Yes, even you! This course is for anyone who wants to be able to read notes with confidence, whether it’s for your school or community choir, or for AP Music Theory.
Locations: Los Altos, Palo Alto
Cost: $150/hr.
Recommended hours: 6-8
Goals:
Sight reading is an essential skill to have as a musician. Not only will you be able to pick up and learn music faster, but you will also gain a deeper understanding of the music as it is written. It can also give you a lot of confidence when playing music with others, as well as increase your own enjoyment of your music making!
The course has four phases: 1) Fundamentals of music notation, 2) Scales and pitch classes, 3) Rhythm and meter, and 4) Putting it together. Depending on your level of prior experience, we’ll cover material in this order. The fundamentals will cover notes on a staff, note names and durations, and a C Major scale. The second section will be about practicing finding notes within the context of a tonal center. You’ll learn how to navigate your way to and from different pitches with different intervallic leaps. The third section will develop your sense of rhythm within a given meter. You will learn to read note rhythms in groups of notes so that you aren’t reading notes one at a time. Finally, the fourth section will be about learning and practicing real music, putting what you have learned into practice.
The level of the course is tailored to the student. A beginner would spend most of the time on fundamentals, while a student who is already in an honor choir would be working on reading chromatic solo literature. All levels are welcome!
Students who stay actively engaged in the learning process during the summer perform better during the school year.
