What is Sight Reading?

By Sam Munro ICMA DipMusT

What is sight-reading?

Sight-reading is a term that in my opinion needs clarification. Notation, whether standard or tablature is by its very nature a visual representation of sounds that tells the performer what sounds to play, where, how loud and for how long. It also tells the performer when moments of silence occur and how long they last too.

Thus my definition of sight-reading is ability of a player on first sight of sheet music to recognise everything that is going on in the piece [rhythmically, melodically, harmonically and dynamically], understand it, then play it.

"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." - source: wikipedia

In Chapter VIII of his book 'Common Sense in Music Teaching' William Lovelock describes the facility of good sight-reading as "quickness of physical reaction to visual stimuli." He goes on to say that "[written] Music goes in through the eyes and then out through the fingers".

In her article Sight-reading skills - Who wants them? Who needs them? Kristy Meretta, professor of oboe at Eastern Michigan University suggests thinking of sight-reading as a "...game of mental anticipation."

Benefits of learning to sight-read

"Good sight-reading skills help us to process key information about a piece, quickly and efficiently, giving us an overview of the musical tasks that lay ahead."

- Prof. Kristy Meretta

Certain skills in music also transcend into aspects of daily life. Sight-reading is no different. The techniques of quick-scanning and trouble spot recognition are analogous with advanced driving skills.

Sight-reading is also a fundamental skill for those who are session players for the television and recording industry, where time is money and money is precious. If a player cannot read fluently, in many styles s/he will not be called back for subsequent engagements.

In the 1995 October issue of Libretto magazine. Suzannah Lawrence, the then marketing manager for the ABRSM puts forward the sound notion that:

".. .Proficiency in sight-reading greatly enhances the enjoyment of playing and making music, facilitating the rapid learning of pieces, and equipping the student with those techniques necessary for playing unprepared pieces, accompanying, singing, or playing in groups." - Sight Unseen, Libretto Oct '95

The performer that is not skilled in sight-reading is unable to accommodate that crowd-pleasing part of many concerts of doing requests for the audience. Unless they have a vast enough repertoire of music under their belt that has been memorised or a confident ear for relative pitch with regard to melody and a solid foundation of chord vocabulary so as to extemporise an accompaniment.