Why percussionists are terrible sight readers, and what do about it!

Percussionists are historically terrible sight readers. Today, we give you our thoughts on why this is the case and some tips on improving your reading skills!
Below are 5 pages of etudes to begin developing better sight reading scales.
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Music: Deux - dyalla

[@Jazzroadgrants]

Be sure to download our free exercises to begin a better sight-reading journey! www.malletlab.com/s/MalletLab-Sight-Reading-Packet-1.pdf

[@afinidadmusical3714]

The link is down! Is there an alternate link for the etudes, please?

[@rebekah441]

I can sight read drums for days, but I can't memorize. When it comes to mallets I always memorize everything, but I can't sight read it.

[@chandlerwebb3230]

Same

[@hotdadlovrgabby828]

Same

[@gator_productions]

I just can't read in general but improvising and memorizing I can do

[@ShockzG5]

Yep

[@myotiswii]

Haha, I am the only drummer I know that plays punk and metal on the drumset and has every single note written down. All those 'spontaneous solos' ? Planned out, written down. I can read all notes, in bass key as well. But I can't play marimba while looking at sheet music. It's ok when I have one of my hands only in peripherals, but not to not look at all.

[@ozziehall779]

*sight reading* Me- *screams obnoxiously* Woodwinds- 🙄

[@colepasch2950]

when trombones go to sight reading, "Please don't have there be any sixteenth note!"

[@theepicgamercult]

😂

[@JOEdoesThings22]

Did you just assume my sightreading ability?

[@Ryn_94863]

Ikr

[@jaas0225]

he is not wrong, tho. I'm terrible

[@crypticfairy7930]

@@jaas0225 same, and I’m having a mental break down rn because I can’t remember all of themmmm

[@violante1421]

yes, correctly

[@marisafranklin4097]

Oh yea. I memorize all of my pieces and my head is always down when I play!

[@wetwatermelon6384]

Marisa Franklin that’s not a good thing.....

[@kota69420]

Bruh at least look at the conductor

[@rwbytheassassin9942]

@@kota69420 I look down at my keys and look at the director at the same time??

[@Ryn_94863]

We were taught that if we can't sight read then look at the edge of the stand to make it look like we're looking at the music, but then a again you have to be able to see you music teacher, your music (which you have to be able to look 5 bars ahead all the while playing), your instrument, and the person you'll be swapping off with or the next instrument you'll be playing which means you have to look at that music as well

[@0re087]

I have a habit to look down but I can see my conductor well

[@dylanlaux9182]

I'm in love with those vibe mallets

[@Jazzroadgrants]

They're pretty slick!

[@chocmint]

lmao i always wondered why i was so bad at sight reading

[@fakename4840]

In my school district we did an entire year of mallet percussion only before we got out any other instruments.

[@cashk9351]

Lol we learned snare first and we are all trash at mallets

[@Jazzroadgrants]

That's a great way to start new percussionists! Very cool.

[@mr.klunee4103]

@@Jazzroadgrants I disagree because it promotes bad technique and makes it more difficult to build control (I know many other percussion instructors who feel the same way). I started (many years ago) on snare and by the end of the year we did "the tests", a set of lines in the method book we had to do on bells before we could go back to snare. I think a more ideal approach is starting on snare but adding bells early on, and keep going with both.

[@helendunn51]

I was actually a pianist for 8 years before i started percussion, so when i first started, i was already a great sightreader. Learning the percussion itself was easier than learning to sightread well, so i was actually learning percussion rly easily. Also, my school has a separate class for percussion (two actually, and thank god), which really helped. I picked up percussion in high school, so my first experience with percussion was actually from marching band pit. We have an instructor who marched and now techs Carolina Crown pit, so u bet i had to learn rly fast lol (he had super high expectations for everyone, including rookies). Anyways, i learned snare and timpani much later, so i was basically forced to learn pitches and stuff first. All our percussionists here are quite amazing, I respect them so much!! But yea, I can see why percussionists in normal band programs would be bad at sightreading lol

[@felixc7997]

Wow great points stranger Helen! You are spitting facts though.

