Be sure to download our free exercises to begin a better sight-reading journey! www.malletlab.com/s/MalletLab-Sight-Reading-Packet-1.pdf
@afinidadmusical37148 ай бұрын
The link is down! Is there an alternate link for the etudes, please?
@rebekah4415 жыл бұрын
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.
@chandlerwebb32304 жыл бұрын
Same
@hotdadlovrgabby8282 жыл бұрын
Same
@gator_productions2 жыл бұрын
I just can't read in general but improvising and memorizing I can do
@ShockzG52 жыл бұрын
Yep
@myotiswii2 жыл бұрын
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.
@lucathebrainrot7 ай бұрын
I THOUGHT I JUST SUCKED BUT NO IT TURNS OUT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM 😭😭
@JOEdoesThings226 жыл бұрын
Did you just assume my sightreading ability?
@Ryn_948634 жыл бұрын
Ikr
@jaas02254 жыл бұрын
he is not wrong, tho. I'm terrible
@crypticfairy79303 жыл бұрын
@@jaas0225 same, and I’m having a mental break down rn because I can’t remember all of themmmm
when trombones go to sight reading, "Please don't have there be any sixteenth note!"
@theepicgamercult5 жыл бұрын
😂
@EuRoWeIrD5 ай бұрын
I know how to read the notes, I can do them fast, but I can’t do it during rehearsal.
@marisafranklin40976 жыл бұрын
Oh yea. I memorize all of my pieces and my head is always down when I play!
@wetwatermelon63845 жыл бұрын
Marisa Franklin that’s not a good thing.....
@kota694204 жыл бұрын
Bruh at least look at the conductor
@rwbytheassassin99424 жыл бұрын
@@kota69420 I look down at my keys and look at the director at the same time??
@Ryn_948634 жыл бұрын
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
@0re0872 жыл бұрын
I have a habit to look down but I can see my conductor well
@chocmint6 жыл бұрын
lmao i always wondered why i was so bad at sight reading
@geeserable10835 жыл бұрын
I feel attacked
@dylanlaux91826 жыл бұрын
I'm in love with those vibe mallets
@Jazzroadgrants5 жыл бұрын
They're pretty slick!
@helendunn515 жыл бұрын
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
@felixc79974 жыл бұрын
Wow great points stranger Helen! You are spitting facts though.
@fakename48406 жыл бұрын
In my school district we did an entire year of mallet percussion only before we got out any other instruments.
@cashk93515 жыл бұрын
Lol we learned snare first and we are all trash at mallets
@Jazzroadgrants5 жыл бұрын
That's a great way to start new percussionists! Very cool.
@mr.klunee41033 жыл бұрын
@@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.
@wetwatermelon63845 жыл бұрын
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.
@theepicgamercult5 жыл бұрын
THANK YOU😂
@SnorelyBorely3 жыл бұрын
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.
@rosalindagarcia8753 жыл бұрын
Same I wanna quit but I cant i have a competition in a week and my parents wont let me quit
@joshd66026 жыл бұрын
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).
@Sasha-tm8qy Жыл бұрын
Mike balter's are the BEST 👌
@Roblafo5 жыл бұрын
Glad I took piano for a really long time before I got into percussion in middle school
@theepicgamercult5 жыл бұрын
😂
@Temulgeh5 жыл бұрын
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-fw1hd3 жыл бұрын
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
@avaithink774 жыл бұрын
This is why I'm better at suspended cymbal...
@nathanhavey15 жыл бұрын
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!
@KT_BLU Жыл бұрын
When I started percussion we started with the marimbas but when she added drums two people wouldn't stop using it
@brettjc04832 жыл бұрын
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.*
@konugardian23743 жыл бұрын
I look down most of the time not because I memorized the notes, but rather because I forgot the keys
@madi_loves_cfa Жыл бұрын
my man is speaking FACTSSSSSSSSSS
@chip69334 жыл бұрын
Can confirm; am bad at sight reading
@treatsofversailles Жыл бұрын
I actually played trombone before mallet percussion, but I still can't sightread to save my life
@IM-zy1zc6 жыл бұрын
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
@haileyjacinto27315 жыл бұрын
I started 2 years ago (school band) and I still suck. Help me😅
@haileyjacinto27315 жыл бұрын
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
@hotsquce Жыл бұрын
I play marimba! And I was really struggling to read the sheet music, since this is my first year in band.:)
@bellaparker77472 жыл бұрын
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
@migambigael1566 Жыл бұрын
Are usually memorize the music before I play on xylophone
@Ryan-gd4sb2 жыл бұрын
im pretty decent at drum kit sight reading but absoultley suck at tuned percusions sight reading
@linoshiddencats Жыл бұрын
Bro I'm having a Christmas concert in 9 days,and idk what to do because I have terrible sight reading 😭.
@lalalalalalsjdhbqja32554 жыл бұрын
I do cause i have to look at the set to make sure i dont hit the wrong note. So i memorise it🤣🤣
@starz73842 жыл бұрын
NOT EVERYONE IN THE COMMENTS SAYING ITS EASY FOR THEM MEANWHILE I CAN BARELY READ SHEET MUSIC 😭😭
@alexlol97124 жыл бұрын
I have all the notes memorized but I can't play when the time comes
@rosalindagarcia8753 жыл бұрын
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
@alexlol97123 жыл бұрын
@@rosalindagarcia875 bro exactly
@rosalindagarcia8753 жыл бұрын
@@alexlol9712 lmao and I have a sight reading competition next week i swear I'm gonna rank very low
@alexlol97123 жыл бұрын
@@rosalindagarcia875 welp goodluck
@DevinDua-mu4kz4 ай бұрын
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
@michaelwerner532511 ай бұрын
Love it
@amj.composer Жыл бұрын
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.
