How to get a Distinction at ABRSM Sight Reading

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Along with Aural Sight reading is one of the most dreaded parts of an ABRSM exam. But let me ask you, How often do you practice sight reading?

If like many, you get a “specimen sight reading tests book” out a few weeks before the exam and maybe work through a couple of examples a day, then I ask you another question,

Is it logical that you spend the least time in preparation on your weakest section?

If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Now in this video, apart from just talking about incorporating sight reading into your practice regularly, I will also be investigating what the examiner is looking out for and the official marking criteria for a distinction.

First of all, most students focus primarily on getting the notes the correct pitch at the expense of keeping the beat going. BUT If you look at the marking criteria for a sight reading test, the FIRST thing that is mentioned for a distinction is, “Fluent, rhythmically accurate” followed by “Accurate notes/pitch/key”.

Now, in an exam you are given up to half a minute to prepare. At this point most people will tentatively start to try and work out the pitches of the first few bars. This is a waste of your 30 seconds. Instead Try and get the rhythm in your head, without touching your instrument.

What is the tempo and style of the piece? Look out for dynamics and articulation marks, try and get a sense of the music as a whole. Again the marking criteria for a distinction mentions attention to Musical detail.

Once you have a sense of the music as a whole, you should get a sense of what key you are in. The preparation for this may depend on what instrument or grade you are taking, but for example in a grade 1 piano exam, I would FIRST look at the key signature, then after placing the suggested finger on the first note of the test, play a 5 note microscale in that hand position.

When you do practice sight reading tests, I would encourage you to use a metronome. This will concentrate your mind on “Fluency and rhythm” not just pitch.

The last thing mentioned in the marking criteria for a distinction is “Confident presentation”. A sight reading test is an assessment on how well you can convey the music as a whole performance, NOT if you can recognise the pitches A, B, C etc that is a theory exam!!

Finally a word on mistakes. If you miss a note, DON’T go back and correct it, you’ll only upset the flow and rhythm of the music and this effectively then counts as a 2nd mistake. You can’t erase the first mistake, and the examiner is not interested if you can improve on your wrong note, he wants to hear a performance of the music as a whole which conveys as best you can the character of the piece. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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