Sight-reading Performance Research Articles

Sticking choices in timpani sight-reading performance.

When sight-reading a score, a timpanist needs to decide in real-time which stick to use to play a specific note while interpreting the musical material. Our main point of inquiry seeks to understand which sticking patterns performers employ and how they are affected by rhythmic stability. This paper analyzes the bi-manual sequencing (i.e., sticking) patterns of 31 timpanists in a sight-reading task. We analyze their results compared to model sticking patterns common in percussion pedagogical literature. Results show that while hand dominance plays an essential role in an individual's sticking pattern, the stability of a rhythmic pattern may also dramatically influence the observed particular sticking strategies. In areas of rhythmic stability, performers largely adhered to one of two conventional sticking patterns in the literature (dominant hand lead & alternating). Where rhythmic patterns became more unstable, the performers separated into diverse sticking groups. Moreover, several performers demonstrated sticking patterns which were hybrids or an inverse of the model sticking patterns, without any impact on the success of their sight-reading abilities. Overall, no two individual performers demonstrated the same sticking pattern. In terms of percussion pedagogy, our findings suggest that performers may benefit from an awareness of the adaptability of model sticking strategies. Lastly, we make the case for further study of rhythmic stability and bi-manual sequencing by locating the difference between notational and aural complexity.

Visual and visual association abilities predict skilled reading performance: The case of music sight-reading.

The role of visual shape processing in skilled reading is an understudied topic. This study focused on the role of visual and visual association skills in a type of skilled reading, music sight-reading, which refers to the ability to play a piece of music when one reads the score for the first time. One hundred and 43 intermediate-to-advanced musicians were assessed on their sight-reading performance as well as visual fluency for notes, general visual fluency, motor dexterity, visual-auditory association for notes, visual-motor association for numbers, working memory capacity, and executive function. Correlation and regression analyses showed that sight-reading performance can be largely explained by three abilities related to vision, including visual fluency for notes, visual-auditory association for notes, and visual-motor association for numbers (9.99, 10.11, and 4.62% respectively). The findings led to a better understanding of music sight-reading that takes into account the long-overlooked association between visual shape processing ability and sight-reading, which has clear educational implications. The importance of visual shape processing ability may also apply to other domains of skilled reading requiring visual perceptual extraction of visual codes, such as word reading. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring pedagogical strategies for piano sight-reading

In a piano sight-reading (SR) experiment, 27 undergraduate students had their SR measured. It tested the hypothesis that transposition (control group) would be a pedagogical intervention better than rhythmic training and the use of four-handed repertoire (two experimental groups). The individual errors were collected from three tests in three difficulty levels (27 students x 3 tests x 3 levels), generating a total of 243 observations. Although students improved their performance by 30%, none of the pedagogical interventions had any significant effect (p=0.96). The results were: a) practicing reading in the bass clef, the rhythmic aspects more than the melodic ones, and the left hand more than the right one, brings more benefits to the piano SR performance; b) isolated SR strategies has little effect on students development; c) using a hybrid curriculum matrix with three or more significant predictors seems to be the most appropriate way to develop a SR competency.

A reliable and valid tool for measuring visual recognition ability with musical notation.

Recognizing musical notation is an important skill to a full participation of Western classical music, but remains a largely under-researched topic in the psychology of music. One plausible reason of such omission is that, in the past, the research field has heavily relied on self-report of music reading ability, which was subjective and highly variable. This paper presents a reliable and valid tool for objectively measuring individual abilities in visual recognition of musical notation. The visual fluency task measures how fast one can accurately recognize a sequence of musical notation at a desired accuracy level using the adaptive psychometric method QUEST. We checked the reliability of this task in over 200 participants in terms of Guttman's λ-2 and Cronbach's alpha. Also, we evaluated the construct validity of this task by considering the convergent validity of this task with multiple external real-world measures of one's musical training background, with numerous experimental measures of visual tendencies of musical notation recognition and with sight-reading performance. Overall, the visual fluency task achieved satisfactory reliability and validity for measuring abilities in recognizing musical notation. This opens the door for characterizing the cognitive mechanisms, development, and individual differences in musical notation recognition, for understanding music learning and music psychology and for understanding of visual perceptual expertise in general.

Research-to-Resource: The Importance of Aural Learning in the Strings Classroom

String musicians put a high priority on ear training in order to be successful on their instruments. Research suggests that delaying music reading to teach by ear does not negatively affect sight-reading performance in the long term, may improve music literacy skills, and also may improve student perceptions of accomplishment. The pedagogy of learning by ear, which is distinctly different than learning by rote, may be unfamiliar to many string teachers, regardless of their experience in the classroom. The purpose of this research-to-resource article is to provide string teachers with strategies to teach repertoire by ear with the intention of strengthening students’ aural acuity, problem-solving skills, and knowledge of the fingerboard.

