[Menvi-discuss] Sight Reading

[Bettie & Bill Downing]

A sighted musician depends a great deal on sight reading, but "sight" is the operative word here, so someone without sight shouldn't be expected to "sight" read but do a lot of memorizing. 



On Aug 29, 2013, at 10:19 AM, Brandon Keith Biggs wrote:

> Hello,
> Even as a vocalist, singing choral music, I find I have to memorize one of the lines. I'm not quite sure how to do this in the best way, but that is what my BA is for!
> My question to professional musicians is, how much sight reading are you expected to do in your church jobs or chorus jobs? You are asked to sightread in the auditions for a singer, and that leads me to think quite a bit. 
> Thanks,
> 
> Brandon Keith Biggs
> On 8/29/2013 7:59 AM, Dale Lieser wrote:
>> David,
>>  
>> In my opinion, sight reading for the braille reader does not come with the same, common ease as sighted musicians experience. However, when I think of sight reading braille, the following things come to mind:
>>  
>> Efficiency. One of the goals of reading concerns learning the music as smoothly as possible. Two elements of that are accuracy and speed. Since we memorize as we read, our learning differs from sight reading, early in the process.
>>  
>> Music theory and expectation. As with sighted readers, a help to me has been a knowledge of music theory. Rather knowing what one might expect in a passage of music can speed things up nicely.
>>  
>> Memorizing. Since reading is much slower for us, and generally well out of intended tempo, etc., committing the music to memory with             as few read-throughs as possible serves well. This point is obvious, but real nonetheless.
>>  
>> Regarding reading for the guitar, it probably is similar to what I experience with piano music, although your configuration is even trickier. <smile> Work in small passages, perhaps just a few measures at a time.
>>  
>> I have found that memorizing something quickly helps a sighted teacher or colleague that, even though the method differs, learning a piece is what matters.
>>  
>> Interesting topic. I could talk endlessly about this.
>>  
>> Dale
>>  
>>  
>> From: Menvi-discuss [mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org] On Behalf Of David Tseng
>> Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 10:41 AM
>> To: This is for discussing music and braille literacy
>> Subject: [Menvi-discuss] Sight Reading
>>  
>> Hi all,
>>  
>> I'm curious how musicians here deal with the more formal aspects of learning music with respect to sight reading. There has been, from what I've experienced, a collective wisdom that sight reading is essential for really getting proficient with certain instruments especially those of the classical variety. The collective wisdom I cite includes former and current music teachers I've had and some university courses I've taken.
>>  
>> Excluding vocals, how have you dealt with the real physical limitations with playing and reading at the same time? For my instrument of choice, classical guitar, since both hands are occupied, obviously, there's only so much one can do. I've tried breaking things down so that I read with one hand and tap out things with the left hand or get the rhythm down with the right.
>>  
>> Any other creative insights here? For teachers, what have you tried and found works with your braille reading students?
>>  
>> Best,
>> David
>> 
>> 
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