Author: nellsonic
Date: 2023-11-12 06:46
Sight-reading is learned the same way any kind of reading is, by starting with easy material and doing lots of it on a regular basis until fluency is gained, then reading slightly harder material and going through the cycle again. Rinse and repeat until sightreading is a strength. Then keep doing it to maintain and further develop the skill.
All of my students have subscriptions to MakeMusic (formerly SmartMusic) specifically because it is an excellent platform to practice to fluency on a wide range of material that progresses from very easy to quite difficult.
With MakeMusic, you can work with rhythm reading exercises, sight-reading exercises, method books, solo pieces with accompaniment, and ensemble music (band, orchestra, and jazz band (Tenor Sax 1 is usually the best part to read on clarinet for jazz band - great for rhythmic development). You can read along with the accompaniment/ensemble or with your part being played alone, or totally on your own - all have their place in the process. Playing with the tracks helps to develop tempo stability, intonation, and style - just as playing in an excellent ensemble does. Reading alone develops true independence.
The interface can be slightly frustrating and the piano accompaniment tracks don't sound great. The old SmartMusic from 6 or 8 years ago was much better in that regard, but it's still very worthwhile. I wish I had had something like this when I was a student! The ensemble library is graded by difficulty and quite large. The recordings are all of pros and can be tempo adjusted, looped by section, tracked with a metronome, etc.
That said, you also need to develop vocabulary outside of just sightreading. That's where technical studies (scales, arpeggios, etc.) come in. Etudes are the middle ground between pure technical studies and actual music (although good etudes can also be good music!). Sightreading easier etudes and working for a full week each on a succession of harder ones keeps developing the brain's ability to link technical elements together fluently.
I would advise starting with sightreading material that you can be about 90% accurate on and moving to harder material once your average at that level is above 95%. Don't avoid hard music altogether, especially if you have an audition coming up that involves sight-reading, but sticking primarily with easier things for some months in the beginning will yield better results in the long-run. Remember the goal is fluency, so practice reading with some degree of that. Struggling through things note by note can be beneficial at times and is often necessary in certain phases of music life, but it's not really the way to develop actual sight-reading skills.
Bottom line - work for fluency, which means working regularly with a variety of materials and levels, but mostly at a rather moderate level of challenge. Enjoy the process as you observe how a 'moderate level of challenge' advances over the months and years. Along the way you'll hopefully enjoy getting to play lots of nice stuff.
Anders
Post Edited (2023-11-12 07:17)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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