Dimensions of Reading in Music

Being a "good reader" seems to be a rather subjective idea.  As I was growing up I would have said that I was an excellent reader.  I could always read several grade levels ahead and I was able to comprehend most the the material.  I remember reading my older sister's geometry textbook one day.  She was having a difficult time with a certain concept, but I picked up on it just after reading the book.  Needless to say my sister, who is four years older than me, resented me a little after that.  I had the ability to understand almost any text that was placed before me throughout middle and high school.  That all changed when I reached college.

When I began music school, I figured that the textbooks would be rather simple to understand, because I understood conceptually how music worked.  I was very wrong.  My first encounter with this was music theory class.  I wasn't too worried at the time because I had played the piano since I was five and the bass since I was nine.  I felt I had had enough exposure to know what I needed to.  What I didn't realize was I was entering a world of a new language.  I could read the textbook just fine.  I could read the musical passages fine as well, but putting the two together was very difficult.  My comprehension was much lower than I had hoped it would be.  It was difficult for me to admit that I was struggling because I had never struggled in this regard in my life before.  As time went on, I was able to understand how to comprehend theory and by doing so, this transferred to all of my other classes.

Another aspect to consider with being a "good reader" in music is the ability to sight-read.  Sight-reading can be compared to the reading tests that are given in school to see how fast you can read without any mistakes. Often times a new piece is given in an ensemble, but how well can you read it on the first time?  How well can you read it the second time?  Also with reading music, there is an element of repetition that exists with pieces.  When reading a novel, you may learn word by seeing in many different contexts, but in music, the note in the context is what gives it meaning.  It must be considered how well can a person emote the meaning  of the notes, not just understand it him or herself.  In these aspects, after much training, I would say that I am a decent reader, but there is a lot of improvement to be made in the ability to emote what the piece is trying to say.

Moving beyond being a good reader is what do I enjoy reading.  It is interesting that what I enjoy reading both textually and musically have similar characteristics.  The main characteristic is that it offers a variety.  I have read a large spectrum of books from adventure and science fiction to classics and biographies.  I usually read whatever has piqued my interest at the time.  With music this is similar.  I play a wide variety of music in a variety of settings.  I play in large and small groups.  I have played in classical, jazz, rock, and bluegrass settings.  I have even played as accompaniment for a large choral setting.  Each of these situations is enjoyable in its own right.  Because of the enjoyment I find in reading, there has been little occasion that I have disliked the activity.  I can only think of three times that I really disliked reading.  That is when I read Hatchet in the fifth grade, Whirligig in the tenth grade, and A Separate Peace  in the eleventh grade.  None of these books have anything in common except they were required reading and most of the questions associated with the books were subjective.  Even thought they were subjective, according to the teacher they were not.  As far as musically disliking music,  I have enjoyed it mostly, but occasionally there is a piece that is too easy which takes away from the experience.  Also, if a piece is too hard it discourages and distracts.

In order to give students the opportunity to be "good readers" in a musical setting, I need to give them the opportunity to read a variety of "texts."  Students need to be given different genres and styles of music to play so they can find joy in more than just one style of music and be educated in just more than one style of music.  Another important, but difficult, aspect is finding music that is challenging, but not to difficult to learn.  Everyone in the group is at a different level, so how do you reach this balance?  Do you focus strictly on the most advanced students, the least advanced, or do you find somewhere in the middle to teach hoping to reach as many of the students as possible?  Finding the correct music is important in helping students feel they can read and play the music.  This is why a variety of music is needed so different pieces can reach various students at the different levels in which they find themselves.