SIGHT READING – LOOKING AT MUSIC FOR THE FIRST TIME (in an exam or with new repertoire)

Michael Gfroerer

1)What is the title of the piece?

The title of some music can tell you the tempo (speed). Sometimes a piece is only titled Allegro (Italian for ‘fast’), Andante (Italian for ‘walking speed’, casual), or Adagio (Italian for very slow).

Titles can also tell us the mood of the piece. Consider the titles of the following pieces:

  • Ode to Joy - Beethoven
  • Requiem (Death Mass) – Mozart, and others
  • The Girl with the Flaxen Hair - Debussy
  • Homesickness – Grieg
  • The Gallows – Ravel
  • The Revolutionary Etude – Chopin

2)Composer’s name and dates: this can be important for everything from pedalling, to how to play ornaments (the ‘short-hand’, additional, un-written notes)

3)Range: is the music written with a treble and a bass clef, two treble clefs, or two bass clefs; are there any 8va (up the octave) indications.

4)Key Signature, the sharps (#) or flats (b) written just before the time signature indicate the scale, or the most likely notes you will be playing. For example, in C Major, you probably aren’t going to be playing any black keys. To start off, try to know

  • C Major
  • G Major
  • D Major
  • F Major

Next, try to know all the scales with up to four sharps and four flats (Grade 1 Rudiments). Although the sharps and flats in a key signature can indicate the Major Key, they can also indicate it’s Relative Minor. Check to see the lowest bass note at the end, and at the first complete bar. If the music starts with an incomplete measure, it usually indicates a chord

5)Time Signature – the two numbers piled vertically. Most likely you will have 4, 3 or 2 counts per bar. Don’t start the piece until you can count a couple of bars evenly in the given time signature.

6)Glance over the music to locate any very challenging bits. Also look for things you are not familiar with. Use a music dictionary if necessary. Several of these details can be left out when you’re looking at a new piece.

7)Depending on your level, try the piece hands separate or hands together. If you are using a repertoire book, it only has music, no lessons or teaching, you should know all of the lines and spaces on the treble and bass staff, 16th note rhythms and key signatures with up to 2 sharps and flats. Look over the notes if you need to. Don’t write more than one letter for a note per bar.

8)Rhythm can be quite tricky for even experienced performers. Remember that the rhythm is always addressed with reference to the time signature. Write the count with ‘and’ or ‘1- e- and- a’ for 16ths. Clapping the rhythm while counting can also save time.

9)If you are sight reading in a practical exam, do not stop until the end or until the examiner stops you. Keep going! Don’t look back, try to look forwards. If sight reading with new repertoire,start at the beginning of phrases or even go back to the beginning, sometimes problem areas must be isolated and figured out, then work the challenging bar back into the phrase.

10)Pleasure sometimes has to be deferred for the time being. Even listening to what you’re playing can sometimes seem impossible. However, if you make a consistent effort over a couple months, you will probably notice significant improvement.

11)Don’t get too caught up in some esoteric analysis which is above your practical-playing level. Music is more about doing than thinking.