Have you ever sung in a choir? What was your first experience like? Have you ever had someone tell you to sing up when the notes go up and sing down when the notes go down?
Have you ever had someone tell you that if you want to learn the intervals all you need to do is match the interval with the opening notes of a familiar song? If you can answer yes to any of these questions I have one more question for you, "Did any of it work?"
If you would like to learn how to sing well, you need to realize that music is not nebulous. When the notes go up one needs to know how far to go up and that is where "knowing intervals" is very important.
Intervals are very precise. You must be able to hear and sing intervals. Singing music is different from just singing one interval. Especially when sight-singing, one must be able to sing one interval after another without stopping. How could one do sight singing exercises if one has to be constantly thinking about the first phrase of a song?
Sight singing practice should be done just like language. First, you hear the words or the music, and then you say the words or sing the song! The way that you learned your language was to speak first and then read and then write.
Music is the same way. First you listen, then you sing, then you are taught what the music "looks like" that you have been singing. That is the first step to reading. Then you can write the music and then you can begin to go back and "sight read" or "sight sing" that which is already familiar to you!
Now as long as the sight singing lessons are designed to your level and as long as they progress sequentially you can learn how to sing better. Usually in a singing voice lesson, one does not get sequential sight singing practice. Sometimes a singing teacher may suggest certain sight singing books, but how can one hear what one is looking at unless they have first been taught? That would be like saying to a Mexican, here is a French book, go and read it.
Have you ever been told to get your first note from the piano then sing the next note before playing it on the piano to check it? Actually, do you know of anyone who would say that worked for them?
Do you know that some people make a living by sight singing? That means that they do not have much time to study the music. It also means that they have probably experienced the sight reading and sight sing of similar music previously.
So is it possible to get sight reading lessons? Is it possible to get sight singing lessons online? Just think how much it costs to take private lessons. Thirty dollars for a half hour lesson is probably an average price. If you took a lesson once a week for thirty nine weeks, (one school year) that would be $1,170.00. Would you like to be making that much per student? Just think if you had forty, fifty or sixty students!
Would you like to have your teacher available so you could have a lesson any time or any day? What if you wanted to repeat a lesson? You could if you took lessons online. What if your teacher told you he was only going to charge you forty seven dollars for the whole semester? Would you take him up on the offer? You would be crazy not to!
Not only could you save travel time, but also you could take several lessons in one day! The tempo is up to you! How soon could you become the teacher and be making sixty bucks an hour?
Victor King has a B.S.in Bible and a B.Mus. from Philadelphia College of Bible and has studied conducting at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and teaching at The Kodaly Musical Training Institute. Victor has personally studied with Betty Bertaux of the Children’s Chorus of Maryland, has twenty plus years of teaching experience and is an expert at teaching people to sight read music. Through a variety of media including sight singing lessons online, video tutorials and live webinars, he seeks to further the kingdom of God by promoting good Christian music and encouraging Christians to sing His praises. To sign up for a mini course on musical literacy go to singing instructions.
