mrdutt

My 14-year-old daughter has been instructed by her voice teacher to learn to sightsing. She has been taking voice lessons for several years but has never learned to read music. Does anyone know of any good sightsinging programs (computer-based?) available that she can study with on her free time this summer?

Also, please comment on the importance of learning to do this. We really want to stress to her how valuable this is for voice. Thanks!

dancersmom

I agree with your D's voice teacher that sightsinging is very important. The performer who can sightsing well has an edge in auditions where s/he may be called upon to read a new piece for the auditors. A performer who can read music and sightsing well will also be able to learn new songs on his/her own instead of having to rely on a vocal coach or recordings. Recordings won't be available if you're cast in a new show! The great majority of college MT programs require that students take courses in music theory/sightsinging and piano. The goal is to be able to read music, sightsing reasonably well, and have enough skill at the keyboard that they can learn new music on their own.

If your D has the time and sufficient motivation to do this on her own, I'd suggest buying a small keyboard and taking a look at some of the book - CD combos offered at this website:
http://www.singers.com/instructional/sightsinging.html

I am sure that there are other websites offering similar materials. I just did a 10 second search.

You might consider seeing if there is a music teacher in your area who would be willing to work with your D on sightsinging/music reading skills. IMHO it would be easier for your D to learn to read music and to acquire sightsinging basics with help from a live teacher.

BelleofNY

good-ear.com helps with learning intervals. I'd highly suggest it.

_simplywicked

taking piano lessons, or playing ANY instrument for that matter, is a huge step in the right direction.

Also, they have books called "the sight-singer" which are fabulous for beginners.

fishbowlfreshman

True. I'm in acting and not MT, but I've been taking singing/music lessons this summer to increase my versatility. A big part of what I've been doing besides lots of vocalizing has involved learning to read music and sightsing and the first step has been learning to pick out melodies on the piano.

BroadwayBound88

Sightreading is invaluable. It saves so much time and enables you to learn music on your own. Just as importaint, however, are basic keyboard skills. If your daughter takes piano lessons she will get a boost on the sightsinging and learn how to pick out her parts on the piano on top of that. I would highly second the piano idea. Other instruments help too, but I really believe that piano gives the most benefits to a singer.

MTpolk

I can't stress enough how important it is to have at least a fundamental knowledge of theory, and certainly the ability to read music. I've seen many times in rehearsal that when actors have a good ability to sightread music it takes a huge load off of the musical director. (I've also been a musical director myself, for a student production) and I can honestly say that an actor who doesn't need to be taught each and every note, is a joy to work with. On that thread, teaching notes to actors can be frustrating when there is much more complex material to work on. If everyone can read their music and learn their notes themselves, the musical director can do his/her job and make the singers sound great, rather than just teaching them what to sing. Not being able to read music means that the notes probably have to be re-taught too, multiple times.. Being able to pick up music and just read it is such a big help in the rehearsal process.
When it comes to getting parts, and having a rep as an actor that's good to work with, sightsinging and theory knowledge is such a huge help.

This is such a difficult career to get ahead in, why take the chance of not gaining this standard skill?

For a site, maybe check out musictheory.net, it has pretty cool online tutorials.

ocuMTinfo

This is a great question. Sight singing and theory are valuable and required skills in this industry. You should always check the music programs you are considering to make sure that they offer a substantial amount of both courses in their degree because schools do differ in their requirements.