[@joshd6602]

The basic concept about why percussionists are notoriously bad sight readers makes sense and the strategies are very interesting but a decent amount of percussionists are actually average or great sight readers. A percussionist, most of the time, has a decent sense of beat and rhythm which is already a better start with sight reading than most other types of musicians. Also, a percussionist is someone who can do more than just make a beat on, for example, a table, or read music, key/time signatures and measure lengths, so a low-level percussionist should be able to translate half of what the music is asking even before understanding the tones of each note in the music. The beat and rhythm itself can already score at least a 50% on a general sight reading exam at any college/conservatory, the notes a won't matter on half the percussion instruments every invented. To sum it all up, a terrible sight reader (in percussion) is called a beginner. Not a statistic about all percussionists (even at a middle school band level especially since 90% of winds sound honestly terrible until they get hammered by instructors in highschool and college).

[@wetwatermelon6384]

Playing a mallet instrument isn’t as simple as just hitting a key , as we can clearly see from the sound you are producing. You have to make sure you have proper technique to not develop wrist problems ie: tendonitis, etc. also you have to use the weight of the mallet to produce sound rather than the force you throw the head down with. You also have to hit the sender of the bar to not get that dead rattling sound we can clearly hear in this video. It’s not hard because we learn easy. The main reason it is hard is because we have to have muscle memory of where the keys are located because we don’t have our fingers already on the keys.

[@theepicgamercult]

THANK YOU😂

[@nathanhavey1]

this is a great example of what happened in my district, i started playing percussion in 6th grade and i never had the opportunity to learn mallet percussion because our director only let us play snare drum, bass drum, or other auxiliary percussion instruments. the people who ended up playing mallets were people who already knew how to read pitches. i developed a decent amount of skill being in middle school and playing the same instruments for three years, but when i got to high school that all changed. in high school we start in early august with marching band, and since i had already been used to playing snare, i got to play snare for the season. i did well during marching season, but then we started looking at concert band music and i was assigned a mallet percussion part. i had no idea how to read it though, so i had to start from scratch and learn how to read each individual pitch until i was able to write in the pitches. thankfully, i knew where the notes were on the instrument because i had a keyboard which i messed around on a lot during middle school. regardless, i struggled a lot with mallet percussion in my freshman year and i still do as a sophomore but the main methods i used to learn this skill was to 1. ask the upperclassmen in my section for help because they were really good, or 2. spend a lot of time on music-reading apps. there's a lot of apps out there that help with reading music and even more that help with ear training. hope this helps a fellow percussionist to becoming better than they were before!

[@Sasha-tm8qy]

Mike balter's are the BEST 👌

[@Roblafo]

Glad I took piano for a really long time before I got into percussion in middle school

[@theepicgamercult]

😂

[@Temulgeh]

I'm okay at sight reading on the piano but trash on the mallets help I've been doing this for 9 years okay maybe I should just practice more consistently

[@FDE-fw1hd]

I find it easier on piano because I'm kind of touching the keys, so I know relatively where the notes are, or at least better than on mallets

[@geeserable1083]

I feel attacked

[@IM-zy1zc]

I...... I started Band a year and a half ago and I went straight into Mallet Percussion without knowledge of Rhythm & Scales (not even the basics) and now I'm flexing on all my peeps cuz I moved up to Double Mallets and learning mallets first allowed me to learn the Rhythm Section pretty easily

[@haileyjacinto2731]

I started 2 years ago (school band) and I still suck. Help me😅

[@haileyjacinto2731]

I entered highschool band(percussion/marimba) without no knowledge like NOTHING! And today is my 3rd year but still dont know shit and bad at it😅😬😭🙏 whats your secret I want to improve. Help

[@lucathebrainrot]

I THOUGHT I JUST SUCKED BUT NO IT TURNS OUT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM 😭😭

[@EuRoWeIrD]

I know how to read the notes, I can do them fast, but I can’t do it during rehearsal.

[@madi_loves_cfa]

my man is speaking FACTSSSSSSSSSS

[@roryjohnson3776]

1:35 half our band period every measure

[@chip6933]

Can confirm; am bad at sight reading

[@ezaiahcisneros5011]

*sniff it's true, soooo true

[@brettjc0483]

My instructor taught us bells before anything else. And, I still don’t fully know how to sightread. *Mr. H, I’m getting there, don’t worry.*

[@michaelwerner5325]

Love it

[@avaithink77]

This is why I'm better at suspended cymbal...

