Sight-reading is the reading and performing of a piece of written music, specifically when the performer has not seen it before. Sight-singing is often used to describe a singer who is sight-reading.
Contents |
Authors in music literature commonly use the term "sight-reading" generically for "the ability to read and produce both instrumental and vocal music at first sight ... the conversion of musical information from sight to sound" (Udtaisuk 2005). Udtaisuk and some other authors prefer the use of the more specific terms "sight-playing" and "sight-singing" where applicable. This differentiation leaves a third more restricted use of the term "sight-reading" for the silent reading of music without creating sound by instrument or voice.
Highly skilled musicians can sight-read silently; that is, they can look at the printed music and hear it in their heads without playing or singing; see Audiation. (True sight-reading or sight-singing—not code-deciphering—is actually notational audiation.) Less able sight-readers generally must at least hum or whistle in order to sight-read effectively. This distinction is analogous to ordinary prose reading during the early Middle Ages, when the ability to read silently was notable enough for St. Augustine to comment on it (Manguel 1996).
The term "a prima vista" is also used, as Italian words and phrases are commonly used in music and music notation. To play a musical piece a prima vista means to play it 'at first sight'.
According to Payne (2005), "the ability to hear the notes on the page is clearly akin to music reading and should be considered a prerequisite for effective performance.... Egregious errors can occur when a student, analyzing a piece of music, makes no effort to play or hear the composition but mechanically processes the notes on the page".
Some musicians can transpose music during performance to suit particular instuments or vocal ranges, to make the playing of the instrument(s) or singing easier, or a number of other uses. It is not necessary to know how to read the music—just the knowledge of how to play the transposed chords and melodic lines in a new key to take a song that is "too high" or "too low," and tailor it to fit an appropriate range.
According to Udtaisuk, "many [authors] use the term sight-reading for instrumental sight-reading performance." However, Udtaisuk and some other authors use the more descriptive term "sightplaying" (or "sight-playing") for instrumental sight-reading, because sight-playing combines two unique skill sets: music reading and music making.
When singers sight-read, it is often called sight-singing. Some authors, according to Udtaisuk, use the term "sight-singing" for vocal sight-reading. As with sight-playing, Udtaisuk advocates and uses the more descriptive term "sightsinging" for vocal sight-reading, because sight-singing combines sight-reading and singing skills.
The ability to sight-read partly depends on a strong short-term musical memory. An experiment on sight reading using an eye tracker indicates that highly skilled musicians tend to look ahead further in the music, storing and processing the notes until they are played; this is referred to as the eye–hand span.
Storage of notational information in working memory can be expressed in terms of the amount of information (load) and the time for which it must be held before being played (latency). The relationship between load and latency changes according to tempo, such that t = x/y, where t is the change in tempo, x is the change in load, and y is the change in latency. Some teachers and researchers have proposed that the eye–hand span can be trained to be larger than it would otherwise be under normal conditions, leading to more robust sight-reading ability.
Human memory can be divided into three broad categories: Long-term Memory, Sensory Memory, and Short-term (Working) Memory. According to the formal definition, working memory is “A system for temporarily storing and managing the information required to carry out complex cognitive tasks such as learning, reasoning, and comprehension.” The paramount feature that distinguishes the working memory from both the long-term and sensory memory is this system’s ability to simultaneously process and store information . The knowledge has what is called a “Limited Capacity”, meaning there is only a certain amount of information that can be stores and it is only easily accessible for a small window of time after it has been processed, with a recall time block of roughly fifteen seconds to one minute . Experiments dealing with “Memory Span” have been conducted by George Miller in 1956 that indicated that the “Most common number of items that can be stored in the working memory is five plus or minus two.” However, if this information is not retained and stored (“consolidated”) in one’s long-term memory, it will fade quickly. Research indicates that the main area of the brain associated with the working memory is the Prefrontal Cortex. The prefrontal cortex is located in the frontal lobe of the brain. This area deals with cognition and contains two major neural “loops” or pathways that are central to processing tasks via the working memory: the “visual loop,” which is necessary for the visual component of the task and the “phonological loop,” which deals with the linguistic aspects of the task (i.e.-repeating the word or phrase) . Although the Hippocampus, located in the temporal lobe, is the brain structure most frequently paired with memories, studies have indicated that it’s role is more vital for consolidation of the short-term memories into long-term ones than the ability to process, carry out, and briefly recall certain tasks. This type of memory has specifically come into focus when discussing “Sight Reading” since the process of looking at musical notes for the first time and deciphering them while playing an instrument can undoubtedly be considered a “complex task of comprehension.” The main conclusion in terms of this idea is that, “Working memory and short-term memory capacity and mental speed are three important predictors for sight reading achievement.” Although none of the studies discredit the correlation between the amount of time one spends practicing and musical ability, specifically, sight-reading proficiency, more studies are pointing to the level at which one’s working memory functions as the key factor in sight-reading abilities. As stated in one such study, “Working memory capacity made a statistically significant contribution as well (about 7 percent, a medium-size effect). In other words, if you took two pianists with the same amount of practice, but different levels of working memory capacity, it’s likely that the one higher in working memory capacity would have performed considerably better on the sight-reading task.” Based on the research and opinions of multiple musicians and scientists, the take home message about one’s sight-reading ability and working memory capacity seems to be that “The best sight-readers combined strong working memories with tens of thousands of hours of practice.”
Sight-reading also depends on familiarity with the musical idiom being performed; this permits the reader to recognize and process frequently occurring patterns of notes as a single unit, rather than individual notes, thus achieving greater efficiency. This phenomenon, which also applies to the reading of language, is referred to as chunking. Errors in sight-reading tend to occur in places where the music contains unexpected or unusual sequences; these defeat the strategy of "reading by expectation" that sight-readers typically employ.
