So far, in the preceding columns, I’ve given very little attention to the needs of beginners and fledgling readers, despite the fact that most students who contact me profess, at least initially, to having no reliable reading skills whatsoever. Often, these calls come on the heels of a difficult rehearsal, a humiliating firing or a particularly unproductive coaching—and they seldom reflect an accurate view of the caller’s true sight-reading skills.
More often, besides the obvious “case of the willies” that can surface anywhere, singers have other reasons. These singers may have been particularly exhausted or preoccupied at an audition, derailed by an insecure entrance, or reading repertoire set in an inappropriate range. They may have been singing in a language in which they’re uncomfortable, or facing a musical era whose compositional language they are simply unfamiliar with, or whose tonal center is particularly elusive. At these times, thoughts invariably turn to starting over with a new teacher, a fresh approach or revised materials, preferably in disguise.
In an ideal world, I’d fly all of you to New York City for a pep talk and a diagnostic session—but, with requests coming in from all over the country, it’s probably more useful to help you find classes closer to home, armed with some clear guidelines that will help you locate a program that meets your needs.
Are you really a beginner?
One of the strongest predictors of success in a reading/musicianship program lies in the seriousness of its placement process. Only in a carefully graded, homogenous group will true progress be possible, regardless of how skilled the instructor.
Students avoiding the placement process will often opt for a lower level of training than is appropriate, rather than face the possibility of humiliation. When sessions are not challenging, however, these students may operate on such a low level of concentration that they make careless errors and their best work is seldom in evidence. At this point, many desperate “quasi-beginners” opt for private lessons, but this is not always the quickest or most reliable route to strong skills.
Group or private: A personal bias
A considerable number of students who first contact me are interested in private instruction, but I ordinarily urge them to try a class first. Classes, and in particular ensemble singing, enable students to experience the exhilarating sport of music, an active synthesis of all these elements, and it is in classes that they generally rise to their highest level of competence.
Occasionally, a few private lessons may be of real diagnostic value if an otherwise capable, motivated student is shaky in one of the core aptitudes. Weak pitch acuity, for example, relatively rare in singers, is an area that is obviously critical to the development of strong reading skills, and one that lends itself to very productive private work—although, if a prospective student has no trouble singing a perfectly acceptable rendition of “Happy Birthday,” alleged pitch problems are more likely a product of weak pitch reading.
In much the same way, genuinely weak rhythmic responsiveness is also rare. Consider for a moment how few people have difficulty clapping along with a marching band. If you have no trouble clapping and tapping, your needs most likely can be dealt with in group sessions stressing rhythm reading. With true rhythmic dysfunction, however, a number of highly physical approaches to rhythm training can be of considerable value.
Productive Musicianship Classes:
Some Questions and Guidelines
Many of you have already been exposed to questionable reading programs, so it is essential that you do a little detective work before venturing out again, preferably auditing a class or two before enrolling. A graded class in reading is ideal, but sight-singing is often presented as part of a musicianship package consisting of music theory, dictation and some version of solfege or sight-reading. It is critical for singers to be certain that the class time is devoted primarily to reading skills (though this is rarely the case). To help you locate a program that meets your needs, I’ve compiled a list of questions and guidelines, bearing in mind that some may be more critical than others.
How much class time is devoted to active sight-singing, as opposed to theory, dictation and passive interval drills?
Singers need strong, reliable skills. There is little to be gained from a “sight-singing appreciation” situation in which students are not actively engaged.
Is much valuable class time devoted to individual performance of materials that could be effectively reinforced as a group?
A strong horizontal reading methodology should make strengths and weaknesses obvious to students, without a constant need for individual evaluation, which deprives the class of much-needed time to reinforce skills.
Do most students appear to be progressing, or only a select few?
If a learning sequence has been designed along pragmatic rather than ideological lines, there should be an observable level of general success.
In lieu of a structured learning progression, does the class appear to be somewhat random and arbitrary in its choice of materials, activities and class discussions?
An instructor can fill time in any number of ways, many vastly entertaining and absorbing, that will not lead to the acquisition of vital skills. In general, reading skills and linear concentration will be strengthened and maintained most effectively in a highly structured, sequential environment with as little mental downtime as possible.
Are distracting techniques introduced that seem to interfere with seamless horizontal reading and linear concentration?
Many focus obsessively on rhythm elements when it is really the complexity of pitch relationships that makes the greatest demands on the reader.
Are many new clefs introduced before treble and bass relationships have been mastered?
Moveable C-clefs are of enormous value to early music specialists and some instrumentalists—but bass and treble-clef competence is far more critical to working singers, who must acquire these skills quickly.
Are exercises and repertoire set in appropriate ranges for the group and does the instructor have transposition skills?
This is particularly important for singers, whose muscle-memory is such an invaluable asset. (I’m sure my students are now chuckling to themselves but, in my defense, when you have 19 sopranos and a bass, you sometimes have to play favorites…)
Do the repertoire choices provide for part-singing at the earliest opportunity in order to strengthen independence?
Part-singing of even the simplest rounds and duets introduces students to reading and ensemble strategies that will be invaluable later on. (See February’s column)
And a word about ‘bedside manner’
Clearly, in a critical, abusive environment, most students will not do their best, and much emphasis is often placed on the importance of patience and supportiveness. It is essential to remember, however, that the primary responsibility of a sight-reading teacher is to guide you toward objectively observable skills and that, given suitable training, your progress may be surprisingly rapid, eliminating the need for excessive handholding.
Endless patience in the face of a failed approach may simply be misplaced energy.
What about rhythm?
Rhythm training is very concrete and direct. Group rhythm instruction requires little of the exquisite attention to placement that makes or breaks a pitch-reading class. In fact, if pitch demands were eliminated from the craft of sight-reading, conventional rhythm reading skills could be acquired in a week or two of sustained activity.
Singers are frequently confronted with rhythm notations
that are anything but conventional, however, in the form of fanciful, illogical constructs designed to capture the flow of lyrics. These disorienting patterns often seem to violate every rule of rhythmic logic and clarity, camouflaging the boundaries of beats and distributing simple eighth or sixteenth-note subdivisions into irregular clumps, frequently in sharp contrast to the orderly patterns in the instrumental parts below. My June column will feature these “singer rhythms” prominently, sending you off for the summer with an armload of homework—fun homework, of course…
In the meantime, thanks for your many thought-provoking e-mails. I hope to meet many of you at Classical Singer’s convention in May, where I’ll finally have an opportunity to answer many of your questions and demonstrate some helpful techniques.
