Making Sight Reading Part Of Your Daily Routine (ft. Francisco Chaves) | tonebase Tips
I think by now, most of us know the importance of sight-reading and why as guitarists and musicians it is such an important skill. However, many of us still struggle to make it a regular occurrence in our busy lives! Below, Francisco shares three stories of how he has made sight-reading a part of his everyday routine and ways you could try doing the same.
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After watching Jiji Kim’s amazing lesson on Sight Reading, I was inspired to share some of my own tips and tricks on the art of sight-reading. Here are three personal stories of how I made sight-reading a part of my routine.
1. Read Every Day — “Just for fun!”
While hanging with one of my guitar friends, we decided to sight-read some duo scores he had in his house. I can confidently say that my reading skills are about medium level but my friend’s are a whole step above… I was amazed! He kept wanting to play the pieces a tempo while I was begging him the whole time to start just a bit slower. I simply could not keep up with him.
Afterwards, I asked him the fundamental question: “How did you become this good at sight-reading?!” His answer: “I usually sight-read scores every day — before or after I practice — just for fun!”
2. Reading With Family & Friends
One of my former composition teachers is also a cellist. He is now approaching his 70’s, and when he was a child, he had no TV at home. His parents were also musicians, so every evening instead of watching TV, they would just sight-read string quartets together.
They did this routinely, every evening for years. He sight-read hundreds of pieces throughout his youth. Again, they did it “just for fun” as a family activity, not a chore that had to be fit into the day. It is no wonder that now he can sight-read pretty much anything.
3. Reading Orchestral Scores
Besides studying composition in school, I also took orchestration lessons. However, in my free time, I became addicted to listen to symphonies and orchestral pieces while following the score. Thanks to the internet and IMSLP, I had pretty much all the scores at my disposal. I spent hours looking at orchestral scores, “just for fun.”
Every time I was hearing something I enjoyed —like a beautiful melody or a nice counterpoint — I immediately checked the score to see how it was written. With time, I began to listen to orchestral music and imagine the score in my head. Not the actual notes (because I do not possess perfect pitch) but just the textures and approximate register of each instrument.
Being able to visualize the notes helped immensely with my sight-reading. Also, thanks to this enjoyable routine, I can now easily look at orchestral scores of Wagnerian size without feeling overwhelmed with the amount of instruments!
What is the lesson here? Have fun while sight-reading! Hang out with your friends and while you’re drinking some beers, why not sight-read some easy duo music? Just pick up children songs, folk melodies, whatever. Turn sight-reading into a new, exciting habit. Not like something you dread to do but rather you look forward to.
The fact is, the people who sight-read the least are the most likely to be bad at it. And that is perfectly normal. Want to get better? Start by changing your daily routine. You won’t see the results in a matter of days, but weeks and months. And remember: Keep the process fun and exciting. Therefore, do not try to sight-read Villa-Lobos Studies! Instead why not some “Estudios Sencillos” by Leo Brouwer?
We hope Francisco’s ideas have inspired you to add sight-reading into your daily routine. As he pointed out, the best way to get better is by making sure it doesn’t become a chore!
Ready to get started? Learn some new tips on how you can immediately improve your sight-reading with Jiji Kim’s lesson on tonebase. Check it out here, and find a way to make it fun and do it every day!
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