English

This study was conducted to analyze the effects of regular sight reading studies of classical guitar students on their sight reading and their performance of classical guitar. In the research, experimental method was used with a pretest-posttest control and experimental group. The application process was carried out with 14 undergraduate students studying Music and Fine Arts Education Department from Marmara University. In the study groups, 7 students from the individual instrument training course made up the experimental group (n=7) and another 7 students from the individual instrument training made up the control group (n=7). Data were collected using “The Guitar Performance Grading Scale” and “The Sight Reading Performance Evaluation Scale”. The study included a 10-week experimental process. The process was carried out within 1 week of pretest evaluations by a jury of experts, 8 weeks of individual guitar enstrument training performed by the researcher and 1 week of posttest evaluations by the jury. The data obtained was analyzed after the application and interpreted by statistical techniques. In the application that was done with the groups to analyze the influence of a regular sight reading practice upon sight reading skills, a significant difference was found between the experimental and control group posttest “Sight Reading Performance Evaluation Scale” scores in favor of the experimental group. In the other application done to analyze the influence of a regular sight reading practice upon classical guitar performance, a significant difference was found between experimental and control group in favor of experimental group “Guitar Performance Grading Scale” posttest scores. According to the findings, it has been concluded that the education given to the experimental group in the research positively influenced and improved the sight reading skills and classical guitar performances of the students; thus, various suggestions were given on the subject. Key words: Instrument training, classical guitar education, sight reading, performance. &nbsp

The role of positional knowledge and tonal approaches in cellists’ sight-reading

Sight-reading is an important skill for amateur and professional musicians. Several factors seem to play a role in sight-reading skills, such as expertise level, ear training, mental speed and improvisation skills. If we are right in supposing that these factors cannot easily be generalized for all musicians, one of the reasons for this must surely lie in the fact that different musical instruments set different technical requirements for the player. The purpose of this study was to investigate which factors help cello students have better sight-reading abilities. Amateur cello students ( N = 79) were tested for position knowledge, use of tonal and positional approaches and actual sight-reading ability, and their sight-reading performance was measured by counting pitch and fluency errors they made in short pieces of varying complexity. This study used a partly correlational (use of tonal/positional approaches, technical level, experience, and position knowledge) and a partly experimental repeated-measures design (key complexity). The findings suggest that position knowledge shows a very strong negative correlation with the number of sight-reading errors and a weak correlation with pauses. Use of positional approaches shows no significantly stronger correlation with the number of sight-reading errors than the use of tonal approaches. In addition, it appears that an increase in the key complexity leads to more sight-reading errors and more pauses. Finally, the position knowledge and technical level of participants explain 83% of the variation in the total pitch errors. Experience and use of tonal approaches explain 40% of the variation in the number of short pauses.

The Effect of Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Peer-Assisted Learning Structures on Music Achievement and Learner Engagement in Seventh-Grade Band

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of two different reciprocal peer-assisted learning (PAL) arrangements on music achievement and learner engagement in the secondary instrumental music classroom. Using a quasi-experimental design, students from six separate seventh-grade bands from one large urban/suburban school district ( N = 261) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions: symmetrical PAL, where students of like ability were paired together, and asymmetrical PAL, where students of divergent ability were paired together. Students worked in pairs over the course of four weeks and took turns being the “learner” and the “teacher” to improve sight-reading ability and music theory knowledge. Student pairs were allowed to determine their own rules for interaction, turn taking, and the amount of material to be covered in each session. Three pre-/posttest outcome variables were assessed: sight-reading performance, music theory knowledge, and learner engagement. Additionally, individual socioeconomic status (SES) and motivation orientation were compared as potential moderating variables. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that regardless of PAL pairings, there were significant gains for each of the outcome variables. Moreover, interaction effects were found between learner engagement, method of instruction, and SES.

Experiential (informal/non-formal) practice does not improve sight-reading skills

This study investigates whether experiential (informal/non-formal) sight-reading practice has an impact on sight-reading skills of classical university-level pianists. Data collected from 80 self-report practice diaries of students participating in trials of new sight-reading pedagogies were analysed to evaluate the effect of experiential sight-reading practice on improvement in sight-reading performance, focusing on the overall duration of sight-reading activities accumulated over the 10-week period and different patterns across this time. Data were subjected to bivariate regressions and bivariate correlations analyses. Results showed that improvement in sight-reading performance on three out of the four key indicators (beat adjustment, extra notes and missing notes) could not be predicted by participants’ overall hours of experiential practice. Yet the total number of hours engaged in sight-reading practice did predict an improvement in participant RMS accuracy (average timing errors for each correct note played). Findings also revealed no consistent pattern of practice across the 10 weeks that was associated with any of the four performance indicators. Implications for education include the need to embrace multi-faceted approaches to sight-reading training by focusing on skills contributing to expert sight-reading and their development, individually and in combinations. Rhythm and pitch training, development of pattern recognition and prediction skills, and collaborative playing activities have the potential to enhance sight-reading skills of music undergraduates and have positive flow-on effects for their preparation for 21st century music careers.

