Posted by Squinty on November 15, 2001 at 17:15:44:
In Reply to: Sightreading posted by Allan on November 15, 2001 at 13:35:36:
I'm a miserable sightreader; I have bad eyesight and notes don't stay put on the page for me. Used to be, if someone handed me one of those little marching-band parts for a first reading, I'd be struck dumb and crosseyed. I mean, how can you even play the notes if you can't see them?
But if you can look at the notes ahead of time and make them sound in your head, you can develop a sense of what I call "goes like this". This does require a certain amount of being able to play by ear and knowing music rudiments, such as chord structure and how to sight-sing, but it works. Can you look at a part and sing it? If so, you should be able to play it.
Since it's that time of year, try looking at some Christmas carols and then playing them without looking at the ink (just remember the key). Heck, you know how "Jingle Bells" goes and you can sing it in any key without consulting any written music, right? You should be able to play it without a chart, too. From there, it's just a small step to looking at a chart, singing it to yourself and then playing it from memory.
'course, as you get older, the first thing to go is your short-term--uh, what was I talking about?
You should be able to develop the skill and then be able to squint (like I do) at a new piece of music and say, "Oh, it goes like this" and play it that way without consulting the ink too often. This kind of apporach helps tremendously when transposing on the fly, too.
Now, if someone has a solution for counting long rests without letting your mind drift, I wish they'd tell me...22, 23, 24, um, 27?
My .02 of course,
Chuck