A Mágica da Leitura à Primeira Vista

Music Education

April 16th, 2020

a 7 minutes read

The Magic of Sight-Reading

There are musicians with excellent sight-reading. But what actually happens? Is there geniality or divinity included in this incredible skill?

Photo: Pixabay

– by Paula Musique –

THE MAGIC OF SIGHT-READING

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“I did not know you are a genius”, “Have you played this sonata before?”, “You are God-gifted”, “Let me show you how I sight-read this prelude for you to understand what I am talking about”, “Now it is your turn so we can compare”, “Please, you are summoned to play a four-handed piece with me at the piano this semester”, “How do you do it? What is in your brain?”, “You just open the music and ‘boom’ – your sight-reading is like magic”. Magic?

That was the tone of a conversation four of my Music School colleagues had with me in the piano room during my first week at the university. We all got sheet music collections from the library to look over and pick some options to decide what the repertoire for that
semester would be. Some were playing pieces they had played before, and some were curious about the etudes, sonatas, dances, and rhapsodies they had never played before. As soon as they realized “I owned magical sight-reading”, they chose a series of pieces to watch me play whilst they sat looking at me with a “wondering-face” and, I believe, even suspecting if I had told them the truth. After that “laboratory analysis moment”, for the first time in my life, I had someone talking to me about sight-reading. For the first time, I got to watch other people reading music and notice the different levels of reading music. Some of them had been studying the piano since age 5. I was 17 and had been playing the piano for five years. Magic?

When I entered Music School for my bachelor’s degree, my eyes widened on various subjects that I began to question my current view of music and its practices. Despite my colleagues’ exaggerated adjectives on me, I came to understand what they meant. From that day I began to analyze myself to find out if my sight-reading skills were God’s gift or there was something different in my brain or it was something else. Magic?

I started researching and talking to professors about it. I asked them multiple questions and began to analyze my teaching and learning strategies, study routine, chamber music practice, and repertoire genres. I observed myself wondering if some personality traits were also part of the “magical sight-reading”. Additionally, I entered in the world of research and dug into scientific articles in which I found sound explanations on the subject.

It is often said that talking about teaching strategies for piano sight-reading development is an exciting topic because it relates to the debate on constant practice versus natural talent. To study this subject it is needed a combination of knowledge from different areas such as Music, Pedagogy, Psychology, Neurology, Administration and Sociology. How much a piano teacher can influence on their students’ sight-reading skills? Would some brains naturally be more analytical and with strong concentration traits than others? What is the impact of planning and time management on the development of music reading? Are pianists from some countries and cultures more prone to be skilled at sight-reading?

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Photo: Pixabay

Interestingly, Richards (1996) comments that musical symbols form the photograph of composition and he defines musical reading as the transformation of musical symbols into their corresponding sounds. The author explains that reading music is a highly complex mental art that involves: seeing symbols, transmitting symbols to thought centers, sending signals to the body and making a sound. He says that for
advanced pianists, the process also involves the “imagination of sounds”, knowing how the music should sound even before playing it.

McPherson (1995/6) identified five distinct skills for instrument playing: sight-reading, performing rehearsed music, playing from memory, playing by ear, and improvising. Similarly, Hallam (1998b) named those skills as aural, cognitive, technical, musicianship, performance, and learning skills. All of these skills are needed for musicians, although it is acknowledged that each individual pianist has their own set of strengths and weaknesses, being advised to identify the last and find ways for improvement. Usually, as emphasized in some researches, sight-reading is one of the five skills that pianists at the beginning level are afraid of.

According to Adamyan (2018), they found out that the majority of adult piano beginners complained about the difficulty of sight-reading two lines of a piano score simultaneously, and to coordinate both hands when playing. It was also hard for them to perceive rhythm and timings when sight-reading music.

When music reading becomes a barrier to the pleasure of learning piano or becomes an impediment to effective repertoire preparation, one needs to think about strategies to remove these barriers. Allen (2013) shows in his study how students were intimidated when reading music and were very concerned about playing the right note as it was written. Students were highly interested in free improvisation where they did not have to worry about right and wrong, resulting in lower anxiety levels.

