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Leading music educator Paul Harris’ Improve Your Teaching! series of slim, affordable handbooks has grown into a formidable and essential resource for instrumental teachers, notable previous titles including Teaching Beginners, Simultaneous Learning, The Virtuoso Teacher and Unconditional Teaching.
For the latest title in the series, Harris revisits the topic of sight-reading, with which his name has been rather indelibly linked over the years thanks to his bestselling series of Improve Your Sight-Reading! student books. Subtitled, “The art and science behind developing sight-reading technique”, the book offers itself as:
“A companion to the Improve your sight-reading! series revealing sight-reading as a technique that can be both taught and learnt by all who wish to develop it.”
To find out more, read on…
A Concise Companion
In her Foreword to this new book, Professor Linda Merrick (Principal, Royal Northern College of Music) suggests,
“The ability to sight-read is an essential skill for any musician, but something that is too often neglected as part of the pedagogical process. The reasons for this can stem from perceptions that as a skill it cannot be taught, that it will evolve organically as part of the learning process, or that it is something that the student simply can or cannot do. Paul Harris’ book dispels these myths by providing a systematic approach for both tutor and student that conceptualises sight-reading as being at the heart of the overall learning process: an accessible skill that everyone can acquire and develop with confidence.”
Sporting a similarly colourful, eye-catching design as previous titles in the series, How to sight-read packs a huge amount of information into its 80 pages, a reminder of Paul’s special gift for concise communication.
The book has four main sections:
- Setting the scene
- Aspects of knowledge
- Developing sight-reading technique
- Practical matters
In Setting the Scene, Harris reminds us of the value of sight-reading, assuring the reader that everyone can sight-read, and listing the benefits of being confident doing so. Seeking to demystify sight-reading, he outlines in simple terms how language works, shows how learning to sight-read fits into his ‘simultaneous learning’ approach, and explains how our mindset, knowledge and approach can help us become better sight-readers.
Harris devotes the second section of his book to digging into Aspects of Knowledge. He considers the process of reading itself, before homing in on pulse, rhythm and pitch reading, all the while including helpful suggestions and ideas for practical activities that will support learning, and help us to fully grasp his argument and approach.
Developing sight-reading technique, the third section of the book, is the largest. Here Harris outlines the nuts and bolts of how to sight-read, as he calls it, the ‘technique’ of sight-reading.
There are sections covering brain processing speed and pattern recognition, hearing music in our heads, peripheral vision and looking ahead, awareness of keys, coping with rhythmic subdivisions, location awareness on our instrument, and there’s even a section tracing the links between sight-reading and improvisation. Helpfully too, there is also a short chapter that deals with piano-specific techniques.
The Practical matters that Harris covers in his fourth and final section address how we can effectively incorporate sight-reading within lessons, our personal practising, when learning new pieces, and the role of sight-reading in exams. And while, in the age of the “Performance Grade”, the latter may be on the way to obsolescence, the skills encouraged here will prove equally applicable in auditions, and any practical musical context where our sight-reading ability is called upon.
Throughout all four sections, Harris’ lucid explanations are accompanied by regular diagrams, musical examples and other visuals, all helpful in following the development of his line of thought. Digressions, references, and additional background information are confined to the margin, from where they offer numerous fruitful pathways for further exploration and study.
Harris has the wonderful skill of being able to distill complex information and present it with simple (but not simplistic) clarity, making accessible a deeper understanding of the topics he addresses. This book provides another excellent example of this, the author’s several decades of research and experience in the field of sight-reading brought to life with assured confidence and genuine insight.
Online Content
Further supporting this content, Harris hosts a web-based sight-reading app on his teaching website, which provides tailored exercises to help develop brain processing speed, peripheral vision, and rhythm awareness.
Harris tells us:
“There are three particular areas of sight-reading technique that I thought would benefit from the kind of activities a web app can generate… I hope you will find it both fun and helpful.”
The customisations here (clef, key, rhythmic elements, etc) are extensive, and I am sure that some will find this content a boon. I have to admit, however, that my own fun was diminished by the fact that due to my poor eye health following retinal detachment surgery last year, the peripheral vision tests were almost completely invisible to me.
If a well-developed peripheral vision is essential for sight-reading technique, then perhaps it isn’t for me after all! And of course there are many examples of superb but wholly blind musicians. For everyone else, bravo to Williams and Harris for producing this enticing digital supplement to further extend the book’s content.
Closing Thoughts
Paul Harris’ sight-reading resources have played an important role in my teaching for years, and with his Piece a Week series (reviewed here), have become a more significant resource than ever. How wonderful to now have this book, which brings us a deeper understanding of this important aspect of musical learning.
With sight-reading perhaps taking a diminished role in music assessment these days, it is more important than ever to hear the message of this book, and to understand the importance of developing sight-reading technique.
Harris is of course the perfect educator to address this topic, and this book is perhaps his most perfect effort to do so yet, a superb and indispensable resource, and one which will now surely be considered an essential purchase, and read, for all music educators.
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