Posted by Dave on June 15, 2000 at 19:06:09:
In Reply to: Re: Sight reading posted by Jay Bertolet on June 15, 2000 at 17:05:17:
Some thought-provoking observations, Jay.
I tend to think any skill on your horn that frees your brain up is a good skill to develop, and it is my belief that sightreading, in a way, automates various musical processes.
I've had those auditions i.e. Disney and the military (these jobs are eerily similar when you think about it: short hair, uniforms and musical repetition) where sightreading was an integral part of the assessment process and performance practice. The customer service nature of these two performance opportunities requires the ensembles to prepare requested pieces with little or no notice. I had the opportunity to travel to Iceland about 8 months ago and it was necessary for our ensemble to perform traditional Icelandic marches with no rehearsal time. There is quite a bit of pressure to perform such pieces admirably in front of the "home crowd". James Croft, the wind conductor at Florida State used to put a piece on our stands at the intermission of a concert to have us sightread right there, the audience none the wiser.
I believe sight reading is an all-important skill to hone. I truly believe it is a good yardstick for musical maturity and command of musical syntax. My guess is even though the orchestra cats do not sightread as often as military tubists, they would not have gotten where they are today without a good handle on sightreading. I believe it is intrinsic to mastery of the instrument.
The only problem seems to be finding enough material to sightread! Once you've read it, it's over! I've recently found a nugget, though. I play out of the trumpet method of Charlier. Great stuff in there!
Thanks for listening,
Dave