@protomae2 жыл бұрын
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
@roryjohnson37762 жыл бұрын
1:35 half our band period every measure
@gator_productions2 жыл бұрын
No it's just because I can't read music
@SuperSpades125 ай бұрын
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.
@IwasteOxygen_7 Жыл бұрын
I couldnt sight read to save my life
@donaldinglese12436 жыл бұрын
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
@theepicgamercult5 жыл бұрын
LUCKY😂
@loganratliff41624 жыл бұрын
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
@denisgrenier62215 ай бұрын
Musser vibraphone damper felt bzzzzz.
@derpiderp51922 жыл бұрын
my dude that im doing lessons with is making me do stuff with my eyes closed
@frostedflame55364 жыл бұрын
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???
@rosalindagarcia8753 жыл бұрын
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
@jayfuror38926 жыл бұрын
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?
@maserbantez6 жыл бұрын
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.
@wetwatermelon63845 жыл бұрын
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.
@randomidiot504 жыл бұрын
When I first learned the trumpet I did it perfectly my band teacher was focusing on everyone except me lol
@noahgormanmusic18436 жыл бұрын
In my district we always started percussionists on mallets, not touching the snare at all until second semester
@TylerDunphy4 жыл бұрын
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 :/
@jmpk23984 жыл бұрын
I can't sight read on mallets I memorize all my music, I can play all of my songs without my music
@nicholefausey93593 жыл бұрын
What is the exact mallet you’re using?
@doritobandito_13232 жыл бұрын
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
@cakenarwhal6254 жыл бұрын
THANK YOU
@rosalindagarcia8753 жыл бұрын
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.
@PEACHCHULIP5 жыл бұрын
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-qf9ok4 жыл бұрын
Or you just go at what ever tempo the Conductor sets
@PEACHCHULIP4 жыл бұрын
@@BillBob-qf9ok yeah
@ezaiahcisneros50116 жыл бұрын
*sniff it's true, soooo true
@ryanlopez72275 жыл бұрын
what if i’m good at sight reading
@theepicgamercult5 жыл бұрын
Ryan Lopez that means you are a god
@AmeliaHoskins-e8v4 ай бұрын
EXCUSE ME?-
@1Ryben2 жыл бұрын
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?
@johnd.45366 жыл бұрын
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.
@glvdnbinge24406 жыл бұрын
so true i cnt sight read to save my life thats how bad i am and I'm already in high school
@theepicgamercult5 жыл бұрын
SAME
@haileyjacinto27315 жыл бұрын
Same but this my 3rd year in and still dont know sh*t
@James-fj5pe4 жыл бұрын
I learned bells for my first semester then snare after, am I the only one
@dreamwish2866 жыл бұрын
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.
@mariyay44426 жыл бұрын
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.
@theepicgamercult5 жыл бұрын
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.😂
@MinhLe-qo8iz6 жыл бұрын
I needed this video
@aidentan69665 жыл бұрын
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
@alexissanford94462 жыл бұрын
Darn, I ruined it. I was the 778th person to like this.
@jacobputnam55085 жыл бұрын
I'm just want to do marching band
@randomjo53005 жыл бұрын
well actually im not .
@Jazzroadgrants5 жыл бұрын
Fantastic!!!
@Lawgin6 жыл бұрын
I learned mallets first :^)
@Bynasf5 жыл бұрын
Lucky you
@R0S1ERose6 жыл бұрын
I never started snare nor concert band just drumline now im in drum corps
@mannymanatee65926 жыл бұрын
Amya according to Starbucks AKA Amaya What Drum Corp?
@R0S1ERose6 жыл бұрын
Manny Manatee Blue Devils
@mannymanatee65926 жыл бұрын
What do you play? And what years have you marched
@R0S1ERose6 жыл бұрын
Manny Manatee Im front ensemble 2018 was my first year but im not like World class Blue Devils A im Blue Devils C
@kneamo5 жыл бұрын
*how did you know-*
@fabiangersob48056 жыл бұрын
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
@927drummerboy6 жыл бұрын
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.
@w.tibbsclemens6365 жыл бұрын
This made no sense at all. What??
@randomjo53005 жыл бұрын
no i didnt learn snare first
@israelvasquez65346 жыл бұрын
I can sight read good 🥁
@Lawgin6 жыл бұрын
idk man its just up and down scales
@no-mx9cq4 жыл бұрын
My teacher told me to watch this so I disliked it
@Jazzroadgrants4 жыл бұрын
Same
@DookiedoohdahPRO7 ай бұрын
bro stop crying 💀💀💀
@yawnmower56006 жыл бұрын
Can’t relate . Ima awesome sight reader .
@Jazzroadgrants6 жыл бұрын
Lol!
@theepicgamercult5 жыл бұрын
Lucky😂
@WhichJoeSmith6 жыл бұрын
Really nice video! I’m looking forward to more videos on ear training and young percussionists!
@Jazzroadgrants6 жыл бұрын
We're looking forward to sharing them with everyone! Thanks Joseph!