Rhythmic and melodic sight reading interventions: Two meta-analyses

The purpose of these meta-analyses was twofold: 1) to determine whether experimentally - tested sight reading interventions positively influenced rhythmic or melodic sight reading performance and if so; 2) to explore whether the interventions differentially affected rhythmic and melodic sight reading. Two meta-analyses were conducted; one comprised experimental research measuring rhythmic sight reading (46 studies; 68 individual analyses) and another comprised research measuring melodic sight reading (21 studies; 35 individual analyses). Analyses revealed small overall effect sizes (Rhythmic: d = −0.34, 95% CI [−0.50, –0.19]; Melodic: d = −0.35, 95% CI [−0.59, –0.12]). Moderator variables were used to examine how effect size was influenced by treatment type and other study-level design elements. Treatment type significantly influenced both rhythmic and melodic sight reading. For rhythm, treatments that focused on counting systems and included movement or rhythmic drill positively affected sight reading. Melodic results are preliminary due to the limited number of studies, but based on the information available, treatments using collaboration activities or instrumental training positively affected sight reading. Varying notation did not improve sight reading. The type of sight reading (rhythmic, melodic) significantly affected the effectiveness of some treatments.

The Effect of Pitch and Rhythm Difficulty on High School String Sight-Reading Performance

Reading music at sight is a complex skill, requiring the musician to perform pitch and rhythm simultaneously. Previous research has identified difficulty levels for pitch and rhythm skills for strings individually but not in combination. In this study, we sought to study possible relationships between pitch and rhythm tasks occurring concurrently. High school string players (N = 88) performed melodies with varying combinations of pitch and rhythm difficulty. Results indicated that pitch and rhythm skills retained their relative difficulty levels, regardless of the presence of other factors. Rhythmic success was related to pitch success. Rhythm accuracy without pitch success occurred least frequently. Pitch accuracy without rhythm success occurred most frequently. String players appeared to give priority to pitch over rhythm, performing pitch correctly at the expense of rhythmic accuracy. Implications for teaching include the necessity of emphasizing rhythmic continuity. Future research should explore the pitch and rhythm reading capabilities for other instrumentalists and string players with a vocal background, as well as exploring the ability to sight-read additional musical elements in conjunction with rhythm and pitch.

Facing facts about deliberate practice.

Facing facts about deliberate practice.

An Analysis of the Ratings and Interrater Reliability of High School Band Contests

The purpose of this study was to examine procedures for analyzing ratings of large-group festivals and provide data with which to compare results from similar events. Data consisted of ratings from senior division concert band contests sponsored by the South Carolina Band Directors Association from 2008 to 2010. Three concert-performance and two sight-reading judges evaluated each band to determine a final rating. Research questions examined (a) frequency distributions of ratings; (b) interrater reliability as measured by Spearman correlation of individual judges’ ratings, internal consistency (α), and two forms of interrater agreement (IRA); and (c) differences in mean ratings among individual adjudicators, contest sites, years, and classifications. The average final rating for all bands ( N = 353) was 1.73, with 86.7% ( n = 306) earning a I/Superior or II/Excellent. Interrater correlation, IRA, and internal consistency were higher for sight-reading versus concert performance. Each of these measures rose above the .80 benchmark for good reliability, except interrater correlation and average pairwise IRA in the concert portion of the contest. Data indicated significant differences in 8 out of 18 judging panels, in contest sites in 2010, and among ensemble classifications. In this study, the author demonstrated an effective procedure for analyzing ratings of large-group festivals and identified implications for improving these events.

The Effect of Pitch and Rhythm Difficulty on Vocal Sight-Reading Performance

Singing music at sight is a complex skill, requiring the singer to perform pitch and rhythm simultaneously. Previous research has identified difficulty levels for pitch and rhythm skills individually but not in combination. In this study, the author sought to determine the relationship between pitch and rhythm tasks occurring concurrently. High school singers ( N = 252) sang melodies with varying combinations of pitch and rhythm difficulty. Results indicate that pitch and rhythm skills retained their relative difficulty levels, regardless of the presence of other factors. Rhythmic success was significantly related to pitch success. Rhythm accuracy without pitch success occurred least frequently. Pitch accuracy without rhythm success occurred most frequently. Singers appeared to give priority to pitch over rhythm, performing pitch correctly at the expense of rhythmic accuracy. Singers with instrument/piano experience and singers with piano experience only scored significantly higher than did those with no instrument/piano training ( p < .05). Those with instrument and/or piano experience were more proficient at performing pitch and rhythm together than those without such experience. Implications for teachers include the necessity of emphasizing rhythmic continuity. Future research should explore the pitch and rhythm reading capabilities for instrumentalists, and singers’ ability to sight-read additional musical elements.

