IMPROVING PIANO SIGHT-READING SKILLS OF COLLEGE STUDENT - Chian yi Ang

Sight-reading plays an important role in instrument playing. Sight-reading has been defined as ‘‘the ability to read and perform music in first sight, i.e., without preparatory study of the piece’’ (Apel, 1962, p. 679). Sight-reading could be considered one of the most important skills in piano playing. A pianist with good sight-reading ability learns his or her repertoire much faster in comparison to performers with poor sight-reading skills. Therefore, if pianists who sight read poorly spend too much time in learning a new piece, they might lose opportunities to play in an ensemble or to work with other instrumentalists. The development of sight-reading ability still remains a mystery. Piano teachers often suggest the only way to improve sight-reading skill is to sight-read a piece of music daily and play a variety of music. However, playing an ample mass of repertoire may not necessarily develop sight-reading skill. ‘‘Improving one's sight-reading ability is not as simple as the anecdotal evidence suggests, preliminary evidence from prior studies supports the basic notion that sight-reading ability improves as experience with this type of music performance increases’’(Lehmann & Ericsson, 2011, p. 7). Sight-reading is a complex process, which involves elements such as pattern recognition, fingering determination, eye movement, “prediction” ability, and inner hearing. ‘‘More efficient and effective procedures may be possible for teaching sight-reading to instrumentalists. Before such procedures can be devised, however, there is a need for a greater understanding of the sight-reading process’’ (Elliot, 1982, p. 3). This study initially had two primary purposes: to determine how good sight-readers read and to discover how sight-reading skills can be taught. These purposes were to uncover an effective way to teach sight-reading. With these research questions in mind, I video recorded a number of college level (graduate) piano majors to assess their sight-reading skills and interviewed them. However, as I collected my data, I found that none of the four pianists I interviewed had specific strategies for piano sight-reading. They had never worked on their sight-reading skills specifically. I concluded that sight-reading skill is not emphasized in piano teaching. Instead, I gained a better understanding of the difference in reading’s habits of outstanding, good, and average sight-readers. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to examine the habits of piano sight-readers, and my analysis was guided by the following questions: What decisions do pianists make when they are sight-reading? What thoughts do pianists have when they are sight-reading? What helped them become outstanding sight-readers? What comparison can be made between outstanding, good, and poor sight-readers.

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Work Title IMPROVING PIANO SIGHT-READING SKILLS OF COLLEGE STUDENT - Chian yi Ang
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Ang, Chian yi
Keyword
  1. sight reading college student piano music performance
License Attribution 3.0 United States
Work Type Research Paper
Acknowledgments
  1. Penn State School of Music
Publisher
  1. Penn State School of Music
Publication Date 08/2012
Subject
  1. Music Education
Language
  1. Engilish
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. M.M.E. Research Paper
Geographic Area
  1. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
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Deposited April 23, 2015

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