For all of us this can be a painful topic. We have all been in the situation where we need to learn a tune fast and either haven't had the skill to do it, or watched as others breeze through a tune first time as if they knew it for years.
It is an important skill to practice, but you must know how. Blindly reading through material day after day will probably not make you a good reader. There are several areas that you will need to focus on and master in order to do this.
Many good articles have been written on this topic so it is going to be difficult for me to add to what is there already. Bill Plake and jazzadvice.com have been my goto for material for years. This is not the only topic you should read about on their sites. They are excellent tried and tested resources, and they should be followed regularly. The third article comes from stringmagazine.com
Personally, my aim when working at sight-reading is A: to stay calm and concentrated (this by itself can perform wonders), B: prioritize, scan to see what you do need to play and what you don't. I'm actually quite good at this now! C: learn to recognise patterns that you can practice separately. There are so many rhythmic combinations that come up time and time again. Learn to recognise them and apply them when you see them. It will save you alot of time in the long run.
D: practice without your instrument. Learn to take a sheet of paper and sing it. Sometimes adding your instrument just complicates something that with a bit of logical thinking you can read quite easily. Sit quietly and simply hum and tap it out till you get it. E: rests can be tricky. If you find these difficult, take them out and sing or play the rhythm without them. Add them back in when you feel comfortable where the pulse is.
And finally F: Be prepared to take notes. Mark on the paper where the beat falls. Most of my sheets are covered with annotations to help me. I find this helps alot.
Those are at least my tips!
More from the experts:
https://www.jazzadvice.com/5-steps-to-mastering-sight-reading/
http://billplakemusic.org/2012/01/19/a-few-tip-for-improving-your-sight-reading-skills/
http://stringsmagazine.com/3-ways-to-improve-your-sight-reading-skills/
It is an important skill to practice, but you must know how. Blindly reading through material day after day will probably not make you a good reader. There are several areas that you will need to focus on and master in order to do this.
Many good articles have been written on this topic so it is going to be difficult for me to add to what is there already. Bill Plake and jazzadvice.com have been my goto for material for years. This is not the only topic you should read about on their sites. They are excellent tried and tested resources, and they should be followed regularly. The third article comes from stringmagazine.com
Personally, my aim when working at sight-reading is A: to stay calm and concentrated (this by itself can perform wonders), B: prioritize, scan to see what you do need to play and what you don't. I'm actually quite good at this now! C: learn to recognise patterns that you can practice separately. There are so many rhythmic combinations that come up time and time again. Learn to recognise them and apply them when you see them. It will save you alot of time in the long run.
D: practice without your instrument. Learn to take a sheet of paper and sing it. Sometimes adding your instrument just complicates something that with a bit of logical thinking you can read quite easily. Sit quietly and simply hum and tap it out till you get it. E: rests can be tricky. If you find these difficult, take them out and sing or play the rhythm without them. Add them back in when you feel comfortable where the pulse is.
And finally F: Be prepared to take notes. Mark on the paper where the beat falls. Most of my sheets are covered with annotations to help me. I find this helps alot.
Those are at least my tips!
More from the experts:
https://www.jazzadvice.com/5-steps-to-mastering-sight-reading/
http://billplakemusic.org/2012/01/19/a-few-tip-for-improving-your-sight-reading-skills/
http://stringsmagazine.com/3-ways-to-improve-your-sight-reading-skills/