Employing cognitive chunking techniques to enhance sight-reading performance of undergraduate group-piano students

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of cognitive chunking techniques among first-semester group-piano music majors. The ability to group discrete pieces of information into larger, more meaningful chunks is essential for efficient cognitive processing. Since reading keyboard music and playing the piano is a cognitively complex task, the ability to recognize patterns and execute the necessary motor skills is critical for proficiency in sight-playing. Three groups of beginning group-piano students ( N = 43) worked on 12 sight-reading examples during six class sessions. A control group rehearsed the examples without benefit of rhythm or pitch drills. Two experimental groups drilled either rhythm or pitch patterns prior to practicing the sight-reading exercises. Following the treatment phase, all subjects were tested on three sightreading examples to determine whether rhythmic and pitch chunking drills impacted reading performance at the keyboard. Subjects were evaluated on rhythmic accuracy, pitch accuracy and continuity. There were significant improvements from pretest to posttest in several subcategories. The pitch experimental group improved significantly in pitch, rhythm and continuity accuracy. The rhythm experimental group improved in rhythm and continuity, while the control group improved only in pitch accuracy. Experimental subjects reported significant engagement in rhythm and pitch chunking even if lack of motor skills impaired the actual performance.

Deliberate Practice Is Necessary but Not Sufficient to Explain Individual Differences in Piano Sight-Reading Skill

Deliberate practice—that is, engagement in activities specifically designed to improve performance in a domain—is strongly predictive of performance in domains such as music and sports. It has even been suggested that deliberate practice is sufficient to account for expert performance. Less clear is whether basic abilities, such as working memory capacity (WMC), add to the prediction of expert performance, above and beyond deliberate practice. In evaluating participants having a wide range of piano-playing skill (novice to expert), we found that deliberate practice accounted for nearly half of the total variance in piano sight-reading performance. However, there was an incremental positive effect of WMC, and there was no evidence that deliberate practice reduced this effect. Evidence indicates that WMC is highly general, stable, and heritable, and thus our results call into question the view that expert performance is solely a reflection of deliberate practice.

The Relationships Among Instrumental Sight-Reading Ability and Seven Selected Predictor Variables

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among instrumental sight-reading ability and seven selected variables: (1) Technical Proficiency, (2) Rhythm Reading Ability, (3) Sight Singing Ability, (4) Cumulative Grade Point Average, (5) Cumulative Music Theory Grade Point Average, (6) Cumulative Performance Jury Grade Point Average, and (7) Major Instrument Grade Point Average. Thirty-two wind instrumentalists, selected at random from undergraduate music theory classes at the University of South Carolina, served as subjects. During the spring semester of 1980, the subjects took tests designed to measure their abilities in sight-reading, technical proficiency, sight singing, and rhythm reading. Data were collected from each student' s permanent record regarding each of the other variables. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) A strong positive relationship exists between wind instrumentalists' general sight-reading ability and the ability to sight-read rhythm patterns. (2) Rhythm-reading ability is the single best predictor of wind instrumentalists' sight-reading scores. (3) Rhythm-reading ability and performance jury scores combine to make the best predictors of wind instrumentalists' sight-reading performance scores.

The Effect of Rhythmic Notation Variables on Sight-Reading Errors

independent learner. In music, an obvious prerequisite ;to independence is the ability to sight-read. The importance of this ability is evidenced ly the growing body of research on sight-reading.l The purpose of this study was to contribute new infotmation on the effect of stimulus presentation variables on sight-reading errors, in the hope that it might aid the development of more effective and efficient instructional designs. The first of two null hypotheses for the study was that the total number of errors made in an instrumental sight-reading performance is not affected significantly by the spatial logic of the rhythmic factor in the notation. The second was that the number of rhythmic errors made in an instrumental sightreading performance is not affected significantly by the spatial logic of the rhythmic factor in the notation. The studies of three other researchers are especially significant for the present concern because they represent attempts to inaease the clarity of rhythmic relationships by making music more loglcal. Wheelwright found that patterns of notes are perceived with greater accuracy when spaced in ratio to their represented time values, than when they are traditionally printed.2 Kendall developed a sausage notation in which note heads were elongated