The Sight Reading component in the Rockschool Grade Syllabuses is an alternative option to the Improvisation/Interpretation segment from the Debut Grade through to Grade 5. When taking the exam you will need to identify your selection, and it will follow immediately after the Pieces and Technical Exercises.

Speaking as a guitarist, the option of the Improvisation and Interpretation is often a preferred selection by students, mainly because it is perceived to be an easier option to gain more marks. While this is a sound approach for the short-term success of the Grade exam, I would strongly encourage all musicians to look into the benefits of Sight Reading. Furthermore, from Grade 3 onwards there are strong improvisational elements to the pieces, so Sight Reading would be a logical choice for the musician who desires to be more rounded.

It must be said that the groundwork required to ‘Read’ effectively shouldn’t be underestimated, since you are learning to interpret a new language and apply it to your chosen instrument. This is not only on a basic pitch and rhythm level, but also with expression, and dynamicism, in order to evoke certain tonal characteristics and dynamics. As with every skill, these additional nuances become more natural over time, with the basic pitch and rhythmic components being the primary focus to begin with.

As I’ve alluded to, the strength of Sight Reading is in the bigger picture, rather than any short-term avoidance of ‘effort’ by taking the commonly-preferred Improvisation element. Put the energy in to Sight Reading as soon as you can and you’ll be a much better musician for it!

Benefits of Sight Reading Include…

  1. The obvious – being able to look at notated music and at the very least be able to interpret and understand what’s been written, and to ‘bring it forth’ as sound with meaning. There are varying levels of performance in this area, ranging from simply being able to play one note at a time out of a chord or phrase (and building slowly), right through to rapidly performing anything put in front of you. Whether you’re closer to the former of the latter, simply having an understanding of where and how to play a written note on your instrument will give you a huge advantage in your exam and beyond.
  2. You’ll be able to communicate with fellow musicians in using language in terms of rhythms and pitch, making conversation easier and teamwork more effective. ‘Boom, dat, boom boom, dat’ with a drummer becomes, “play crotchets on beats one and two with the kick and snare drums respectively, then two quavers on beat three and the ‘and’ of three with the kick drum, finally playing the snare drum on beat four”. This sort of language is common across instruments, so dialog can exist between musicians across broad swathes of players.
  3. Your transcription skills will be vastly improved. Your ability to reproduce written sound will also work the other way, enabling you to write down what you hear either to write your own musical ideas, or to present the information for a colleague to play. This area will also encourage your aural skills, also tested at the end of the Rockschool Grade exam.
  4. Reading standard notation means you can play music written for almost any instrument, or at the very least have a clear idea of how it will sound for that particular instrument.

 

Each of these outcomes will give you a fantastic opportunity to play more of the music you want to play, more efficiently. Furthermore, aspirations to perform in public professionally or semi-professionally will be encouraged with the addition of these new skills. I can categorically say that my ability to Sight Read has been a critical component in enabling me to play guitar professionally, and do a broad range of performing and teaching work. It permits me to pick up almost any notated music and bring it to life on my guitar to some degree. This is a wonderfully liberating skill to have, and is a real asset of Sight Reading on your chosen instrument.

In order to get the most out of your Sight Reading experience you should really try and read something every time you pick up your instrument. Make it a habit and it will soon become very natural and practical. Read anything and everything, and don’t worry if it’s written for your instrument or not.