») COU em CLIT OMe eRe ime Cele cero (ic) Grade 2 COCR Oa OM CUR me eee cl oe Improve your sight-reading! Paul Harris FABER ff MUSICGrade 2 Level 2 Elementary Violin Improve your sight-reading! Introduction page 3 Stage 1 D and A major, 2-note slurs page 4 Stage 2. G major page 8 Stage 3. E (natural) minor page 12 Stage 4 oe —=— page 16 Stage 5 Sightreading confidently page 20 The golden rules page 24 Extra Stage: Revi fabermusicstore.com n available to download from For online audio of all the pieces scan the QR code or go to fabermustc.com/audio FABER ff MusIGPractice chart Comments (from you, your teacher or parent) Done! Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 ‘Teacher's name ‘Telephone With many thanks to Gillian Secret for her invaluable help, © 2011 by Faber Music Lid This edition first published in 2011 by Faber Musie Led, Bloomsbury House, 74-77 Great Russe Street, London WCIB ADA Muse processed by Donald Thomson Cover and page design by Susan Clarke Printed in England by Caligraving Lad All tights reserved ISBN 10: 0:571-53022.0 EANI3:978.0571.59218.0 Us eaitian ISHN 10-0:571-53002.X EANI3: 978:0.571-53062.7 To buy Faber Musie publications of to find out about the full range of titles avallable please contact your local music retailer of Faber Music sales enquiries: Faber Music Ltd, Surnt Mill, Elizabeth Way, Harlow CM20 2H Tel: +44 (0) 1279 82 89 82" Fax’ +44 (0) 1379 82 89 83 salesiBlabermusteccom fabermusiestore.comIntroduction Being a good sight-reader is so important and it's not difficult at all! If you wark through this book carefully - always making sure that you really understand each exercise before you play it - you'll never have problems learning new pieces or doing well at sight-reading in exams! Using the workbook 1 Rhythmic exercises. Make sure you have grasped these fully before you go on to the melodi exercises: it is vital that you really know how the rhythms work. There are a number of ways to do the exercises ~ see Improve your sight-reading Grade/Level 1 for more details. 2 Melodic exercises These exercises use just the notes (and rhythms) for the Stage, and are organised into Sets which progress gradually. If you want to sight-read fluently and accurately, get into the simple habit of working through each exercise in the following ways before you begin to play it: + Make sure you understand the rhythm and counting. Clap the exercise through. + Know what notes you are going to play and the fingering you are going to use. + Try to hear the piece through in your head. Always play the first note to help. 3 Prepared pieces Work your way through the questions first, as these will help you to think about or ‘prepare’ the piece. Don't begin playing until you are pretty sure you know exactly haw the piece goes. 4 Going solo! Itis now up to you to discover the clues in this series of practice pieces. Give yourself about a minute and do your best to understand the piece before you play. Check the rhythms and hand position, and try to hear the piece in your head. Always remember to feel the pulse and to keep going steadily once you've begun. The online audio is for you to listen to after you have performed any sight-reading piece. Use it to check whether you have understood the rhythm and overall feel and style of the piece correctly. Good luck and happy sight-reading! € gong ( oa Terminology: Bar = measure4 Stage 1 D and A major 2note slurs Rhythmic exercises ge J ad J tides rrepereer +f 1 DLL J aoe PPR pati otes epee | rrr 5 Make up your own rhythmic exercise. payed d frre rere Melodic exercises Set 1: Introducing 2-note slurs — GE SESS o ca — 4 S| Ge rey 3 i ecttel rf poet é i ne a 5 (8S eae ey10 ul 12 Stage 1 Set 2: Exercises with more movement Set 3: Exploring slurs with string-crossings 13Prepared pieces What will you count? Tap the pulse and hear the rhythm in your head. What is the key? Play the scale and arpeggio in a dancing style. Can you spot any repeated patterns — rhythmic or melodic? BwNe What is the interval between the first two notes called? Play the first note and sing the second. To which pattern do both notes belong? 5 How will you put some character into your performance? Dancing fr of 1 How will you count this piece? Hear the pulse in your head and tap the rhythm. 2 Inwhich key is the piece? Play the scale and arpeggio in a singing style. The first two notes belong to the arpeggio - how many more examples can you find of two-note patterns that belong to the arpeggio? How many bars share the same rhythm as bar 1? How is bar 3 similar to bar 1? How will you put character into your performance? _ a S lee Improvising ‘Make up your own piece (it can be as long or as short as you like), beginning with this pattern. Keep the pulse steady. Decide on a mood or character before you begin. ‘Now make up your own piece in A major - using any patterns you like.Stage 1 7 Going solo! Don't forget to prepare each piece carefully before you play it. Marching, 4 = * bv her oP [eet eet fe =] Sf ef Striding 4 af Cheerfully Caper Sees . nf mf Flowing wiz nf P Dancing St e z Jokingly ft of St Elegantly mp ~~ St mf Precisely t "f 78 Stage 2 6 major Rhythmic exercises Always remember to count two bars in, f rere 5 Make up your own rhythmic exercise, then clap it rroetlperele cee Melodic exercises Set 1: Exploring C natural on the A string Ee = £ £ = =F = ‘ FS aa [apo ee > = _ om oe . | ) ASS ee 3. = - — 4 SS Ee =Stage 2 9 Set Exploring the upper notes = = 5 >, oo _ 6 Rs apes eee te — + + — © oS z Set 3: Exploring the full octave 8 9 10 Set 4: Exploring the lower octave w bg = aa z 5 SSeS =| : ? Andantino Fe a f foe e tie. } wee tee ee See Sal P nf Going for a swim eS . nf =— mp = ¥ Marching to the sweet shop On nf fmThe golden rules A sight reading checklist Before you begin to play a piece at sight, always consider the following: 1 Look at the piece for about half a minute and try to feel that you are understanding what you see (just like reading these words). 2 Look at the time signature and decide how you will count the piece. 3 Look at the key signature and think about how to finger the notes. 4 Notice patterns - especially those that repeat, or are based on scales and arpeggios. 5 Notice any markings that will help you convey the character. 6 Don't begin until you think you are going to play the piece accurately. 7 Count at least one bar in. When performing a sight reading piece Keep feeling the pulse. Keep going ata steady tempo. Remember the finger pattern of the key you are in. 1 2 3 4 Ignore mistakes. 5 Look ahead -at least to the next note. 6 Play musically, always trying to convey the character of the music.