How good are you at sightreading? (2 Viewers)

[virgin^sexy]

i want perfect pitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but i dont think it would matter so much cos i dont play much, and dont take lessons anymore.

 

[enak]

Originally posted by Lexicographer
I haven't played the piano since I was eight. I'm a Clarinetist now.

I was a clarinetist, now i'm a pianist

Yay, no more sightreading or aural at A.mus , thankgod for the new syllabus

Although sightreading is easier on the clarinet, we also had to transpose, that sucked.

 

[midnight]

I play clarinet. I'm only doing 6th grade, but sight reading/transposition for 5th was awful enough! I'd always go to maths after my lessons doing transposition and I'd be such a vegetable, it gets you so confused! Mainly going up a note, the down ones generally only involved changing the sharps to flats [the one in my exam did too thank goodness! I didn't have to do up a ST either.]

My reading isn't too bad, I have days where I am good and days where it takes me a while. It's mainly practice, although I think some people definitely are better at it than others.

Sightreading for bass is my favourite.

 

[Lexicographer]

Originally posted by virgin^sexy
um im guessing you are confused about why said so am i? i was saying that i, also, am impressed with your ability to do all that stuff.

bah i dont make sense. dont worry.

OH! I see. Don't be impressed, I'm not an impressive person at all. Really, that stuff is just nothing compared to other people.

 

[virgin^sexy]

well its much more than what i can do. how do you know which trains make which noise?

 

[Lexicographer]

By paying attention? It's easier with perfect pitch, because you can memorise the note (or closest note) generated by the different kinds.

I don't have that though, so it's a mix of memorising the sounds and "feeling" (or unconsciously remembering) the train that goes with it.

 

[virgin^sexy]

Originally posted by Lexicographer
By paying attention? It's easier with perfect pitch, because you can memorise the note (or closest note) generated by the different kinds.

I don't have that though, so it's a mix of memorising the sounds and "feeling" (or unconsciously remembering) the train that goes with it.

thats crazy. what else can you do with it? what grade clarinet did you say you played? because i have been doing music since i was 5 and i really dont think i am that good at it! i mean, im decent, but i dont seem to have that really musical nature, like i feel i should be at a higher standard after so many years..

 

[Lexicographer]

Consider that what you learn between 5 and 15 is nothing to what you learn between 15 and 17, simply because in that time you develop the maturity and complexity of understanding to actually APPRECIATE what you're doing with music.

I started playing the clarinet just before I turned 16, and in three years I went from total n00b to around grade 5 AMEB. That was six odd months ago, when I stopped playing to concentrate on the HSC etc. I haven't really picked up my [ebony] stick since, partly because I never got around to buying my own.

The reason I developed so quickly was because I went clarinet mad and practiced about two hours a day for ages, even when I first began. I'd have the clarinet next to the keyboard (computer) and would play until I got tired, answer people on ICQ for a bit, and start playing again. Worked like a charm.

 

[olay]

i wish i had perfect pitch too. melodic dictation is hell for me. :S OH you know what was horrid??? clapping back rhythms. its like "HUH how do u expect me to remember a rhythm that goes for 30 freaking seconds mate??" somehow i used to always fluke those in exams. luckily thats long gone [as of grade 5 or sthg?]

hehe sight reading on the other hand is v. sweet for me- i blame it on being a lazy arse. too lazy to prac heaps and heaps which means i pick up stuf and just play it instead of going through it thoroughly. then again, i've been playing piano since i was 5.

oh yeah, and i can't memorise for crap [re: theory above]. i don't think i play things over and over enough. hsc assessments i've been praccing a crapload though, so theres hope of memorising there [i think. or hope.].

 

[enak]

Originally posted by Lexicographer
The reason I developed so quickly was because I went clarinet mad and practiced about two hours a day for ages, even when I first began. I'd have the clarinet next to the keyboard (computer) and would play until I got tired, answer people on ICQ for a bit, and start playing again. Worked like a charm.

lol, I went from 0-4th grade in 6months for piano , partly because my teacher was my uncle for that period. Now since he left i've been slowing down even going backwards ahhhh!

 

[Lexicographer]

Yeah but...grade four is easy

Nah, you have a good point: all it takes to excel in music (to the intermediate levels) is dedication and persistence. I mean anyone can become a good musician - it's at the top that you can seperate the brilliant ones from the regulars.

 

[enak]

Originally posted by Lexicographer
Yeah but...grade four is easy

Nah, you have a good point: all it takes to excel in music (to the intermediate levels) is dedication and persistence. I mean anyone can become a good musician - it's at the top that you can seperate the brilliant ones from the regulars.

Thats true. I stopped clarinet at 7th grade due to loss of interest even though I had an excellent teacher, and that I had to practice more than 30minutes a day to get a B pass jk.
Like other interests, you have to find the right instrument/s for you, so I kept with the piano

 

[bubz :D]

perfect pitch, arrrgh

 

[babyslug]

I hated the memorising part in piano exams - especially in grades 7 and 8. I would literally remember probably the first two bars, and even so i wouldn't get the timing right.
I think also because of my music background, i've become more attuned to listening to music whilst watching tv - or i can pick out different instruments that are playing while i'm walking on the street (baskers) or alike. Anyone notice how the music at the beginning of CSI and CSI Miami are the same? Only slightly verified...

 

[Lexicographer]

Finger memory is what matters. It should just come to you with time though, have fun with the pieces, toy with dynamics, timing and stresses. Syncopate your Bach!

Not much use now though, since just about everyone here has already quit their instruments.

 

[iambored]

i wish i could sight read...

 

[babydoll_]

i miss my clarinet

even though it wasnt mine

anyway

 

[Lexicographer]

What she said.

(really )

 

[virgin^sexy]

Originally posted by Lexicographer
Not much use now though, since just about everyone here has already quit their instruments.

yeh, why is that??

 

[jessum]

sightreading is heaps simple on clarinet and sax.. but i guess u dont have to put the two lines together. it always took me ages to learn piano songs. i have no patience, so i stopped.