[@DevinDua-mu4kz]

Marching band and drumline don't help either. I do pit/front ensamble and for that were expected to memorize everything from exercises to music

[@Ryan-gd4sb]

im pretty decent at drum kit sight reading but absoultley suck at tuned percusions sight reading

[@konugardian2374]

I look down most of the time not because I memorized the notes, but rather because I forgot the keys

[@denisgrenier6221]

Musser vibraphone damper felt bzzzzz.

[@donaldinglese1243]

I’ve found that sightreading is actually pretty easy for me as a percussionist. And Since rhythm is usually grasped early on once they learn how to read mallet music it’s a pretty easy path from there. I teach front ensemble for my old high schools marching band and once they figure out the notes the rhythm isn’t a problem

[@theepicgamercult]

LUCKY😂

[@SnorelyBorely]

This is why I’m failing band, it just got boring like insanely and with distance learning I just didn’t play because I found no use and it was so boring. And the teacher didn’t make it fun and I hate it. AND percussion was always left blind I just hated it I HATE IT DO MUCH I just don’t want to be in band anymore GOD.

[@rosalindagarcia875]

Same I wanna quit but I cant i have a competition in a week and my parents wont let me quit

[@migambigael1566]

Are usually memorize the music before I play on xylophone

[@treatsofversailles]

I actually played trombone before mallet percussion, but I still can't sightread to save my life

[@hotsquce]

I play marimba! And I was really struggling to read the sheet music, since this is my first year in band.:)

[@lalalalalalsjdhbqja3255]

I do cause i have to look at the set to make sure i dont hit the wrong note. So i memorise it🤣🤣

[@jayfuror3892]

Awesome video, super-informative, and I'm definitely sharing this with the other Music Ed. students at my school, for future reference! Just a question, though- I'm a percussionist, and a truly godawful sight-reader on keyboard instruments, and I also don't have proper peripheral vision. I've got a muscle condition that affects my eyes, in that they can't shift side to side, and shifting them up and down results in intense migraines. I think I've sort of adjusted well enough to playing, but sight-reading is still a little rough. Any ideas on how to be a better sight-reader without being able to expand that viewing plane with peripheral vision?

[@maserbantez]

It all comes down to muscle memory. Once you'e spent enough time behind any keyboard instrument, your hands will begin to associate where to move in relation to your body placement. Eventually you won't need to look at the bars at all but getting to that point can be difficult. This is one of the reasons playing scales is important, even though it's very obnoxious and tedious it helps build muscle memory. Find some easy mallet lines and go back and forth between reading the line and playing the scale the line is in. Even if you have a line memorized, keep reading the notes and not looking down at the bars, you might start to realize you can get around better than you thought.

[@wetwatermelon6384]

You can check on the keyboard, but after some time, you will develop muscle memory of where the keys are and all you will need to look at is your music or the conductor.

[@noahgormanmusic1843]

In my district we always started percussionists on mallets, not touching the snare at all until second semester

[@gator_productions]

No it's just because I can't read music

[@protomae]

I used to play trombone but then I switched to drums and I never even learned how to read notes I mean I did but I don't remember how to

[@bellaparker7747]

I'm the only one who plays mallets in the orchestra i'm in at school (my friend, who can sight read, used to but left) and i'm struggling and miserable because i cant even play anything besides the super basic parts, and it sucks

[@loganratliff4162]

Thank u Somebody FINALY realizes the repetition percussion gets whith all the darn scales I mean come on me director just let me play my hi-hat and trangle

[@amj.composer]

idk man, the percussionists in my band are literally the best sight readers. Like I sit in front of the marimba as a pianist and we often double parts. They blaze through the grand stave way better than I do.

[@NoahBonorden]

Why would I need to sight read, is someone pointing a gun to my head and saying "play this etude for me or I'll shoot!"? Seems a bit odd. When I do music for my band, I will learn the music (have it memorized) in no more than 3 days if it is a medium skill level piece. If it's harder maybe a bit longer, but I get it done so much quicker than every other instrument in the band. (We have to memorize our music for competition) it seems to be working as we have won state with this method, and gotten runner up as well. (In Texas) but idk, I say what works works. Don't change the feed on a winning horse.

