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[dulciana]

There maybe are players around who could sight-read something like this.  (I'm not one of them!)   Fortunately, I enjoy this piece so much (it's exciting and powerful) that I find myself smiling as I play some bits of it(!), so hopefully that will aid the learning process!    I'm all for a challenge - as my Mum used to say, you never know what you can do until you've tried - and as one of the characters in "4 Weddings and a Funeral" puts it, "Why be dull?"   

[Joyce]

Sight reading  I learned to play recorder at school, by writing all the notes on my music book. 

[dulciana]

Oooh!...........

Years ago, my brother sat grade 2 violin (then gave it up!).  In the exam, when he got to the sight-reading, he quite innocently told the examiner he wouldn't be able to do it.  The examiner asked him why not and he replied, "Because I've never seen it before!"   

[honeybun]

That was the bit of music exams I hated the most. Always sent me into a panic.

I do wish I had never given up. I did standard grade and Higher exams too and then just stopped. I know I would have to start all over again. At 17 I never considered it would be something good to do in my 50s.

Daft or what.


Honeyb
x

[dulciana]

Not daft at all, Honeybun - definitely not.  I have pupils in their 50's, some who are starting and some who have come back to playing after a long time.  If you got up to grade 8 before, there would be some "rustiness" to get past, but I doubt you'd have to start all over again.  More a case of reviving things at a level/speed you'd feel comfortable with and getting back to where you were.  It's not always easy finding time for regular practice in our busy lives, but where there's a will, there's a way - and if you want to play again, maybe now's the time! 

[honeybun]

Thanks for the encouragement. Need to get a keyboard though as I have no room for a piano. Maybe I could ask Santa   


Honeyb
x

[CLKD]

Did your brother pass 

I can no longer read music at all, even though I played something until I was 17.  I can't sing any more either 

[Ju Ju]

Oh boy, sight reading.......that is most definitely my challenge this year!! I was going to skip grade 3 singing until we realised I was winging it for Grade 2. Try singing 3, 4, 5 notes higher or lower than a given note, then singing the notes you are reading. Fortunately my singing teacher used to teach young children, so she can explain things at my level!

[Limpy]

JuJu - Do you mean transposition?

Used to get this a lot on the horn.
The horn is pitched in F, however many parts are written in Eb, D, C, G or A, to list but a few.
For example, if the horn part is written in Eb, it's played a tone lower, remembering to lower the key signature as well. Eb is the easy one, B natural is suicide country.

[dulciana]

As part of the organ exam I did last year, I had to transpose at sight, and do some sight-reading.   Five minutes to look over each one - and two examiners.   Oh, and the menopause.   Scary!!   

[Ju Ju]

What is transposition? Too big a word for such a beginner as me! It all comes under the title of sight reading for grade 3 singing. When sight reading for the exam, you are given the start note, then have to to read the rest to yourself, before laaring to an accompaniment. I don't have a piano, but have a piano  app on my iPad. I play a note, then try and sing the note 3, 4 or 5 notes higher or lower than the original note. Not very good yet. I am also learning to sing minor scales. Singing the songs is the easy bit.

[Limpy]

Wow Dulciana, you did so well..
I've not played for ages but I used to be able to do (sight read) Eb pretty reasonably.
I was never able to do B#, only with preparation, oh about a week or so........   

[dulciana]

Ju Ju - transposition is when you read the music in one key but you play it in another key, either higher or lower (and not too much either way, hopefully!)    It's musical multi-tasking!   But I really do hope you're enjoying your singing.  It's such a gift to have a voice.     

[Limpy]

What is transposition? Too big a word for such a beginner as me! It all comes under the title of sight reading for grade 3 singing. When sight reading for the exam, you are given the start note, then have to to read the rest to yourself, before laaring to an accompaniment. I don't have a piano, but have a piano  app on my iPad. I play a note, then try and sing the note 3, 4 or 5 notes higher or lower than the original note. Not very good yet. I am also learning to sing minor scales. Singing the songs is the easy bit.

JuJu - Like Dulciana says, it's when the music you get in front of you has to be changed. For example, if the note on the page is C you may have to play a Bb depending on what key the music is written in. For example, the horn is pitched in F, parts in Eb are played played a tone lower, hence the Bb for a C.

What you describe is sight singing I could never do it for the life of me, well done you.
I did O level music thousands of years ago, they made us sight sing. It didn't go well, I asked to use my horn, I was told no. It was then suggested I had another try singing the part I refused. I had no desire to be a singer, I was a horn player......

[CLKD]

My music teacher could write music but not read it - he was a piano tuner by profession.  He tuned my piano 'to' my clarinet so that it blended …….