Sunday, December 8, 2013

Why Learn to Sight Sing?

Sight-Singing is the ability to pick up a piece of vocal sheet music and sing the notes on it accurately, based only on looking at the paper. As with any new skill, it takes a certain amount of effort to acquire. Is it worth the effort? Why should you bother to learn to sight-sing?O.K., you're either a singer or you're not. If you're a singer, you're either serious about your singing or you're not. So there are three categories you could possibly be in: serious singer, casual singer, or non-singer.If you're a serious singer it should be obvious that you need to master this skill. You may be going to college to study music and you'll have to learn the skill anyway. You might as well get a jump on your classmates and learn it now. And throughout your career, your competence as a singer will be partly judged by your skill at sight singing. It may not be fair, but that's how life is.For the casual singer, an ability to read vocal music will make you stand out among your peers. Most of them can't do it, and if they see that you can use that skill whenever you want, you will gain a lot of respect. If you sing in a church choir or a community chorus, you can help the singers around you learn the music by singing it right from the very beginning. It will save you time for every new song that you want to learn if you can sing it accurately right from the page. Directors will be eager to have you in their group if they know that you can sight-sing. They know that you'll be an asset to those around you (no matter whether your voice is good or not).For the non-singer, sight singing seems like magic. The impression is that only skilled musicians can do it. But that impression is dead wrong. It doesn't take musical background to learn to sight sing, and if you can do it, you'll seem like a magician to your friends. Imagine talking to one of your singer friends, and demonstrating how the music goes in a new song that he's learning.Of course, if you learn sight singing, you might decide to be a singer, rather than a non-singer. Having that skill opens up a lot of possibilities for you in terms of hobbies or fun activities that you can participate in. You can choose which of these opportunities to pursue, but it's a good feeling knowing that you have the talent to do it if you want to.

Harry Buerer has been teaching music to church choirs, barbershop groups, and individuals for over 20 years. His specialty is Sight Singing and he has developed an eBook, Sing It Right the First Time, to teach the skills of sight singing to singers without significant mus

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