment, if you want to use it. Interactive capabilities with a clip on microphone. I've found it to be very helpful for at home practicing.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2017-08-20 17:00
I've always encouraged students to use etude books to practice sight reading but you can use any music of course. I suggest music that are noto easy for you but not something thats far to difficult but music that is possible to play at your level. The basic principal to sight reading is to learn to be able to read ahead, looking a few notes ahead of what your actually playing, even a measure or two depending on how many notes are in a measure. Probably the same concept as speed reading, which i can't do, but I can be playing one measure while seeing the next. It takes concentration and determination to force yourself to read ahead.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-08-20 17:46
Sight reading depends on 3 things - concentration, technique and sense of musical pulse and meter. I think that sight reading as an exercise is good for helping to build all three, which makes sight reading on a regular basis an important part of maintaining or building performing skill. So I don't practice sight reading so much as an end in itself but as a means to skill maintenance.
If you do a lot of playing, you probably get a fair amount of new material on a regular basis to provide for some sight reading regularly. But most of the time when you play in performing ensembles the programs are known, music is available and the need to sight read occurs only once, hopefully before (not at) the first rehearsal, so performance-oriented activity may not provide much ongoing sight reading opportunity.
IMSLP is a treasure trove of sight reading material - solo and chamber literature, orchestra parts and unfamiliar etude books are all there free of charge. You can read the PDFs from a tablet on your stand or print them out at minimal cost.
Karl
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Author: echi85
Date: 2017-08-20 20:07
In my opinion, sight reading is a skill comparable to language. When you read a language you are fluent it, you do not look at every single letter. You see larger, familiar patterns that register instantaneously in your mind. The goal is be able to do this with music.
My suggestion would be to learn familiar patterns. Baermann Book 3, particularly the Southern Music/David Hite edition is essential. The entire book outlines the majority of patterns found in tonal music. If you practice the book enough to where the patterns become permanent, your sight reading capability will be greatly improved. The beauty of practicing this way is that at some point you don't need to do more. All of us have stopped practicing our alphabet.
The Stark Arpeggio studies would be a continuation after Baermann. Both of these books are strengthening the connection between your eye and your hands. If you have to consciously think about a note and a fingering, you do not have fluency. More practice is needed.
In addition to the notes, you need to read different rhythms I recommend etudes, particularly slow Rose etudes. The Jettel and Uhl etudes are great at this. Once you understand the pattern of rhythms, your sight reading will also be greatly improved.
Lastly, I would encourage you to read scores. You can sit down with a score and a recording at first. I find reading multiple lines in multiple clefs greatly improved my reading capability. At some point, you learn to read without your instrument.
I've had to fill in several times in the past years at the last minute because someone got injured or was ill. I remember having to read the 1st clarinet part for Tristan und Isolde on 20 minutes notice in concert. I had about 3 hours to learn the 1st clarinet part for the Nutcracker in concert. If I had not build fluency in reading music, I doubt I could have been successful in these situations.
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