SIGHT READING

KMI places significant emphasis on the student's ability to approach entirely new music. At every lesson, the student will be required to play sight reading exercises (or pieces), to demonstrate that she/he understands and executes everything on the printed score. Each sight reading exercise will be at a much easier level than the student's current playing ability (usually 2-3 levels easier) and each one will demonstrate a different musical concept or technique. If the student executes the example correctly, FINE, clearly the student knows everything needed for that example. If there is confusion or something overlooked, the teacher can discuss the issue directly. Sometimes it is not a matter of knowledge, but rather one of care or paying attention, and once pointed out the student is able to fix the overlooked issue and play it correctly. If the student does not seem to understand, or cannot just play it correctly the second time, then this example has clearly identified a technique or theoretical concept that needs further treatment in either review or remediation, and the teacher can take appropriate action.

Testing Theory: The sight reading examples performed by the student at each lesson will test the student's knowledge of music. If the student fails to understand, or processes the music very slowly, then the teacher will gain greater understanding what areas of theory must be addressed. No student is 100% capable nor 100% deficient in any area, and the sight reading is an excellent way to identify exactly what each student needs for improvement.

Testing Technique: Often it will be clear that the student understands the musical example quite well, but the fingers, hands or arms fail to execute it properly. It might be that the student does not know WHAT to do, possibly HOW to do it, or even just lacks the FACILITY to do it easily. Each example will have different technical challenges and the teacher will learn through the course of many lessons exactly which areas the student requires extra work for improvement.

Attention to Detail: If the student KNOWS what to do and how to do it, but FAILS to observe the musical notations correctly, then there could be an issue of attention to detail in reading. Sight reading examples are graded and carefully constructed to have only the skills and musical concepts the student should be able to read and execute perfectly on the first try. As the student works through the weekly sight reading examples, her/his attention to detail and care of execution will be refined in conjunction with how the examples progress in difficulty. This attention to detail is crucial for how a student approaches new music, as the teacher should not have to spend hours of lesson time fixing mistakes resulting from the student simply failing to observe notations and marks that are in the music.