Sight-singing music is one of the most challenging parts of being a well-rounded musician. It’s also really intimidating because it takes a lot of failings before you become successful at it. But fret not. Here are some tips that will help you when sight singing music.
Find a Few Important Pitches First
This is especially important when singing. When you are given a piece of music to sight-read, find your starting pitch. Once it’s found, sing “Do, Mi, Sol, Mi, Do, Ti, Do, Sol (below), Do.” This will help give you an idea of where all the pitches lie. Obviously, if you’re singing in a minor key, you’d sing “Me” instead of “Mi,” but the idea is the same. Think of the pitches of the tonic triad, the leading tone, and Sol below Do. If you’re allowed to sing it out loud, do it. If you can’t, think the pitches. This will help you find all of the other pitches according to the ones you are able to think of in your head. Fa is always a tough pitch for me to find, but once I have Sol picked out, I know Fa is a half-step below.
Sing it Out
One of the worst things you can do when learning to sight-sing is sing quietly and timidly. Especially if you’re in a class of students, sing it out! You’re not going to be the worst in the class, so don’t be shy. Sing your mistakes proud. You gain nothing by being quiet about it and singing under your breath. Plus, singing quietly won’t help you be more accurate or help you hear yourself. Singing confidently will make sight-singing easier. Plus, if you’re sight-singing for a grade, confidence can make a difference in what grade you receive.
Do it, Do it again
This is undoubtedly the most important tip I have for you. If you want to be good at sight-singing, then practice sight-singing. No one is a naturally good reader of music. It takes lots of time to get good at. Even if you feel like you’re failing, don’t give up. Don’t get discouraged. The ONLY way you’ll get better is if you keep at it. That applies to a lot of things, but especially sight-singing. There will come a day when you realize you’ve actually accomplished a lot and you’ll be glad you put in all those hard hours of seemingly impossible practice. It’s like building a snowman. It starts slow, but once you get the ball rolling, it grows quickly. Once you get the hang of sight-singing, the learning process will become much quicker and you’ll have a lot more confidence to work with.
Good luck and happy singing!