Q: How can I get better at sight-reading?

Lynne Aspnes is the founder of the American Harp Center. She is professor emeritus of the University of Michigan School of Music and a former faculty member of the Arizona State University School of Music.
Lynne Aspnes is the founder of the American Harp Center. She is professor emeritus of the University of Michigan School of Music and a former faculty member of the Arizona State University School of Music.

Learning to read at sight is not about playing the right notes every time: it’s about absorbing the geography of the page and the landscape of the music, and playing from the very beginning, with a constant rhythmic pulse. Getting some of the notes accurate as well is a bonus! Playing in context is the goal. Knowing your theoretical context is key to developing great sight-reading skills. So, to practice sight-reading, choose music that is significantly less complex than the easiest piece that is currently on your music stand. In a very loud and very firm voice, count your pulse. Do not stop counting, and do not stop playing, no matter what happens. Reading at sight is about maintaining a steady rhythmic pulse. Everything else can fall by the wayside, but you cannot break the rhythmic pulse you have established at the outset. If you do, you are no longer sight-reading; you are trying to practice.

Practicing sight-reading alone takes great discipline and character, because you will be tempted to stop, fix, go back—whatever. A fabulous vehicle for practicing sight-reading is in lessons with your teacher, in a harp ensemble at the beginning of each ensemble rehearsal, a vocal or hand bell choir, or in any group play setting, where pausing or stopping is simply not an option. When you realize that you are playing or singing something in a steady rhythm, you are reading at sight. After that, it’s just practicing your sight-reading on increasingly intricate music, until you realize you can “play at sight.”

—Lynne Aspnes, Petoskey, Mich.

Calista Anne Koch is Professor of Harp at Mercer University and is the founder and director of the Middle Georgia Harp Ensemble.
Calista Anne Koch is Professor of Harp at Mercer University and is the founder and director of the Middle Georgia Harp Ensemble.

Reading should be approached by thinking of a pyramid. Each skill and aspect of the music is a layer with those of greatest importance being the primary goals. Rhythm is the base and the notes are the next layer, with the fingering acting as mortar. If rhythm is the focus and the notes are secondary, the integrity of the composer’s intended work is going to be closer than if these two aspects are reversed. Fingering, though not a necessary component, provides the best way to make sure that both the notes and rhythms are able to be played correctly. From there, assuming the rhythm and notes are being delivered with a high accuracy rate, then higher up the pyramid would be markers such as phrasing, dynamics, and tempo.

One fun game I use to aid those that find it hard to focus on the reading and not rely solely on their ears’ ability to guide them is to play “jumble the levers/pedals.” I allow the student to make any odd combination of levers/pedals. Then, they clap the rhythm of the music that they will be reading. Next, they are to point out the intervals that they see as a challenge (such as sevenths when they were expecting an octave). Once they have pinpointed the likely problematic areas, they play what they see, knowing that the notes will sound wrong. This allows them to know that their ear isn’t to be relied upon. If they were able to perform the correct rhythms and strings, I thenhave them set the levers/pedals correctly and then play it again, as written. They delight in knowing they were able to interpret the music accurately.

—Calista Anne Koch, Macon, Ga.

Allegra Lilly is the Principal Harpist of the St. Louis Symphony.
Allegra Lilly is the Principal Harpist of the St. Louis Symphony.

The key to improving sight-reading skills is to make it a regular part of your practice routine. Sight-reading is largely a visual task, so you’ll want to develop the ability to instantly recognize different rhythmic patterns. But there are several aspects of sight-reading that you can work on a little bit each day: marking pedals flawlessly and in a flash, recognizing chord and arpeggio shapes and patterns, and even playing without having to look at the strings.

Begin by sight-reading rhythms away from the harp by clapping and “ta”-ing. If you don’t have a rhythmic sight-reading textbook like Robert Starer’s Rhythmic Training on hand, use a short etude or a simple but unfamiliar orchestral part. Set a timer for two minutes and look over a portion of the piece. When the two minutes are up, use an app like Voice Memos to record yourself as you clap each quarter note and “ta” the rhythm of the harp part. The claps are your metronome, so keep the pulse steady no matter what. One of the keys to effective sight-reading is keeping a steady pulse even when you might not be hitting all of the right notes or nailing the rhythm. If you make a mistake, don’t stop! Now, listen back to the recording and analyze which spots, if any, tripped you up.

Devoting as little as five minutes a day to sight-reading can make a huge difference, and I guarantee it will be time well spent.

—Allegra Lilly, St. Louis, Mo.

 

Coming up: My hands tend to get cold when I play, making it difficult to perform. How can I keep my hands warm without wearing fingerless gloves?