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That's what I took it to mean, that he finds it easier to memorize the music than playing from the score the set pieces he's learnt. But the Grade exams also include a test in sight-reading, where the examiner plonks a piece of music on the music rest that you've never seen before, which you have to sight-read there and then. (As well as aural tests, scales & arpeggios etc).
Indeed they do - seemingly many people's most hated bit! Personally I was least looking forward to the aural, as the one in Trinity can be tricky, though in the end I got full marks in that section.
Working on: Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 ("Waldstein") Chopin - Op. 9 No. 3 in B major ------------- Steingraeber B-192 Kawai CA97
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There is a sight-reading test involved in the Grade exams, isn't there? A good mark in it could mean the difference between Merit and Distinction .... Tell ne about it .... I scored 128 at Grade 5, Distinctions in all pieces, 18/18 for the Aural tests (a good memory for music helps), a decent score for scales and arpeggios .... ... but a shameful NINE for the sight reading ... out of 21 ..... the pass mark is 14 .... the lowest possible mark for making an attempt is SEVEN. "You kept going and the rhythms were mostly in place but notes were inaccurate and the left hand was misplaced for much of it, alas" - Mr Examiner To be honest that was a very flattering assessment .... At my age I have given up all hope of ever being able to scan a piece for thirty seconds, make any sense of it and then produce something even remotely musical, especially under pressure.
Last edited by DazedAndConfused; 10/21/13 06:49 PM.
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My memory is very good because I cannot sightread to save my life or maybe I cannot sightread to save my life because my memory is very good. Hey Smartypants, did you miss the word 'maybe'?
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I'm wondering if by sightreading DazedAndConfused means simply reading from the score, given that he/she writes about it as though it were the alternative to playing a piece from memory? I can read music and I can play music but I self-evidently cannot do both at the same time!
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"You kept going and the rhythms were mostly in place but notes were inaccurate and the left hand was misplaced for much of it, alas" To be honest that was a very flattering assessment .... At my age I have given up all hope of ever being able to scan a piece for thirty seconds, make any sense of it and then produce something even remotely musical. Take a leaf out of people who sight-read for a living (accompanists/collaborators for singers etc) and leave out non-essential notes. The top melodic line and the lowest bass notes that are on the beat are essential; the others are often optional . Better to leave out inner notes and thin out the texture than to play glaring wrong notes. If all else fails, remember the great Sir Thomas Beecham's dictum: "There are two golden rules: start together and finish together. The examiner doesn't give a damn what goes on in between."
If music be the food of love, play on!
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My memory is very good because I cannot sightread to save my life or maybe I cannot sightread to save my life because my memory is very good. Hey Smartypants, did you miss the word 'maybe'? The context of your use of "maybe" implied that it was one or the other.
Regards,
Polyphonist
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"You kept going and the rhythms were mostly in place but notes were inaccurate and the left hand was misplaced for much of it, alas" To be honest that was a very flattering assessment .... At my age I have given up all hope of ever being able to scan a piece for thirty seconds, make any sense of it and then produce something even remotely musical. Take a leaf out of people who sight-read for a living (accompanists/collaborators for singers etc) and leave out non-essential notes. The top melodic line and the lowest bass notes that are on the beat are essential; the others are often optional . Better to leave out inner notes and thin out the texture than to play glaring wrong notes. If all else fails, remember the great Sir Thomas Beecham's dictum: "There are two golden rules: start together and finish together. The examiner doesn't give a damn what goes on in between." Thanks for that. I am thinking about Grade 8 for Winter 2014 and have already written off any chance of being able to sightread a piece at that level ... unless I get lucky and they give me 4' 33" .. Failing that, I will definitely take your advice.
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The context of your use of "maybe" implied that it was one or the other. .. or maybe not ...
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At my age I have given up all hope of ever being able to scan a piece for thirty seconds, make any sense of it and then produce something even remotely musical, especially under pressure. How much time do you spend just reading through music at the piano? I wouldn't "give up all hope" until you've spent some time doing this every day, starting at a level which you find easy.
Du holde Kunst...
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At my age I have given up all hope of ever being able to scan a piece for thirty seconds, make any sense of it and then produce something even remotely musical, especially under pressure. How much time do you spend just reading through music at the piano? I wouldn't "give up all hope" until you've spent some time doing this every day, starting at a level which you find easy. Time is the problem. Between a demanding job and a demanding (in a nice way) family, my spare time is limited. When I get the chance to practise, I would much rather play familiar pieces or make progress with new pieces than put myself through the torture of sightreading. It really isn't that important to me in the grand scheme of things. Having said that, I have found an App for the iPad that has given me some hope. http://sightread4.com/piano/It does make practice marginally less painful. I recommend it to others who may be struggling.
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When I get the chance to practise, I would much rather play familiar pieces or make progress with new pieces than put myself through the torture of sightreading. It really isn't that important to me in the grand scheme of things. Don't forget that if the music you choose to explore is easy enough it won't be torture. If it's torture it's too hard. Step back a notch or two. But if it's "not that important" to you, then there's not much more to say. I just thought I'd chip in because I have invariably found that when people improve their reading skills they find it very rewarding and well worth the time. (It also helps you learn new pieces more quickly)
Du holde Kunst...
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I made a leap in my confidence in memorizing when I began working from the end of pieces forward. That way, as I play a work, I reach sections that I feel more and more confident about. Starting at the end, I break the work into chunks. I finger and practice a few measures at a time- enough to "get the notes". I then immediately proceed to memorize by repeatedly "testing myself" against the sheet music in those small sections. I do a little harmonic analysis to give me a crutch to lean on in tricky sections, but I don't completely break down the piece in this manner. This simple method has been very effective for me.
