Beginning Sight-SingingHCNW – Session 1

Taught by Harry Buererhbuerer@spiritone.com

503-380-1551based on material online atwww.MrSightSinging.com

What is sight-singing? Basically, it's looking at music notation on the printed page, and producing with your voice a representation of that music. It's taking the visual and transferring it to the aural. As such, we need to be familiar with both the visual and aural aspects of it.

We'll begin by focusing on the sounds. The major scale is made up of 7 distinct notes (note 8 is the same as note 1, only an octave higher). They can be repeated in different octaves as you go higher or lower. Note #1 is almost always the note that a song ends on, as it conveys a sense of rest and stability. It is also the note that is commonly sounded on a pitch-pipe at the beginning of a song. Let's begin by learning how the notes around it sound.

(Sing notes 7, 1, 2, 3, pointed out at random.)

Good! Now sing the following sequence in a steady rhythm. Note #1 is here:1 7 1 2 3 1 2 7 1 3 7 2 1 7 3 2 7 1

Now sing it again with note #1 here.

Next we learn to transfer these skills to reading from a music staff. Skills: match pitch, staff, quarter/half notes

1

Here's another one with note #1 on a space:

Skills: finding note #1 with flats, treble clef

Skills: bass clef, time signature, 4/4

Skills: whole note, starting on note #7

2

Skills: triple meter ¾

Skills: common time, starting on 2, easy syncopation

Skills: starting on 3, 2/4 time signature

Skills: high keys, low keys

3

Let's add a couple of notes to our repertoire:(Sing notes 5, 7, 1, 2, 3, 5 pointed out at random.)

Now sing the following notes in a steady rhythm:1 7 1 V 1 2 3 V 7 2 3 1 3 5 2 1 5 3 2 V 3 7 5 3 V 5 3 1

Skills: ties, note #5 (low)

Skills: dotted half, quarter rest, note #5 (high)

Skills: pick-up notes, half rest

4

Let's add the last two notes of the scale to our skill set.(Sing notes 5, 6, 7, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 pointed out at random.)

Now sing the following series of notes:1 2 3 4 3 1 4 3 1 5 4 2 1 V 6 7 1 7 6 1 6 2 3 6 5 2 3 1 4 6 7 1 V 4 3 6 7 1

Skills: 2/2 time signature, note #4

Skills: cut time notation, quarter notes in 2/2, note #6

Skills: time signatures 3/2 and 4/2

5

Skill: 8th notes

Skill: dotted quarter notes

Skill: finding note #1 an octave away

6

Skill: finding note #1 in keys with sharps

Skill: finding note #1 an octave away

7

Skill: 8th note syncopation

Skills: Do-Do melodies, 8th notes in cut time

8

Skills: key of F, fermata

Skill: key of C

9

Skill: half-beat pick-ups, 8th rest

Skill: compound time

10