Sight Reading Method

The Sight Reading Method (SRM) is a multimedia, interactive training software course that teaches you to read and play written music at first sight.

SRM supports all instruments: guitar, piano, bass, winds, etc. and runs on Windows and Mac computers.

The course is designed to help you achieve the following:

• Be able to sigh-read written melodic lines of average complexity at first sight (i.e. you can read and play it correctly the first time you see it)
• Be able to read on both the treble and bass staff, in all keys.
• Be able to feel the beat of the music effortlessly, and always easily know the current position in the musical piece.
• Develop a strong sense of time, thanks to the many rhythmic exercises included in the course

Training Strategy

Sight-reading music mainly means doing two things at the same time: reading the notes' pitch and reading the notes' duration or rhythm.

Normally this is a rather difficult skill to master, and if often takes many years to become a fluent sight reader.

The Sight Reading Method however uses a special training strategy where you first master the reading of pitch and rhythm separately and only when you can do both things well you start to practice everything together.

In other words, the difficult task of mastering sight reading is split in 3 much easier tasks: mastering rhythm, mastering notes, and combining the two. As a result you can become a fluent sight reader in months rather than in years...

Rhythmic training

For example, in the beginning the program will give you purely rhythmic exercises like this one:

...and then gradually increase the rhythmic variety, while still only using two notes:

And so on, with the result that you will quickly learn to sight-read complex rhythmic structures at first sight, without having to worry about reading the pitch of the notes.

Note-reading training

Then, in a successive phase, you will start to learn to read the notes. For example, one of the first drills may look like this:

Then, as you master the material, the exercises will gradually become more challenging:

Combined training

Finally, once you have achieved a satisfying level of skill on both rhythm and notes, the next phase is to gradually combine everything together.

For example, the course will start by combining a few notes with a few rhythmic elements, and then gradually increase the difficulty on both sides.

In this phase, you will gradually learn to read everything together, and become a truly fluent sight reader.

Theory and Practice

Sight reading doesn't require much theory. The key is the practice, and the more effective your practice, the faster your skills grow.

The Sight Reading Method is designed to make your training as effective and enjoyable as possible, and you can start to experience from the very first day.

Measuring progress

SRM includes two functions that help you measure your progress and do only the most useful exercises at any given time.

The first function is an automatic evaluation system that shows your performance in interactive drills. For example, when you sight-read a rhythmic sequence and tap it on the computer's keyboard, the program measures your performance and shows it to you:

The second function allows you to self-evaluate your own performance in the various exercises, so that the program can display your level of skill in a meaningful.

For example, in the key-based exercises you use the evaluation color-coded buttons you tell the program how well you are performing, and the program displays your level of skill for all the keys in one place:

More effective training

The Sight Reading Method contains many other useful training tools:

• The option to practice in any key, with or without non-scale notes, with any combination of rhythmic and melodic elements.
• A "beat trainer" that helps you develop the inner sense of the beat, no matter how complex is the melody or rhythmic background.
• A rhythmic dictation training tool.
• A melodic recognition training tool.
• A tool for developing the skill of looking ahead while reading.
• The option to use chords in the exercises, for a more realistic training.
• The option to practice sight reading for specific instruments (e.g. guitar, bass, mandolin, etc) and their specific note range.
• The option to use a MIDI instrument for practice (actually recommended even for non-keyboard players, as explained in the course)
• And many more little features and training details to customize the training to your skills and needs of the moment.

If you are interested in developing your sight reading skills, go and give the method a serious try.

How to try it out for yourself

Sight Reading Method is included in the Musician Training Center (MTC) program. Windows and Mac versions are available. Install MTC, then click on [Courses] and double-click on "Sight Reading Method" to start it.

Download Musician Training Center for Windows or Mac OSX

If you have any question, write to support@micrologus.com

Enjoy!

Order

You can buy Sight Reading Method PROFESSIONAL online here: SRM order page