
Contents
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Introduction Introduction
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What Is Sight-Reading? What Is Sight-Reading?
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Brief History of Music Notation Brief History of Music Notation
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Sight-Reading Research Sight-Reading Research
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Factors Contributing to Fluent Sight-Reading Factors Contributing to Fluent Sight-Reading
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Eye movement Eye movement
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Focus of attention Focus of attention
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Eye-hand span versus perceptual span Eye-hand span versus perceptual span
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Eye movement mechanisms Eye movement mechanisms
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Perceptual skills Perceptual skills
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Auditory skills Auditory skills
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Memory Memory
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New frontier—neuroscience New frontier—neuroscience
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Acquisition of Sight-Reading Skills Acquisition of Sight-Reading Skills
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Rhythm training to improve sight-reading Rhythm training to improve sight-reading
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Knowledge of musical styles to improve sight-reading Knowledge of musical styles to improve sight-reading
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Collaborative playing to improve sight-reading Collaborative playing to improve sight-reading
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A holistic approach to improving sight-reading A holistic approach to improving sight-reading
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Practical Implications Practical Implications
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General Strategies General Strategies
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Specific Strategies Specific Strategies
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Key Sources Key Sources
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Reflective Questions Reflective Questions
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References References
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10 Sight-Reading
Get accessKatie Zhukov, Research Fellow in Music, Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance, Monash University, Australia
Gary E. McPherson, Ormond Chair of Music, University of Melbourne, Australia
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Published:13 January 2022
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Abstract
Abstract: This chapter synthesizes available information on music reading and highlights recent approaches to studying the acquisition of sight-reading expertise. We focus on factors contributing to fluent music reading: eye movement, perceptual skills, auditory skills, and memory. The eye movements of accomplished sight-readers are different from those of slow readers, with expertise measured by fewer and shorter fixations and longer saccades. Skilled sight-readers perceive larger rhythm and pitch patterns than slow sight-readers do, and base their prediction skills on their knowledge of musical styles. Strong auditory skills also play an important role in sight-reading. Fluent sight-reading involves fast retrieval of well-established motor responses from the long-term memory and suppression of irrelevant information in the working memory. We discuss a range of approaches to the acquisition of fluent sight-reading: rhythm training leads to greater rhythmic accuracy, familiarity with musical styles improves pattern recognition, and collaborative playing activities assist in maintaining pacing of a performance. A holistic training approach combining all three of these elements is described in the last section of the chapter. General and specific recommendations for ways musicians can improve their music reading skills are provided together with training strategies aimed at helping musicians become fluent music readers.
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