Studio musicians (that is, musicians employed to record pieces for commercials, etc.) often record pieces on the first take without having seen them before. Often, the music played on television is played by musicians who are sight-reading. This practice has developed through intense commercial competition in these industries.
McNerney (2008), jazz musician, professor, and private instructor, describes auditions for University of North Texas Jazz Lab Bands as being almost completely based on sight-reading: "you walk into a room and see three or four music stands in front of you, each with a piece of music on it (in different styles ...). You are then asked to read each piece in succession."
This emphasis on sight-reading, according to McNerney, prepares musicians for studio work "playing backing tracks for pop performers or recording [commercials]." The expense of the studio, musicians, and techs makes sight-reading skills essential. Typically, a studio performance is "rehearsed" only once to check for copying errors before recording the final track. Many professional big bands also sight-read every live performance. They are known as "rehearsal bands" though their performance is the rehearsal.
According to Frazier (1999), score reading is an important skill for those interested in the conducting profession and "Conductors such as the late Robert Shaw and Yoel Levi have incredibly strong piano skills and can read at sight full orchestral scores at the piano."
MENC (2001) surveyed over 40 professional associations regarding opportunities and requirements in music careers. They found sight-reading, transposition, and improvisation among required skills for careers in instrumental performance including armed forces musician, orchestra musician, small ensemble musician, concert soloist, band musician, and clinician. Employment in music for worship including organist, choir director, cantor, and hazzan require skills in sight-reading and open score reading. Sight-singing and memorization are required for vocal performers such as dance band or night club vocalist, concert or opera chorus member, concert soloist, and opera soloist.
Although 86% of piano teachers polled rated sight-reading as the most important or a highly important skill, only 7% of them said they address it systematically. Reasons cited were a lack of knowledge of how to teach it, inadequacy of the training materials they use, and deficiency in their own sight-reading skills. Teachers also often emphasize rehearsed reading and repertoire building for successful recitals and auditions to the detriment of sight-reading and other functional skills (Hardy 1998).
Hardy reviewed research on piano sight-reading pedagogy and identified a number of specific skills essential to sight-reading proficiency:
Beauchamp (1999) identifies five building blocks in the development of piano sight-reading skills:
Grand-staff knowledge consists of fluency in both clefs such that reading a note evokes an automatic and immediate physical response to the appropriate position on the keyboard. Beauchamp asserts it is better to sense and know where the note is than what the note is. The performer doesn't have time to think of the note name and translate it to a position, and the non-scientific note name doesn't indicate the octave to be played. Beauchamp reports success using a Key/Note Visualizer, note-reading flashcards, and computer programs in group and individual practice to develop grand-staff fluency.
Udtaisuk also reports that a sense of keyboard geography and an ability to quickly and efficiently match notes to keyboard keys is important for sight-reading. He found that "computer programs and flash cards are effective ways to teach students to identify notes [and] enhance a sense of keyboard geography by highlighting the relationships between the keyboard and the printed notation."
Most students don't sight-read well because it requires specific instruction, which is seldom given. A major challenge in sight-reading instruction, according to Hardy, is obtaining enough practice material. Since practicing rehearsed reading does not help improve sight-reading, a student can only use a practice piece once. Moreover, the material must be at just the right level of difficulty for each student, and a variety of styles is preferred. Hardy suggests music teachers cooperate to build a large lending library of music and purchase inexpensive music from garage sales and store sales.
In some circumstances, such as examinations, the ability of a student to sight-read is assessed by presenting the student with a short piece of music, with an allotted time to peruse the music, then testing the student on the accuracy of the performance. A more challenging test requires the student to perform without any preparation at all.
Washington State has piloted a classroom based assessment which requires 5th and higher grade students to sight-sing or perform on instruments from sheet music they have written. It is suggested that students use solfege or numbering systems or fingering without instruments as aids. 8th graders are expected to sing by sight: "Students are asked to perform a sight-singing exercise of four measures of music. Students will be assessed on their understanding of rhythm and steady beat and their ability to perform in the designated key with accurate interval changes, acappella."[1]
Many students and adults cannot sight-sing, and even some professional singers cannot sing by sight. However, in combination with an assessment which requires composing music on a staff as early as 5th grade, it is hoped that such a requirement will raise arts achievement. Pilot data show that many students can meet or exceed such standards. Other states are evaluating possible performance assessments as well.
Bower, Bruce. "For Sight-Reading Music, Practice Doesn't Make Perfect : Discovery News." Discovery News: Earth, Space, Tech, Animals, History, Adventure, Human, Autos. Science News, 18 June 2010. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <http://news.discovery.com/human/music-sight-reading.html>.
"Short-Term Memory and Working Memory - Types of Memory - The Human Memory." The Human Memory - What It Is, How It Works and How It Can Go Wrong. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. <http://www.human-memory.net/types_short.html>.
HAMBRICK, DAVID Z., and ELIZABETH J. MEINZ. "Sorry, Strivers: Talent Matters." The New. 19 Nov. 2011. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/opinion/sunday/sorry-strivers-talent-matters.html>.
Lee, Ji Ln. "THE ROLE OF WORKING MEMORY AND SHORT-TERM MEMORY IN SIGHT READING | Mendeley." Free Reference Manager and PDF Organizer | Mendeley. Mendeley, Sept. 2003. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <http://www.mendeley.com/research/role-working-memory-shortterm-memory-sight-reading-4/>.
"Working Memory Definition - Medical Dictionary Definitions of Popular Medical Terms Easily Defined on MedTerms." MedTerms.com. MedicineNet, 27 Apr. 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. <http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=7143>.