Nurturing sight reading skills in your music students is an integral part of any music curriculum, but it can sometimes get put on the “back burner” in favor of more pressing topics. With tools like Sight Reading Studio and a solid routine, sight reading can become an efficient and regular part of your lessons. Sight reading isn’t scary—it’s fun!
Check out these four tried and tested tips that are sure to spark some ideas for you and your students:
1. Start small
Focus on what your students DO know: known pitches/ranges and known rhythmic patterns are a great place to start. Sight Reading Studio has many customization options—set your exercise parameters with lots of musical skills your students do know and only include one newer concept (if any). Starting a new sight reading routine with students is even easier if you can offer some “quick wins” early on to build confidence. Challenging your students is important at the right time, but providing shorter, simpler exercises as students get their footing can go a long way in building strong and confident readers in the long term!
2. Sight read from the beginning
Even your beginning music students can sight read skill-appropriate exercises! Consider using Sight Reading Studio to teach or reinforce a new pitch, fingering, position, or rhythmic element.
Here are some examples:
3. Regularly sight read with your ensembles
Get into a routine of sight reading with your full ensemble—prep some appropriate sight reading templates every 1-2 weeks that you can just shuffle and display on your projector at the beginning of your ensemble rehearsal each day. Students will get good repeated practice of the same skills you are focusing on and become more confident readers at the same time! Keeping these short and sweet can boost sight reading confidence and make the time fly by efficiently, plus, you’ll still have plenty of rehearsal time to use on other areas of focus. Normal routines aren’t scary: when students experience regular sight reading as a normal part of rehearsal they are more likely to feel confident participating in the activity!
4. Know your sight reading tool: templates vs. exercises
Sight Reading Studio is a great learning tool where you can share or assign a template that will deliver a similar exercise based on your set parameters or a specific exercise that will deliver the same exact exercise to everyone you send it to. There are great times to use both versions so consider your goals when deciding how to share or assign your sight reading exercises.
Ready to take your students’ sight reading skills to the next level? Start incorporating these tips into your lessons today, and explore all the powerful features of Sight Reading Studio to help your students build confidence and find sight reading success without any scaries!