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Comprehensive Sight-reading for Singers
Authors: Celia Strebendt, William Verity
Grades: 6-12
Overview:
The ability to sight-read (sing or play at sight with minimal prior auditory input) is essential to allperforming musicians at all levels. The ability to sight-read with accuracy dramatically reduces the time spent inlearning either solo or ensemble literature. Without this ability, the musician is reduced to rote learning thatrequires an additional person to play the desired tonal material, and requires that the student in questionpossesses an excellent tonal memory. Tonal memory is not necessarily reliable over time; therefore, theaccuracy of the music to be performed comes into question.
Imagine how students would perform on an academic test if they had to rely only on material that wasread to them! All musicians, both instrumentalists and singers, need to know how to sight-read.Instrumentalists need to audiate performance materials in order to assess accuracy.Singers have an additional burden: they do not have the mechanical (tactile) advantage of theinstrumentalists in that they cannot depress, for example, a certain number of fingers and be somewhat assuredthat a certain note will play.
In order for singers to accurately sight-read, they must know in advance the tonalrelationship between scale degrees and intervals. (note combinations) The use of the “moveable Do” solfegemethod and the rhythmic counting method espoused by the PCSD Music Department helps singers to developthese skills so that they can become independent singers.The focus of this project is to integrate a comprehensive sight-reading program into the 6 – 12 gradechoral ensembles.
The purpose of this program is not only to establish a Middle School to High School overallcurriculum, but also to allow for a seamless “hand-off”, specifically, between grades 8 and 9.