Daily Sight Reading Material and Approach

MichaelBarski · Post by **MichaelBarski** » Tue Jun 04, 2019 7:15 pm

Hey everyone!

I'm trying to find some material to use for sight reading and I was wondering what you guys use or would suggest using. I've used the Lafosse books before, but I don't really care for the readability of the note style.

Also, on top of the material, how would you go about getting the most out of maybe 5 minutes of sight reading? How would you approach a sight-reading session?

Arrowhead · Post by **Arrowhead** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:08 pm

The Andre Lafosse- Vade Mecum is really good!
Take any Real Book in Treble Clef and sightread ballads in treble clef. Then try playing it in Alto clef, Tenor Clef, Bass Clef, and Mezzo-Soprano clef.

hyperbolica · Post by **hyperbolica** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:19 pm

I would pick up characteristic etude books for other instruments like Top Tones For Trumpet. That way you can practice melodies you're not familiar with as well as clefs or transposition. I'm sure there are other great books for clarinet, sax, viola, bassoon, etc. Reading odd time and key signatures accelerates the benefits in my view.

Plus, use a metronome and read in strict time as much as possible. It's better to skip notes while remaining in time than slowing down or repeating something you missed.

VJOFan · Post by **VJOFan** » Fri Jun 07, 2019 8:12 am

MichaelBarski wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 7:15 pm Also, on top of the material, how would you go about getting the most out of maybe 5 minutes of sight reading? How would you approach a sight-reading session?

If I think about the most realistic situations where I actually sight read in "real" situations it is usually in rehearsals with groups I am sitting in with or when we are trying new music to see if we like it.

With that in mind, when I sight read anything at home I work on the habits I need to do well in those rehearsals:

- Scan the music for time signature(s), key(s), road maps and the intricate rhythms or technical passages that may trip me up
- Get the best sense of tempo and style I can from any clues on the page like those Italian words, composers, dates of composition
- do a quick mental rehearsal of the tricky bits I found in the expected tempo and style.

When I play, I do so with the intent of keeping my place relative to the beat. If I have to fluff through some things to do that, so be it.

My goal is to sound musical and not disrupt any one else's flow by trying too hard to play all the notes the first time.

BarryVarie · Post by **BarryVarie** » Tue Jul 09, 2019 10:55 pm

I know what you mean brummers, I wish I could just go to a piano and play a piece Im so slow when it comes to sight reading, but I guess practice makes perfect

baileyman · Post by **baileyman** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 5:28 am

...and run a metronome all the time...

norbie2018 · Post by **norbie2018** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 6:52 am

Get ahold of any music books for trombone and other instruments - not just brass - and play out of them on a daily basis. If you encounter some crazy runs just pay the entire piece at an appropriate tempo.

There is a fake book of classical music you might find useful.

Also, those little march books are useful.

bigbandbone · Post by **bigbandbone** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 10:21 am

Evelyn Woods speed reading course helped me.

GBP · Post by **GBP** » Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:05 am

See if a local band director will let you sit in his library once a week and pull and ply charts. I have done this and it is great for improving sight reading.

SwissTbone · Post by **SwissTbone** » Wed Jul 24, 2019 12:14 pm

Forget trombone parts or (most) trombone music. You will get bored quickly. Look into other instruments. Bassoon comes to mind. Not to rangey but still tricky stuff in the literature. And we are not used to that stuff, sou you will push your limits.

Pre59 · Post by **Pre59** » Wed Jul 24, 2019 12:51 pm

I'm wading through a bass gtr version of the Bach Cello Suites. Because half of each page is taken up with tablature there's not much music to the page, but it's still good material to practice.
When I get to grips with it I'll buy a proper version with less page turns..

https://www.musicroom.com/product/MB952 ... EYQAvD_BwE

ExZacLee · Post by **ExZacLee** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:10 am

I use a few different resources when working with students on sight reading... all of which I use or used myself.

Rochut - this was probably the first book a really worked sight reading out of. When I was in college in the '90s, my trombone professor, Dr. Kent Kidwell noticed that my reading wasn't "as good as advertised" and I explained to him I always would listen to other players play the sight-reading and run off to a corner and figure out the what little bits I could remember until my turn to audition came. He started having me read through the Rochut - not just the etudes, but the "duet" parts as well, which were about 10X harder. Within a month of doing this, my reading was a thousand years beyond what it'd been when I arrived as a freshman.

Other etude books - all of those classic etude books and studies are remarkable for working sight reading - they are often constructed in a manner that introduces more difficult rhythms over time. Also, jazz etude books and transcribed solos are a real workout - if you're primarily a "classical" player, a jazz etude book will throw you some stylistic and rhythmic curveballs that will force you break out of preconceived notions of time and interpretation and get you thinking about subdivision in an entirely different way. The Jim Snidero jazz conception books have been great for working on reading with my students. I pull out the Omnibook when I'm deep in the shed... no matter how much I practice it never gets easier... kind of like the Bach cello suites. Rhythm and scalar studies - the Fussell book has some good exercises that when done in conjunction with reading practice can help solidify your pattern recognition.

Excerpts! Excerpts are usually the last part of my reading practice. I'm not just limiting this to the "classical" use of the term - I pull trombone parts out of the library and practice with big band recordings as well. Horn parts to funk/rock/pop stuff - reading that Chicago stuff is a head blender sometimes. Look for well engraved and crappily hand-copied parts - you don't want to just be used to neat/clean parts.

Mamaposaune · Post by **Mamaposaune** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:28 pm

Not the most imaginative suggestion here, but you will never run out of new sight-reading material with the Arban book.

aasavickas · Post by **aasavickas** » Wed Aug 07, 2019 2:48 am

When I had sight reading as part of Army band auditions, I would practice the euphonium parts for marches, King marches work really well. Much harder than trombone parts and in the correct range. The audition required sight reading a march so that made sense.

Also, read music from other instruments. Bassoon and Cello work really well. Trumpet is good too(for Trumpet add 2 flats to the key and read it as if it was in tenor clef.)

fantrombone · Post by **fantrombone** » Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:36 pm

Practicing sight reading & performing sight reading are different. Practicing, you get multiple chances, Performing you only get one chance. Practicing - go slow, especially styles, rhythms, and clefs you are not familiar with. Be familiar with the key, repeats, coda's etc... take the 30 seconds to work the difficult and unfamiliar passages in your head. After looking over the song you find that it is beyond your abilities, go very slow (ballad like), however do not stop until you have went through the whole piece/exercise the first time. then go back and work on the difficult parts - I find Bulgarian music extremely difficult and not just because of the odd meters but the style also....

hsparks1 · Post by **hsparks1** » Sat Nov 09, 2019 8:01 pm

I've found even just isolating rhythm reading can be super useful. In the jazz idiom there are some excellent books meant for percussionists that are very useful on any instrument.