I make it a point to visit a piano in my workplace and try out the sections that I've been working on away from the sheet music during my lunch hour.
1999 Petrof 125-111 (upright) Casio Privia PX-330
Currently working on: Chopin Etude op 25 #2 and op 10 #5 Schubert Op 90 #2, #3 Playing by ear and "filling out" pop tunes
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I make it a point to visit a piano in my workplace and try out the sections that I've been working on away from the sheet music during my lunch hour.
I find that if I have the music up and ready when I'm trying to play from memory, I'll make a Freudian memory lapse in order to look at the score . So instead, once I feel that I've got the whole piece memorized, I put the score away somewhere not easily accessible, and play it all the way through. If I get stuck, I try to find my way back without the score - the same way I would if I was performing. This way, I get to know not just where the problem spots are (and therefore need reinforcement with other means), but also how successfully I can dig myself out of a hole.....
If music be the food of love, play on!
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When I get the chance to practise, I would much rather play familiar pieces or make progress with new pieces than put myself through the torture of sightreading. It really isn't that important to me in the grand scheme of things. Don't forget that if the music you choose to explore is easy enough it won't be torture. If it's torture it's too hard. Step back a notch or two. But if it's "not that important" to you, then there's not much more to say. I just thought I'd chip in because I have invariably found that when people improve their reading skills they find it very rewarding and well worth the time. (It also helps you learn new pieces more quickly) Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate your advice and I completely agree about the importance of improving ones ability to sightread music and all the benefits that naturally ensue but I have no illusions about the amount of time and effort that would be required to become even vaguely competent. At present, I would rather spend that time working on pieces that I actually enjoy. One of the most annoying things (for me) about sightreading practice books is that the practice material is often really weird, as if the writers have deliberately written ugly music to force you to read rather than anticipate. Pedagogically this makes complete sense but it does make practicing sightreading a tortuouous chore. I would rather spend my precious hours learning a few bars of genius that are worth playing than minutes practicing something truly hideous!
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When I get the chance to practise, I would much rather play familiar pieces or make progress with new pieces than put myself through the torture of sightreading. It really isn't that important to me in the grand scheme of things. Don't forget that if the music you choose to explore is easy enough it won't be torture. If it's torture it's too hard. Step back a notch or two. But if it's "not that important" to you, then there's not much more to say. I just thought I'd chip in because I have invariably found that when people improve their reading skills they find it very rewarding and well worth the time. (It also helps you learn new pieces more quickly) Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate your advice and I completely agree about the importance of improving ones ability to sightread music and all the benefits that naturally ensue but I have no illusions about the amount of time and effort that would be required to become even vaguely competent. At present, I would rather spend that time working on pieces that I actually enjoy. One of the most annoying things (for me) about sightreading practice books is that the practice material is often really weird, as if the writers have deliberately written ugly music to force you to read rather than anticipate. Pedagogically this makes complete sense but it does make practicing sightreading a tortuouous chore. I would rather spend my precious hours learning a few bars of genius that are worth playing than minutes practicing something truly hideous! I'm pretty good at sight reading now even though I've never took the practise of it all that seriously. I simply sight read lots of old songs like "little things mean a lot", "moon river" and other oldies like Cole Porter and Nat King Cole arrangements. They're pretty simple stuff, and fun to play, especially as they leave lots of room for embellishments and what not!
All theory, dear friend, is grey, but the golden tree of life springs ever green.
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Take a leaf out of people who sight-read for a living (accompanists/collaborators for singers etc) and leave out non-essential notes. The top melodic line and the lowest bass notes that are on the beat are essential; the others are often optional . Better to leave out inner notes and thin out the texture than to play glaring wrong notes. If all else fails, remember the great Sir Thomas Beecham's dictum: "There are two golden rules: start together and finish together. The examiner doesn't give a damn what goes on in between." I accompany choirs and soloists, both vocal and instrumental. Barring some exceptions where the composer was a good pianist and wrote the accompaniment himself, I've come to assume that the music in front of me was written by someone with no idea how to write for piano. If it's too easy, I will fill it out. If it's excessively taxing on the hands due to poor writing, I simplify it to avoid getting hurt. But when I sight-read it, I try to just play what's on the page, warts and all.
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I accompany choirs and soloists, both vocal and instrumental. Barring some exceptions where the composer was a good pianist and wrote the accompaniment himself, I've come to assume that the music in front of me was written by someone with no idea how to write for piano. I also accompanied choirs, and very few "real" composers ever get to write the piano part. Once I was asked to play stuff by a "composer" who never actually took music lessons of any kind. Rustic.
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I accompany choirs and soloists, both vocal and instrumental. Barring some exceptions where the composer was a good pianist and wrote the accompaniment himself, I've come to assume that the music in front of me was written by someone with no idea how to write for piano. If it's too easy, I will fill it out. If it's excessively taxing on the hands due to poor writing, I simplify it to avoid getting hurt. But when I sight-read it, I try to just play what's on the page, warts and all. I occasionally accompanied my school choir as a kid, when our choirmaster was late and the choir was itching to get going, or at least rehearse the previous week's piece. But of course, I was only doing it 'for fun' then, and everyone was aware I was sight-reading, so they didn't mind if I messed up totally, as long as the rhythm stayed intact and the harmony was approximately correct . If the texture was really dense, I'd leave out most of the inner notes, unless the chording was straightforward - in fact it usually was. And yes, it was rarely at all pianistic. The main exception was Britten's 'Friday Afternoons', which was a pleasure to play - which I try to play all the notes.
If music be the food of love, play on!
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