Preparing for Contest Sight Reading with Dr. Andrew Machamer

Dr. Andrew Machamer joins us to talk about how to teach and build the skills students need to be successful sight readers, not just for contest, but for life.

Show Notes

00:00 Intro

0:26 Welcome/Introductions

0:30 Introducing Andrew Machamer, Asst. Prof. of Music Education at Baldwin Wallace

1:45 What do you teach at BW? Band music ed. faculty, teach instrumental methods, woodwind methods, oversee student teaching placements and supervision. Great opportunity to be connected to teachers in the area and how everyone's managing in this time of the pandemic.

2:30 Preparing for Contest Sight Reading. What is contest?

Opportunity to get outside perspective on how your ensembles are progressing, important to do because otherwise you might just be getting feedback from administrators who aren't necessarily well-versed in musical arts. Great way to create a goal and motivation for students, as well.

3:50 Why do we do sight reading at contest?

Because it's fun! (Haha.) It deepens the experience of context, certainly. And it gives us a baseline measure of where our musicianship is. When else are you going to do sight reading and have it be as meaningful as it is when it's at contest?

5:10 Why is sight reading specific to contest? Should it be?

You can't wait to last minute to start getting ready for it. It has to be a part of your daily routine, whether that's teaching students a counting system, teaching them to break down the and's and ee's, etc...  Sight reading at contest is not the end, it's a point of reference along a journey.

7:00 What does sight reading at contest look like, compared to a normal day in band rehearsal?

New music, new space, new outfits, everything will feel new. And there are time limits, 3-4 minutes of silence where everyone works on their own music. 3-4 minutes where the conductor gets to go over things, you can't play, but you can sing, etc... So, that process needs to be practiced before the day of contest.

Teach students what to look for when they first see a piece, what to do in those 3-4 minutes of silence:

• Look for key signatures
• Look for time signature changes
• Find difficult rhythms
• Expression markings: Do we know what this word means?

Always good to invite people to come in and adjudicate or clinic before contest.

And the environment may be totally different -- students might normally rehearse in a cafetoriumnasium, and at contest they're in a performing arts center, and suddenly everything sounds different. So anything we can do to get them ready for all of the other things ahead of time, the better.

9:37 And how can you prepare students for the logistics of coming into the sight reading room, getting music distributed, etc...?

That's part of the process to work on in rehearsal. Section leaders distribute parts. Especially percussion: one person responsible for assigning the different percussion parts, and getting the instruments setup so you're ready to go.

10:40 Greg: When I was a student in HS band, we practiced rep for a really long time, and worked much less on reading skills. Has that changed in the 20+ years since I was in high school?

Andrew: You've got your prepared pieces, which you want to be extremely polished. Sometimes sight reading is more of an afterthought. Plus, it takes a lot of work to get sight reading pieces ready to play for an ensemble. Practicing 3 hours before a concert isn't gonna do it, but if you spread those out, it can make a big difference.

12:30 Why teach sight reading in general?

Creates independence. They feel confident, they can get a sense of what it sounds like through audiation, or dissect the rhythms, or look at the terms and know I'll be able to perform it. The general musicianship of the player comes up through this.

13:40 What tools and skills are needed for s