Piano teachers need to know strategies to guide their students towards effective sight-reading free of anxiety. At times, there is a deadline for pianists to prepare a repertoire for a concert and smart sight-reading strategies facilitate the whole music practice, reducing stress and anxiety levels caused by not knowing if the repertoire will be ready in time and if there will be time available to devote to other important aspects of performance quality.

It is often discussed that sight-reading can reach a level of excellence through hard work and conscious practice. Piano teachers have to a) learn strategies to approach their students in the development of sight-reading; b) rethink their didactics regarding the development of fluency in music reading; c) observe how students behave when reading a new piece; d) seek specific knowledge of other areas to be applied in their strategies; e) apply tools and methods suggested by scholars and researchers during piano lessons; f) reflect on study and practice versus talent at sight-reading; and g) discuss with students if results are being achieved or not and try other ways, when necessary.

Is it genius, divine or magical to be a great sight-reader? Scholars say there is no “magic” related to the subject. Pianists need to develop study strategies to become fluent in reading this language called music – instead of “spelling each music note”, one should “read the musical phrases”. Music is a universal language that requires fluent readers. In my opinion, music is a language but not in a broad sense. Some say that reading music is like reading any language. Is it right? When you read English or French, is there any general indication in the text or above each syllable saying how fast one should read and for how long each syllable should sound? Is it possible to say more than one syllable at the same time? It is not. That is, reading music goes beyond reading other languages.

By reviewing bibliography, it can be said that sight-reading studies were initially developed as only part of the whole piano learning process, without further specification and the dissemination of specific strategies – for instance, how to develop this skill as something separate, apart. This content was and is generally still presented as one of the book chapters on the art of piano teaching or the art of piano playing. However, in the last decades, several scholars have been researching about sight-reading, trying to deny or verify what was said about it previously.

Zorzal (2012) investigated how specialized literature has addressed the issue of musical talent, outlined a brief historical overview of proposals for detecting musical talent and the study of prodigies in the field of music. There is research that raises pro and cons the existence of musical ability in its innate form. This discussion shows that there is still no consensus and no solid guarantees to allow a music teacher to consider a student more talented than another, especially during the early stages of music development. Thus, it is wiser for music educators to defend the idea that musical intelligence is present in everyone.

Mills and Smith (2003) asked 134 music instrument teachers what they think makes instrument teaching effectively in schools, universities, and conservatories, and asked the strengths and weaknesses of musical education that they perceived when they were still students. Most teachers responded that the way they teach was influenced by the way they were taught. According to the research, the factors that make teaching an instrument effective are (in order of importance): how teachers motivate their students, teachers’ knowledge, and how teachers communicate with students.

Piano Pedagogy professor, Wristen (2005), reviews the literature on cognitive and motor performance at piano sight-reading, addressing issues such as eye movement, perception of multiple elements, visual and aural aspects during reading, and the difference in music reading competence of pianists who focus only on solo repertoire and accompanist pianists. The author concluded that studies on sight-reading have not yet agreed with specific pedagogical objectives in the development of this ability and stressed the lack of effective methods that can assist in the development of sight-reading.

A survey by Meinz and Hambrick (2010) addressed the relationship between good sight-readers pianists and their working memory capacity (WMC). The authors concluded that deliberate practice is necessary but not sufficient to explain differences between pianists regarding the ability to read at first sight and that WMC plays an important role in this ability. Deliberate practice is engaging in specific activities to improve performance in some areas. This practice was thought to be sufficient to achieve impeccable piano performance. But when evaluating 57 pianists, it was found that deliberate practice contributed to only half of the participants in the way they sight-read and that the WMC was the one that greatly interfered with reading. This type of memory, WMC, is what makes the pianist able to read bars ahead while playing.