[@starz7384]

NOT EVERYONE IN THE COMMENTS SAYING ITS EASY FOR THEM MEANWHILE I CAN BARELY READ SHEET MUSIC 😭😭

[@alexlol9712]

I have all the notes memorized but I can't play when the time comes

[@rosalindagarcia875]

Same its hard in my opinion its not that I dont know the notes it's just I cant look at the music and play without looking at the keyboard

[@alexlol9712]

@@rosalindagarcia875 bro exactly

[@rosalindagarcia875]

@@alexlol9712 lmao and I have a sight reading competition next week i swear I'm gonna rank very low

[@alexlol9712]

@@rosalindagarcia875 welp goodluck

[@jacobputnam5508]

I'm just want to do marching band

[@IwasteOxygen_7]

I couldnt sight read to save my life

[@linoshiddencats]

Bro I'm having a Christmas concert in 9 days,and idk what to do because I have terrible sight reading 😭.

[@derpiderp5192]

my dude that im doing lessons with is making me do stuff with my eyes closed

[@doritobandito_1323]

I played flute for 3 years before I started percussion so I was pretty good at sight reading but I've never been able to do it for mallets, it's just too difficult to watch both at the same time. much easier to just memorize it

[@jmpk2398]

I can't sight read on mallets I memorize all my music, I can play all of my songs without my music

[@cakenarwhal625]

THANK YOU

[@rosalindagarcia875]

I hate everything that has to do with keyboards in percussion I can't look at music and play the keyboards it's way different when playing snare drum or anything else in percussion.

[@glvdnbinge2440]

so true i cnt sight read to save my life thats how bad i am and I'm already in high school

[@theepicgamercult]

SAME

[@haileyjacinto2731]

Same but this my 3rd year in and still dont know sh*t

[@R0S1ERose]

I never started snare nor concert band just drumline now im in drum corps

[@mannymanatee6592]

Amya according to Starbucks AKA Amaya What Drum Corp?

[@R0S1ERose]

Manny Manatee Blue Devils

[@mannymanatee6592]

What do you play? And what years have you marched

[@R0S1ERose]

Manny Manatee Im front ensemble 2018 was my first year but im not like World class Blue Devils A im Blue Devils C

[@PEACHCHULIP]

Also, when you're playing the beat on the snare, you don't know what tempo to go to, so u have to learn it the hard way and play what you think then either speed up or slow down and sound horrible 😂😂

[@BillBob-qf9ok]

Or you just go at what ever tempo the Conductor sets

[@PEACHCHULIP]

@@BillBob-qf9ok yeah

[@MinhLe-qo8iz]

I needed this video

[@randomidiot50]

When I first learned the trumpet I did it perfectly my band teacher was focusing on everyone except me lol

[@Lawgin]

I learned mallets first :^)

[@Bynasf]

Lucky you

[@KT_BLU]

When I started percussion we started with the marimbas but when she added drums two people wouldn't stop using it

[@johnd.4536]

Where is the music you are sight reading? The placement of the stand with the music is important. When playing by myself I put stand as close to bars as possible but when in a group with a conductor I might raise the stand a bit to see music and conductor at the same time. Your comment about peropheral vision is a key point as well.

[@aidentan6966]

Its hard to hit the right notes at the right time as some could be spaced out from the other. I am a percussionist btw

[@israelvasquez6534]

I can sight read good 🥁

[@AmeliaHoskins-e8v]

EXCUSE ME?-

[@alexissanford9446]

Darn, I ruined it. I was the 778th person to like this.

[@dreamwish286]

I’m pretty beginner, so don’t judge me for this. Not completely because, well, been one for 2 years.. We have this thing in my school where we have to sight read in front of judges, so we practice. The practice music was hard. We couldn’t yawn, move, any of that.. or else, we get a bad grade. Now, to the music, I’m good at mallets, but terrible at reading notes.. making me worse than average at sight reading. They make us ‘finger’ through the whole song, then play it. I got bells, the rest of the percussionists got drum parts. I failed miserably, both practice and the real thing, but we still got high grades.

[@mariyay4442]

Same exact thing happened to me. I couldnt learn the song in 1 minute without hearing it first, and we couldnt play. I would've been able to play if we were allowed to make sound on our instruments because i could memorize how it sounds and play it by ear after that. So i played the first 2 notes and then pretendes to play for the rest of the song. Everyone else did better than me, and we got a high score, but all percussionists did pretty bad.

[@theepicgamercult]

Same here and I’ve been playing for 3 years (not that much but still a long time) and I still can’t site read.😂

[@randomjo5300]

well actually im not .

[@Jazzroadgrants]

Fantastic!!!

