Masterclass on SIGHT READING

[@mizzbone4860]

Love love love this masterclass. I so wish I had a trombone teacher like you! I needed this energy!

[@BarnabyDickinson]

@@mizzbone4860 Thank you that’s very kind 👍

[@mustafa1name]

What a fascinating essay into unexplored territory. Thanks for sharing your experiences, Barnaby - cogent, practical, and entertaining. It was like Stevie was in the room 🤣 I was given an old book of songs which belonged to my late father, a saxophone player. I worked through it, picking out the few songs I knew, but then explored the ones I didn't. Unintentionally I was doing quite a lot of sight reading, and also practicing treble clef! Like you said, getting the rhythm and the vibe of each piece was the key. Playing a familiar song transposed upwards can also be a good way of working on high range - psychologically you tend to concentrate on getting the tune right and forget about the vertigo.

[@kevinhornbuckle]

“Listen to the music in full detail.”

[@janepiriou-mm7rc]

So interesting merci beaucoup.

[@nealpalmer7461]

Hi Barnaby, I play Bass Trombone for Basingstoke silver Band. I have dyslexia and find it extremely difficult to sight read using the alphabet. The way that I read a piece of music is by slide position. Do you have any advice to make things easier? My biggest fear is making myself look a complete idiot during practice and performances, Thankyou

[@BarnabyDickinson]

Hi Neal, ‘thanks’ for reaching out. First thing I would say is NEVER be worried about making yourself look like an idiot. I do it all the time. You will probably find that everyone else is sitting in silence, thinking that they don’t want to look like idiots as well. ‘Strong and wrong ‘ I say. Get stuck in👍 Regarding the Dyslexia.. I don’t really know enough about it with regards to reading music.. but when I’m playing chords on the piano, I’m not reading each individual note, I’m seeing the shape and have got used to recognising that shape rather than working out all the notes in the chord, one by one. Maybe, when you see a ‘middle C’. Rather than thinking ‘middle C’ you just get used to knowing that that note is in 3rd position ( so you are bypassing the brain saying it’s a ‘C’). Maybe this is what you mean by learning the positions? If somebody asks you ‘what note it is?’ you know the lines and spaces rhyme? ALL COWS EAT GRASS ( A C E G) spaces. GOOD BOYS DESERVE FOOTBALL ALWAYS ( G B D F A) lines. Maybe this helps? Also, always remember that the rhythms are more important than the notes. So nail them first when you are sight reading. Good luck

[@kevinhornbuckle]

Good advice.

[@craigsproston7378]

I also believe teaching notation first lesson is a bad idea. I believe rhythm and tonal patterns should be taught firstly by rote. Once patterns have been learnt this way then introduce notation of those patterns

[@BarnabyDickinson]

💯 👍👍👍