Posted by Brandon Ostrom on July 10, 2002 at 17:25:48:
In Reply to: Sight-reading posted by Steve on July 10, 2002 at 16:34:19:
I have tried many other things. I have asked many other people. I have moaned and complained about my sight reading skills, and searching long and far for different "methods" of improving it.
I have found only one thing works. If you want to sight read better, then sight read a lot of pieces. Go out and buy many study, etude or just normal pieces of sheet music and assemble 10 pieces to work on at a time. Do not try to perfect them, that would take too much time. Simply try to slowly build the your reading ability piece by piece. First try to improve rhythme reading (can you hit the notes, with all intended vaules, make sure you try this with many different time signatures). Then work on reading dynamics, and volume adjust. Once you are able to sight reading all of these, then work on sight interpretation.
By this I mean, even if you can play a piece note for note, marking by marking, its still not good enough, not truely performance level stuff. I'd compare it to a spanish actor, (you) who learns to speak/ read english, who is trying to audition for a part in an english play. The fact that this spanish actor can speak and read english is important, but his ability to deliver a peformance with strong emotion is what will get him the role.
What im trying to say is, music is simply another language to learn. It takes many many long hours to learn how to read it properly.
As I always say, if you want to be more proficient at something, do it a great deal with increasing levels of difficulty. If you want to sight read well, sight read a lot, with first easy, then more and more challenging pieces.
Remember, books, people and professionals are all well and good at aiding you in learning, but you are you best teacher. Find the method thats best for you.
Brandon "who wish he had a brand new bessons tuba, $500 worth of sheet music and a con helleburg mouthpiece" Ostrom
Also, check out the following web sites for free music to aid you in your struggle.
http://www.bassclefbrass.com/etudes.htm
http://www.gmd.de/Misc/Music/ (COMPLETE SUITES FOR SOLO CELLL by J.S. BACH)
http://members.tripod.com/~L_C_B/noframes/sheetmus.htm
http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/
http://www.jamesgrantmusic.com/TUBA/the.tuba.euph.page.htm (some good tuba stuff here)
http://www.freestuffusa.com/sheetmusic/free_list.htm
Though many of these sites do not have music for the tuba, they do have many pieces written in bass clef, I just play then down the octave. (the cello ones rock!!)