minstrel: Re: minstrel digest, Vol 1 #127 - 3 msgs

[Blue]

At 18:14 02/10/02 -0400, Tibicen wrote:
>But the great advantage of learning sight-reading on an instrument (as
>opposed to the voice) is that there is this intermediate stage which
>is so much more accessible.  That is why so many more instrumentalists
>make it to being an advanced sight-reader who reads as a vocalist
>does, than there are vocalists who do.

I have to agree on that, and add in that playing an instrument such as 
piano or harp that requires you to play harmony also helps. I studied music 
theory as part of singing lessons many years ago and some of it made sense 
then, but its all so much clearer now i can visualise it in terms of harp 
strings, in fact my hands are automatically reaching for the correct notes 
(air harp is fun!) when I read a piece of music, and from that, I find my 
sight-singing skills are vastly improved, I have some idea of what the tune 
will sound like straight off the page. Previously, I had to hear any piece 
of music played through at least once to even assay a version of my own in 
song.

Blue