A good
musician should be able to read music as easily as
the newspaper. With adequate technique, good eyesight
and persistent practice, any pianist may become a
good sight-reader. In this case, practice means not
the study of music for performance, but the playing
at sight of hymns, accompaniments, solo pieces, duets
- anything that is within the technical grasp.
Many
good performers are poor sight-readers for the reason
that mastery of large compositions, which requires
many repetitions of small sections at a slow tempo,
tends to create an inability to grapple with music
in any other way. Here the effort towards accuracy
predominates. Thorough study of master works is, of
course, indispensable; but the ability to play at
sight is equally necessary for the practical musician.
In training
one's self, the first condition is that all the music
to be read shall be seen for the first time. The secret
of success is to be able to manipulate the keyboard
while the eyes are steadily held to the page. If one
memorizes easily, and is accustomed to play with the
eyes upon the keys, the temptation is, at even a second
reading, to look away and depend somewhat upon the
memory. It is this feeling of dependence or non-dependence
upon notes that differentiate between the good sight
reader and the good memorizer.
If you
play from memory and have the habit of watching the
keyboard, confine your reading for a time to music
that lies close under your fingers. Or, tie the strings
of an apron around your neck, spreading out the skirt
over the rack, with the music holding it there, so
that your hands are completely hidden. When you cannot
see what they are doing, you will not be tempted to
look at them; and gradually you will learn to gauge
the intervals over which the fingers must pass without
the aid of sight.
Getting
the Right Kind Of Music:
For
sight-reading, always select music well below your
technical acquirements, so that the whole attention
may be concentrated upon the notes. Look it over carefully
before attempting to play. Determine the key and the
mode (whether major or minor) and make a mental picture
of the scale and the principal chords of that key
with reference to the keyboard. Look at the signature,
and beat out (surreptitiously, if you are to play
before listeners) the rhythm. Note accidentals and
changes of key or tempo.
Then,
without hesitation or slackening of the time, play
straight through with the fewest mistakes possible.
Although the ultimate aim is, of course, no mistakes
at all, that aim is not furthered by stopping to pick
up a lost chord. Keep looking ahead, and follow St.
Paul's advice as to forgetting the things that are
behind.
Even
a foundational knowledge of harmony helps. If one
if familiar with tonic, dominant, and sub-dominant
chords in all keys, it will be comparatively easy
to grasp the general harmonic scheme; and in playing
the bass of duets, or accompaniments for singers,
this is the main thing.
But
it is not enough to be able to play at sight what
is prescribed for the composer. A real musician should
have a mental apprehension of the sounds indicated
by the printed symbols without hearing them. If you
can read and understand a book without saying the
words aloud, you can surely become sufficiently familiar
with notes to read and understand music in the same
way.
Try
to cultivate this real musicianship. Take something
very simple, but unfamiliar. Play over the scale and
the opening harmony, so as to be sure of the pitch.
Sing in your mind some of the melodic intervals, and
test them at the piano. Form a distinct mental picture
of the sound of a chord, and test this in the same
way. Try a succession of melodic intervals, then of
chords, then a whole phrase, melody and harmony together,
endeavoring first to comprehend the effect away from
the piano, but finally playing them to verify or correct
your impression.
Eventually
the printed symbols will come to represent definite
sounds; and when your brain so understands the music,
your fingers will unhesitatingly obey its promptings.
To acquire
facility in sight-reading there is just one all-comprehensive
prescription: read. Read all the music you can find
that is within, or, still better, below your technical
grasp. It is not necessary to play it in the prescribed
tempo, but go through to the end without hesitation.
Try to get at least the initial notes of each measure,
but trust to the future for ability to get them all.
It is sure to come with time and perseverance.
This article, written by Hannah Smith,
was taken from the January 1922 issue of magazine
"Etude Musical Magazine." This article
is featured at http://www.thepianopages.com,
along with free piano lessons, sheet music, products,
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