Unglab (2006) investigated piano sight-reading, aiming to understand how piano students use sight reading in their musical activities and to verify in the specialized bibliography what theorists say about the subject. It was then observed that, when looking at the score, the pianist should be able to capture as much information as possible, transform this information into instrumental action and use hearing as an aid to know if what is being played matches what is written. From this, it was concluded that when the pianist makes a previous analysis of the score he will play, one gets a more satisfactory and complete interpretation.

Photo: Pixabay

Taking everything into consideration, after all these readings and self-analysis, I conclude that there is no magic in my piano sight-reading; however, it is a combination of skills developed overtime related to my memory, Math skills, cognitive and motor process, eyes-hands independence, discipline, and analytical thinking, in addition to my experience and life story of playing the piano at church since I was 12, having the pressure to play a piece for the choirs after receiving the music the day before or on the same day, in addition to the fact my parents were always supportive giving me many piano music collections as gifts, my curious mind willing to know how each new music sounds, and social influences by having many friends over bringing new music for them to sing while I sight-read. That is, it is a set of music skills and personal traits that can be developed.

Nevertheless, currently, at my age, sight-reading so well no longer seems to be “glamorous” but rather normal. In the past, my condition aroused curiosity in some people, because I had started music studies just a few years earlier; however, currently in 2020, the fact that I read well is normal, as it is just the result of many years of playing the piano. It is not magic, it seems to be my “obligation” to sight-read well. Or not?

REFERENCES
Allen, R. (2013). Free improvisation and performance anxiety among piano students. Psychology of Music, 41(1), 75–88.
Hallam, S. (1998). Instrumental teaching: A practical guide to better teaching and learning. Oxford: Heinemann.
McPherson, G.E. (1995/6). Five aspects of musical performance and their correlates. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Special Issue, the 15th International Society for Music Education. University of Miami, Florida, 9–15 July, 1994.
Meinz, Elizabeth; Hambrick, David. (2010) Deliberate Practice Is Necessary but Not Sufficient to Explain Individual Differences in Piano Sight-Reading Skill: The Role of Working Memory Capacity. Psychological Science, p. 914-919.
Mills, Janet; Smith, Jam. (2013). Teachers’ Beliefs about Effective Instrumental Teaching in Schools and Higher Education. B. J. Music Ed. Cambridge University Press, 2013, p.5-27.
Unglab, Aillyn. (2006). Um Olhar Reflexivo sobre a Leitura Musical à Primeira Vista realizada por Pianistas. Monografia. Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina. Florianópolis.
Wristen, Branda. (2005). Cognition and Motor Execution in Piano Sight-Reading: A Review of Literature. Applications of Reasearch in Music Education. Sage, p.44-56.
Zorzal, R. C. (2012). Uma Breve Discussão sobre Talento Musical. Revista Música Hodie, Goiânia, V.12 – n.2, p. 201-209.

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?

Many questions have been raised in this article. Feel free to answer as many as you want and share your thoughts.

Paula Musique

Viver vai muito além de realizar meus próprios sonhos, pois posso dar as mãos ao próximo e ajudá-lo a realizar seus sonhos também & a vida fica muito melhor com Música.

