In my orchestra, we (my students and me) sightread at once every three periods. Mainly because it's good for us, and it helps my ADHD. Most kids are scared of doing it, because they really haven't except in assessment situations where they are stressed out with no real training or practice in sightreading.
I make it really into a game. We practice our scales and arpeggios because THEY SHOW UP IN THE MUSIC, so if we are familiar with them, we can focus on MUSIC instead of hitting the right notes at the right time, which is 99% of music for about 95% of students, though. We work on technique and all of the musicality issues to be a better musician, but when you can apply everything correctly at first sight, you got it going on! But when you screw up, you don't give up, you find a spot and jump back in. Nobody dies for making a mistake.
I use a WW2 analogy. When we sightread, we are an Atlanta class AA cruiser fighting an incoming swarm of kamikazes. We just keep shooting. We will probably take some hits, but if we do our best, we'll save the ship, and maybe the entire day and become musical heroes.
I can read about a measure ahead while playing. When conducting sightreading, I try to stay a phrase ahead in my planning. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I'm still here.
In conclusion, I love sightreading.
sight-reading
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Re: sight-reading
One thing about sight reading:
It's only boring when the music is really really bad PLUS really really easy.
It's only boring when the music is really really bad PLUS really really easy.
Re: sight-reading
In 1963, my college band director, Robert Reynolds, gave me some incredible advice that helped me finally get a handle on reading music despite dyslexia and several other challenges.
He told me to find an old hymnal, read one hymn a day, and transpose it into a different key. I started in C and changed keys each day until I had worked through all 12. Then I moved on to the next hymn and repeated the process. I kept that project going for two full years.
By the end of those two years, I could transpose almost anything without much difficulty. Simple rhythms and harmonies had become almost instinctive, and the process taught me how to really use and trust my ear.
The other advice he gave me was to find old method books or simple etude books written for other instruments, particularly material that was below my playing level, and spend 10 to 15 minutes sight-reading from them every day. His thinking was that this was a simple way to train rhythm and reading without overthinking it. Instead of getting bogged down in difficult technique, I could focus entirely on seeing the music, hearing it, and keeping the rhythm moving.
I took that advice seriously and did it every day for four years. It completely changed my playing and, more importantly, changed the way I processed music.
Eventually, I won a four-year contract with the Army Field Band, and I’m almost certain that Robert Reynolds’ advice played a major role in helping me win that job. The sight-reading portion of the audition was difficult, but after years of reading something new every single day, it honestly didn’t feel overwhelming. All of that daily work had done exactly what he said it would do. By that point, so much of the reading process had simply become instinctive.
I miss Robert Reynolds and Harvey Phillips everyday. They both helped me get a career in music.
He told me to find an old hymnal, read one hymn a day, and transpose it into a different key. I started in C and changed keys each day until I had worked through all 12. Then I moved on to the next hymn and repeated the process. I kept that project going for two full years.
By the end of those two years, I could transpose almost anything without much difficulty. Simple rhythms and harmonies had become almost instinctive, and the process taught me how to really use and trust my ear.
The other advice he gave me was to find old method books or simple etude books written for other instruments, particularly material that was below my playing level, and spend 10 to 15 minutes sight-reading from them every day. His thinking was that this was a simple way to train rhythm and reading without overthinking it. Instead of getting bogged down in difficult technique, I could focus entirely on seeing the music, hearing it, and keeping the rhythm moving.
I took that advice seriously and did it every day for four years. It completely changed my playing and, more importantly, changed the way I processed music.
Eventually, I won a four-year contract with the Army Field Band, and I’m almost certain that Robert Reynolds’ advice played a major role in helping me win that job. The sight-reading portion of the audition was difficult, but after years of reading something new every single day, it honestly didn’t feel overwhelming. All of that daily work had done exactly what he said it would do. By that point, so much of the reading process had simply become instinctive.
I miss Robert Reynolds and Harvey Phillips everyday. They both helped me get a career in music.