Many studies have tried to understand what makes a musician particularly good at sight-reading. There have now been enough studies that have revealed the same results that we can take these studies into consideration when we look at the characteristics of good sight-readers. These skills include the ability to scan over the music accurately prior to playing, to know tonal patterns that construct music, to read rhythms quickly and accurately, and to achieve higher-than-average grade point averages in both academics and juries.
A very important step in sight-reading takes place before the first note is played. Musicians must be able to quickly and accurately interpret the music prior to playing. In a study conducted by Gary E. McPherson, students were asked to sight-read a passage. Before they started, the researcher covered the music and asked the students questions about it. Almost none of the lowest 25 participants knew the key and time signature while almost the entire top 25% knew both facts.[1] This shows that good sight-readers can look at the music before they start actually playing and understand all of the important features like key, time signature, new tempi, difficult accelerandi and ritardi, and difficult passages.
Another characteristic of highly efficient sight-readers is the ability to recognize commonly used musical ideas. A study conducted by Carol B. MacKnight proved that “tonal pattern instruction is superior to note identification teaching techniques in development of both sight-reading skill and auditory-visual discrimination skills.”[2] This means that being able to recognize typical note patterns helps the sight-reader more than being able to read each individual note. The ability to recognize these patterns depends greatly on learning the fundamentals of music like scales and arpeggios. Musicians use a variety of techniques to learn tonal patterns, and this recognition greatly aids in their ability to read music quickly and efficiently.
The next characteristic of good sight-readers is by far the most widely proven and most researched. Good sight-readers have good rhythm-reading skills. More than half of the errors made by sight-readers are rhythmical mistakes.[3] That means there are more rhythmical errors than all other errors combined! Along with working to recognize typical note patterns, sight-readers can improve their abilities by working on recognizing common rhythmical patterns in all time signatures.
One less commonly brought up point is that performance jury scores and music theory grade point averages are significantly higher in students who are proven to be better sight-readers.[4] The fact that good sight-readers have higher jury grades may prove that students who are good sight-readers also work harder on their craft than the average student in general. They may simply practice more than the average student and thus be better prepared for both sight-reading and their juries. The fact that better sight-readers have higher music theory grade point averages seems to either suggest that students work harder on their skills in general or, maybe studying music theory including chordal structure helps students recognize the musical patterns they may come across while performing. While these are characteristics that many sight-readers in the college and university level students hold, it must be said that this characteristic cannot apply outside of the college/university setting. Not all good sight-readers are aware of advanced theory in the music that they are playing, nor do they need this knowledge be good sight-reader. This characteristic shows up consistently in studies, but researchers seem to not know quite what it means when it comes time to translate data into action.
There are certainly more characteristics of good sight-readers. This compilation is simply composed of the most commonly mentioned ones from the available literature. In summary, the best ways to improve sight-reading are to work on recognizing common note and rhythm patterns, always check all of the details of the piece before starting, and oh yeah, PRACTICE MORE!
[1] McPherson (Autumn, 1994): p. 227.
[3] McPherson (Autumn, 1994): p. 217.
[4] Elliott (Spring, 1982): p. 11.
Elliott, Charles A., “The Relationship Among Instrumental Sight-Reading Ability and
Seven Selected Predicter Variables.” Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring, 1982), pp. 5-14.
MacKnight, Carol B. “Music Reading Ability of Beginning Wind Instrumentalists after
Melodic Instruction. Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring, 1975), pp. 23-34.
McPherson, Gary E. “Factors and Abilities Influencing Sight-reading Skill in Music.”
Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Autumn, 1994), pp. 217-231.
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