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Juan Rossi 27/04/2020

Deixei nos favoritos do Chrome seu blog visto pelo Face – o qual o encontrei a mim ser de bastante interesse! Tanto nesse assunto quanto no de ouvido absoluto, como, aliás, a Sra. deve haver visto, de Lígia Salton, o vídeo pelo Youtube, bastante legal, creio que há pano prá manga mesmo. Para tanto, fora destes assuntos escabrosos e excessivamente ruminados em faculdades e fora das mesmas – os primeiros cheios de pré-conceituações estereotipadas e que só nos levam a endeusar pessoas – acho que gostaria de saber que realmente sua pesquisa meio que pôde me situar em muitas coisas musicais e pessoas pelas quais me deparei nos meus 44 anos musicais ao piano, Hammond e teclados – em cima de meus já cansados 62 anos. Exemplificando, o pianista da família Espírito Santo e também Almeida Prado, compositor que era meu professor – já falecido -, além do violonista Fábio Zanon e também o atual coordenador geral do Coralusp, Ricardo Ballestero – e alguns poucos tangidos por esta propriedade de açambarcar de uma só vez várias pautas e, sem haver tido contato de memória ou auditivo com a canção orquestral, destrinchá-la em harmonia e solo plausivelmente -, são evidentes lampejos de análise e síntese em leitura à primeira vista contundentes! Por aqui no Brasil, por meus poucos parâmetros, quem no geral lê erudito não improvisa muito e quem improvisa lê mal jazz à prima vista. Porém, há sempre honrosas e benvindas exceções. Meu filho Hanon – vide sua premiada peça Breve Sensório, em Praga, pelo Youtube – tem ganho prêmios em composições orquestrais e, interessantemente, numa época de novinho ganhava concursos matemáticos pelo mundo… (E, ah, lê até bem à primeira vista, mas não improvisa jazz). Quanto a mim, não cato milho, mas já tive problemas pela maior falta deste empenho na leitura: em ensaio solapado com banda de jazz, em gravação, ao executar Gershwin ou Kurt Weill – auditivamente conseguindo bem acompanhar nos strings trechos de aúdio que cessam nas cerimônias – e outros tecladistas não o fazerem! Interessantes e plausíveis condições as que vemos em alguns afortunados de pai e mãe com possibilidades não somente monetárias, mas culturais. E, sim, novamente cairemos mais uma vez no estereótipo matemática versus habilidade musical. Afinal de contas, nosso cérebro é computador maravilhoso e desconcertantemente complexo dentro deste tempo evolucionário do ser humano. Pena que desembocamos na falácia de não observarmos o planeta como um todo e olharmos ao umbigo e, assim, temos que enfrentar uma peste agora – o que nos dá algum tempo a refletir melhor sobre estas coisas! Se for de seu interesse, no meu site – acima – há 2 novos vídeos de minhas composições Crossover – muito mais simples que as de meu rebento, certamente! Sorte…
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  Paula Musique respondeu Juan Rossi 29/04/2020
  
  Que rico comentário, Juan!
  Obrigada por participar.
  
  Muito interessante você levantar a questão do ouvido absoluto.
  Eu poderia dizer, de forma simplista, que assim como o músico com ouvido absoluto tem o “ouvido absoluto” (óbvio); a pessoa com excepcional leitura à primeira vista teria a relação partitura-olhos-mãos “absoluta”.
  
  Assim como há pessoas que escutam uma nota e automaticamente elas “enxergam” FÁ, um pianista do time da leitura vê dois blocos de notas nas duas pautas e o “escuta” em sua mente ele mesmo dizendo F7M/G – tudo em milésimos de segundos -, ou nem mesmo se pensa em acordes e as mãos vão diretamente onde a partitura pede.
  O time dos ouvidos MEMORIZOU O SOM DAS NOTAS e o time dos olhos MEMORIZOU A POSIÇÃO DO DESENHO AO PIANO. É complicado tentar relacionar as duas habilidades, porém é muito interessante pensar nisto.
  
  Verdade, nossa mente é incrível.
  
  Parabéns pelo seu filho.
  Qual o nome da sua composição autoral favorita? Assim tentarei ouvi-la no seu site.
  
  Volte sempre.
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Juan Rossi 15/06/2020

Há só dois novos vídeos do ano passado em meu site e, creio, a ÁIVLIS – ou Sílvia ao revés, ex-namorada que se foi ao exterior à qual namorei por dedicar esta obra coral – é uma preferência em minhas poucas obras compostas – revisitando meu grupo criado Juan Rossi & Principius. Lá há também a SMAM – outra Sílvia, ex-amiga que se foi ao exterior também a quem amava -, a qual utiliza meu agora trocado Hammond de 2 teclados e pedaleira (Mojo da Crumar italiana). Estou há pouco tempo nesta pandemia com um Nord, um antigo Yamaha e novo Roli expressivo no arsenal modificado por mim. Saudações musicais!!