[@927drummerboy]

YES AND FAR TOO MUCH MEMORIZATION,:NOT ENOUGH EMPHASIS PLACED ON EYES FORWARD, KNOWING WHERE THE KEYS ARE , AND FEELING THE KEYBOARD. PLAY MUSIC THAT'S SO EASY THAT THEY CAN FOCUS ON RHYTHMIC AND MELODIC CONTROL.

[@TylerDunphy]

Everyone in my high school concert band tries to get me to play the mallet parts because none of them can read notes and they're constantly asking me "what's this note" and writing them in :/

[@frostedflame5536]

Hey I don't know if u do things like this but I'm 11 years old and in fith grade I have just got my instrument and I'm starting band in two weeks but the problem is I don't remember how to read music can u make a video or recommend something to help???

[@rosalindagarcia875]

You gotta look at the rhythm or make sure it's the right time signature. And if you're playing keyboards look at the staff and the letter notes should be F A C E on the space and E G B D on the lines

[@1Ryben]

I found this video a little late...thanks Google algorithm...or should I say algorhythm!!!! C'mon, that's a good one, you know you laughed. I do not disagree but as a teacher of beginners in a school setting, a middle school band director and a percussionist (21 years), here are my thoughts. 1. The #1 reason for lack of sight reading skills is a lack of practice sight reading. In early band classes students repeat the exercises soooooo many times that memorization is possible. You alluded to this in the video. 2. The second reason leading to a lack of SR skill is a class culture that makes it unsafe to make mistakes. Here's what I mean...and no, it's not that the teacher does anything wrong or is creating a toxic culture. Students must feel that it is okay to make mistakes. We need to quit pointing out every error!!! They know they messed up...seriously, they do. So when sight reading make other goals, the goal is never error free. For example: Did you start and stop with the group? Did you recover? Did you aim for the correct pitches (you can just plain miss the bars)? Practical solutions: 3. Note names are an impediment. Do not introduce note names until...as long as you can hold off. Seriously, it leads to "translation" slowing down the performer's reaction time therefore making it impossible to become effective sight readers. This note on the staff = that bar on the keyboard...it's all they need to know to play. the actual note names are irrelevant at this point. 4. rhythm > pitch 5. Make the instrument smaller ( you mentioned it in the video). 6. Use the black notes to find the white notes. D is the gap between the pair of black notes, only lower. DO NOT LOOK AT THE WHITE NOTES! (yes, I know, I just broke rule #3..fight me) 7. As stated in the video, start small, three notes and stepwise motion. 8. All experiences are all about building confidence. CONFIDENCE > PERFECTION. 9. Take your sweet time introducing new notes of larger skips...seriously, nothing kills confidence quicker than pacing that's too fast. 10. Sight read daily. Seems obvious, but I'm guilty of forgetting this too. 11. Sight Reading Diary - have students keep a sight reading diary of their thoughts and ratings for each day's sight reading. Self assessment! Buzzword bingo! Caveat: students must periodically read theor previous diary entries searching for patterns. I do a keyword wall...oh shoot, what is it called...where the most used words are large and less frequently used words are small...you get the idea right?

[@ryanlopez7227]

what if i’m good at sight reading

[@theepicgamercult]

Ryan Lopez that means you are a god

[@fabiangersob4805]

Most of mallet instruments, when you put hands on sight reading doesn't take too much time to get acostumed, maybe marimba w 4 mallets its difficult, but you wanna know whats impossible af? Sight reading in tubular bells, that's another level of problem hahaha

[@randomjo5300]

no i didnt learn snare first

[@kneamo]

*how did you know-*

[@Lawgin]

idk man its just up and down scales

[@James-fj5pe]

I learned bells for my first semester then snare after, am I the only one

[@yawnmower5600]

Can’t relate . Ima awesome sight reader .

[@Jazzroadgrants]

Lol!

[@theepicgamercult]

Lucky😂

[@WhichJoeSmith]

Really nice video! I’m looking forward to more videos on ear training and young percussionists!

[@Jazzroadgrants]

We're looking forward to sharing them with everyone! Thanks Joseph!

[@w.tibbsclemens636]

This made no sense at all. What??

[@no-mx9cq]

My teacher told me to watch this so I disliked it

[@Jazzroadgrants]

Same

[@nicholefausey9359]

What is the exact mallet you’re using?

[@DookiedoohdahPRO]

bro stop crying 💀💀💀

[@cjaverysrandomreviews4675]

I bet I can sight read better than you