Sight-reading - Rhythm and Aural TrainingHaving looked into the importance and the nuts and bolts of sight-reading, now it's time to see how rhythm and aural training fit into a good programme of teaching your choir to sight-read.Reading rhythm firstCorrect rhythm is essential in sight-reading. For the singer it's the next stage after mastering the text.Get the rhythm right before you go on to the pitch. It helps to move you along and predict things, as so much in music is sequence and repetition. It's always a good idea to tap out rhythms before adding the melody to the mix. Reading aheadRead visually at least one note ahead. You can achieve this surprisingly early in your sight-reading career. You do this when you read text anyway, and it leads to a more rapid reading technique.Gradually extend this ability by reading two notes ahead - and then by a whole bar or phrase. When you return to a single note you'll notice the difference! Long and short rhythmsIf you look at a typical page of music, you can or should see at first glance the basic sub-division between long and short notes – the "white and black" notes or the notes with or without tails or braces. It helps enormously to bring this out in your reading as it helps in not getting lost. And this will help the overall confidence of your choir.Aural trainingUsing aural training in conjunction with sight-reading techniques is very helpful in terms of developing requisite skills such as melodic and rhythmic memory, and pitching the notes of triads and scales. Use aural tests for the different grades as a starting point.Step, Repetition & LeapMusic moves melodically by step, repetition and leap. Repetition is very common and you don't need to read a note twice!Personal preparationEnsure you practice techniques as a separate operation - on your own and at your own pace - as well as within context. It's vital to do this as you can regulate things on your own you can't do in a group.In other words, work out the problems first.
Now see how Symbol and Memory play their part in Sight-reading and Sight-reading - Symbol and Memory. Read Andrew Wright's further articles on Sight-reading, then you can go back to Music-for-Church-Choirs.com Home page for more topics of particular interest to church choir musicians.
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