Scary things are all the rage in October. Just look at the Top 10 list on Netflix and you will see that it is filed with terrifying television shows and movies.
If you were to make a Top 10 list of things that scare piano students, sight reading would take the top spot.
But sight reading doesn’t have to be scary. In fact, it can be downright friendly!
In today’s post, we are sharing a not-so-scary Halloween sight reading solo for primer and level 1 piano students.
With its unique, pick-a-path approach to sight reading your students will want to play this Halloween tune every day in October.
Taking The “Scary” Out Of Sight Reading
Traditional sight reading involves playing never-before-seen music. Students cannot rely on memory as they play.
Most students experience sight reading in an exam setting; and exam settings can be terrifying.
So, it’s no wonder sight reading is universally despised.
Andrea and I see very little benefit in traditional sight reading, but a ton of benefit in a modern approach.
A Not-So-Scary Approach To Sight Reading
There are three things that you can do to be a not-so-scary sight reading teacher:
- Sight reading should be a part of every piano lesson. Do not wait to teach sight reading until an exam is on the horizon. If you do, you are simply associating sight reading with exams and all of the anxiety that arises in a testing environment.
- Sight reading does not need to involve music that a student has never played before. This is a common misconception. The purpose of sight reading is to break students free from memory-based performances and instead have them use other skills to create music. But this doesn’t mean that the music has to be new. We have invented a pick-a-path approach to sight reading where students play familiar measures of music in new arrangements. This blended format keeps kids comfortable while still requiring them to rely on skills like note reading and intervallic reading.
- Sight reading should be game-based. With our pick-a-path approach to sight reading students have a blast creating a new tune every time they play our sight reading solos. It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure approach to playing piano.
Before You Download Our Halloween Sight Reading Solo
Two weeks ago we released our Halloween-themed piano book, Mummy Rocks The Costume Contest.
If you follow us on Facebook, you will have seen this book popping up in studios around the world.
Mummy Rocks The Costume Contest is leveled for mid-primer piano students. Composed in middle C position, this book will help children gain confidence playing music in 3/4 and 4/4 time with stepping and skipping notes.
Jam-packed with Halloween piano songs, note reading games, warm-up exercises, a rhythm activity, a (different!) sight reading activity, a practice tracker, and a certificate of achievement, Mummy Rocks The Costume Contest is the resource your students need to become SPOOKTACULAR piano players.
With Halloween just around the corner, now is the time to get Mummy Rocks The Costume Contest for your piano students.
You can click here or on the cover below to buy it now, or check out a preview in the WunderKeys Bookstore.
Download Today’s Halloween Printable
Click here or on the image below to download today’s Halloween Sight Reading Piano Solo.
And remember to pick up a copy of Mummy Rocks The Costume Contest for your piano students.
