Here is a new piece of music – GO!
Beginning or Intermediate Students
- Check the time signature
- Check the key signature
- Check through the piece for time signature and key signature changes
- Make a note of any accidentals
- Check on any new fingerings
- Make sure you understand the roadmap
- Make note of any tempo markings, but only play the piece as fast as you can manage it at this moment in your study
- Glance through looking for any new or difficult rhythms
Suzanne Carr: “To know how fast to start a piece, first look for the measure with the fastest notes in the piece. Think about how fast you can play that measure. Hear the music in your head. Then set that tempo as your starting tempo.”
As an Advanced Student
- Check the time signature
- Check the key signature
- Note the tempo marking
- Check through the piece for time signature and key signature changes
- Note the road map
The rest you should be able to manage as it comes to you in the music.
Remember sight reading is not the moment when you play without errors. Sight reading is the moment when you are reading through the piece for the first time. You are hearing it for the first time and identifying things to practice, whether it is a new key signature or a new rhythm.
If you are playing through with piano or another flutist, then your goal really is to get from beginning to end together. Whether you have to stop or not is secondary to just hearing the piece and its parts for the first time.
When playing in a group, especially in a band or an orchestra, good sight readers are accurate in relation to key, time changes, and the ability to keep going, even if they make mistakes, to get to the end. A director will certainly help with keeping the tempo for sight reading in this type of ensemble.