How to Learn a New Song (Basics of Sight-Reading)

 

This article will teach you some tips and tricks to make learning new music a breeze! Sight-reading seems scary at first, but doesn’t have to be.

 

By reading this article and putting it into practice, you will have some easy, practical tools to tackle that new ensemble or solo piece. So, let’s jump right in!

 

Preparing to Sing

 

The first thing we need to do is get our minds and bodies ready to go. If you’re in a group setting, sometimes your leader will warm everyone up together. If not, you should try getting to the place you’re going to practice early so that you can get in the right head space to work. Take time to breathe and calm those nerves. Once you relieve some of that stress, start to move a little. Get the body warm, and you would be surprised at how easy it is to sing.

I tend to carry a lot of tension in my shoulders, and that continues into my singing, so when I prepare to sing, I make sure I roll my shoulders and stretch a little first.

Also, you may go through some simple vocal warm ups just to get everything loose. Visit Simple Vocal Warm-Up Ideas for a more in-depth guide to vocal warm ups.

 

Go from Big to Small

 

Start by looking for big ideas. These will give you a general idea about what the piece sounds like and how it should be performed. At the beginning of the music, there will be some kind of word that will tell you the intended style. Sometimes they’re in Italian, like “Legato” or “Marcato,” but almost any modern piece in English will have English descriptive text. It will say something like “With Energy” or “Light and Bouncy.”

 

Later in the piece, the style may change, and it may say something different. Go ahead and look for those changes so you won’t be surprised later.

 

After thinking at the overall style, look at the “road map.” Look for clear sections with different rhythms or melodies. Some of these different sections will be marked by different styles, but not always.

 

Special bar lines are clear visual indicators of different sections. Look for things like repeat bars, D.S. or D.C. markings, look for 1st and 2nd endings, go through the whole piece start to finish worrying only about where to go from section to section.

 

After looking at large sections, look for smaller ideas. Things like phrases, are they regular, how long are they? What does the contour of the line look? From there, start to look at individual notes. Start thinking through individual pitches and rhythms. Go through the entire piece this way.

 

 

Look for Patterns

 

While you’re looking at a piece for the first time and preparing to sight-read, try and find patterns. Maybe there’s a phrase that keeps coming back, or an interval that is used a lot. Take note of those.

 

Learning the pattern and when it is used will make learning easier.

 

If you learn the pattern right the first time, then even if it appears in a new key later, you can do it with relative ease, but only if you recognize the pattern and know it’s the same thing.

 

 

Look for Trouble Spots

 

Next, look for accidentals. Those are easy to spot and can be tricky if you don’t know they’re there. Look for weird intervals, wide leaps, anything out of the ordinary that might trip you up or be especially difficult. Knowing those trouble spots and preparing for them ahead of time will save you a lot of headaches and frustration in the future.

 

 

Get to the End

 

Don’t forget to go through the whole piece. This may seem like a no-brainer, but many focus heavily on the beginning and neglect the end when sight-reading. Not only that, but often the end will feature some of the same material as the rest of the song, but in a different way. Maybe it extends a word or phrase, maybe it has a clear pause somewhere new before the last note.

 

If you didn’t look at the end and notice those differences, your first run through will not be 100% successful.

 

 

Sing it Through

 

Now you’re ready to run it. Focus on getting notes and rhythms right the first time. Circle any spots that you miss, especially if you didn’t notice them when you were looking for trouble spots.

 

A common mistake many musicians make while sight-reading is to do things half-way. They use half the volume they should, they breathe without clear intent, they don’t attend to intonation like they should. These are all examples of practicing something WRONG, and if you read the 5 Steps to Transform Music Lovers into Performers, you would know why practicing something wrong is never a good thing.

 

 

“The Second Look”

 

Okay, you successfully made it through your first read, but your job isn’t over yet. Now it’s time for the second look. Look back over the things you circled from your first read through. Think through your mistakes and consider how to fix them. Go ahead and isolate some spots, hum or play them SLOWLY. Go slower than you probably think you should, but the point is to be accurate and to not practice something wrong. When you have consistent success at a slower tempo, pick it up a little. Do this two or three times, picking up speed a little each time. When you get it up to tempo, practice it until you have it perfect 5 times in a row, including notes, rhythms, dynamics, text, phrasing, breathing, EVERYTHING!

 

After you have done this for all the spots you missed, you’re ready to put those missed sections back in. Run through the piece, and this time you will be confident in your ability to tackle all the hardest parts with ease.

 

 

Use these tips in your individual and group practice, and let me know in the comments below what you thought. Is there something you do that helps you when you’re reading music for the first time? For more fun tips, subscribe to our email list.

 

Happy sight-reading, musicians!

 

Go in peace.