Sightreading Test, How much of it can you run through? Options

[morceau]

I have only ever suggested to my pupils that they try out small tricky-looking sections of the sight-reading test during their 30 seconds preparation. However, it has come to my attention that some people actually try to have a run-through of the whole thing (achievable in the early Grades) before giving a final "performance" to be marked.

I have questions!

1) Is it really ok to play it all through - that's not quite sight-reading is it?

2) I am afraid of a run-through being mistaken for the actual test, so, how does the pupil indicate to the examiner that they haven't started yet?


I never tried out a note of it in my own exams, but that's because during the 30 seconds I was sitting like a rabbit in headlights with nothing but white-noise going on in my head!!

[ChristopherO]

I have questions!
1) Is it really ok to play it all through - that's not quite sight-reading is it?
2) I am afraid of a run-through being mistaken for the actual test, so, how does the pupil indicate to the examiner that they haven't started yet?
I never tried out a note of it in my own exams, but that's because during the 30 seconds I was sitting like a rabbit in headlights with nothing but white-noise going on in my head!!

1: My teacher always said to work on the tricky bits in prep - I feel that is sensible. Why spend valuable time playing what is already easy enough?
2: The examiner has always told me when to start the test proper so I practice until he says
Yes it can feel like the rabbit - but I have learned, after earlier panics, to move on and treat the test as a clinical exercise.

[Alicia Ocean]

I was told off by the examiner in my grade 7 piano exam for playing too much of the sightreading test. I didn't play it all. I think there needs to be some clarification about this as it could really upset a candidate to be pulled up like that. I still don't know how much "too much" is.

[porilo]

I tell my pupils to use the 30 seconds (although from what they've told me the examiner always gives them 1 minute) to look at the key signature, make sure they take note of any sharps or flats, look for accidentals, and try out any parts which look awkward. In the early grades they can easily play through the whole piece within that time and the examiner will tell them when to start their actual performance.

[sbhoa]

I think that it's only LCM who specify that you are not allowed to play through the whole of the sight reading test during the preparation time.

[flobiano]

I have questions!
1) Is it really ok to play it all through - that's not quite sight-reading is it?
2) I am afraid of a run-through being mistaken for the actual test, so, how does the pupil indicate to the examiner that they haven't started yet?
I never tried out a note of it in my own exams, but that's because during the 30 seconds I was sitting like a rabbit in headlights with nothing but white-noise going on in my head!!

1: My teacher always said to work on the tricky bits in prep - I feel that is sensible. Why spend valuable time playing what is already easy enough?
2: The examiner has always told me when to start the test proper so I practice until he says
Yes it can feel like the rabbit - but I have learned, after earlier panics, to move on and treat the test as a clinical exercise.

I usually try to do the first couple of bars, the last few bars and anything else in between that looks a bit tricky until the examiner tells me to start. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[SaxLad]

If your sight reading another good thing, especially for the higher grades is to make sure whats over the other side of the page. Especially g6 and above they can give you quite nasty things your not ready for (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[scotliz]

In my last exam I tried to play as much as I could before the examiner told me my time was up. I found it really helpful as it gave me a 'feel' for the piece. I think you can use the 30 seconds as you wish.

[dolce@piano]

I was told off by the examiner in my grade 7 piano exam for playing too much of the sightreading test. I didn't play it all. I think there needs to be some clarification about this as it could really upset a candidate to be pulled up like that. I still don't know how much "too much" is.

I agree about the clarification - last year, one of my grade 3 pupils (not very good at sight-reading) had a quick look at the piece and then just went straight into it and played it (NOT what she'd been told to do but there you go).

The examiner then told her that she could have another go, because she'd not 'used her time' and so the first was just a practise go.

She scored 17, higher than ever before or ever after !

[Czerny]

1) Is it really ok to play it all through - that's not quite sight-reading is it?

2) I am afraid of a run-through being mistaken for the actual test, so, how does the pupil indicate to the examiner that they haven't started yet?

To answer the questions precisely:

1) Yes; you can do whatever you like in the 30 seconds' preparation time. You could whistle it if you felt so inclined, I expect.

2) It's the examiner who indicates to the candidate when to start the preparation, when to stop preparing and when to commence the marked "performance".

[andante]

My daughter was told not to play too much as it would then be taken as the real thing. I can't remember whether that was by the examiner in her grade 8 piano LCM or her grade 8 sax ABRSM

[morceau]

Thanks everyone! I still feel this is rather a mixed bag of responses - some saying you can play as much as you like and some saying that this has back-fired occasionally. I did read something a while back on this forum where a pupil had a go at the sightreading and the examiner then took that as the performance - which meant she didn't do as well as she could have done. As the teacher, I really want to give my pupils the best advice and avoid anything unexpected like that - or as AliciaOcean says above - their being told off for playing too much!

I am inclined to stick with my current process - advising that they pretend to play it - without pressing down the keys - and maybe play a tricky bit for real.

[sbhoa]

Thanks everyone! I still feel this is rather a mixed bag of responses - some saying you can play as much as you like and some saying that this has back-fired occasionally. I did read something a while back on this forum where a pupil had a go at the sightreading and the examiner then took that as the performance - which meant she didn't do as well as she could have done.

If I found out immediately after an exam that this had happened to one of my students a complaint would go in well be fore the issue of results.

[Seer_Green]

Unless you have a candidate who is a particularly good sight-reader, and therefore could play the piece all the way through (in AB exams this has never been objected to in my experience, and I've done it many times myself), the advice I give is:

1. Tempo, time signature, key signature (title, if applicable)
2. Look all the way through to find any rhythmic or melodic patterns
3. Get hands/fingers in right position for the start
4. Play the beginning and the end, then hopefully it will at least begin and end well
5. Look through for any other awkward bits, and if time, try them; check dynamics

That said, very few pupils actually choose to follow this advice and most still insist on trying to play through as much as possible during the 30 seconds (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) I think that by only attempting to do this, they often miss very obvious things like, for example, the left hand moves down one note in each bar etc.

The piece of advice I'd still stand by 100% is that candidates should play something during the 30 seconds, especially now as the examiners tend to say "have a look through this piece and try out any bits you want to". My feeling is that if you play nothing and the performance is a disaster, the examiner could quite rightly turn round and say "well you didn't try any of it out", whereas, if you've played something and it's a disaster, the examiner is more likely to say "well at least you tried and approached it in the right way".

[anacrusis]

For grade 7, I looked at the music, burst out laughing because the luck of the draw had dealt me a cracker: the examiner raised an eyebrow, I apologised, read the rest of the music in my head, as near as I could, spotted some likely gremlins, made shift to play those once or twice, and was then told, right, that's enough. I think it is one of those things which will be a bit individual, really - I'd regard it as not the done thing to play it all through, but I think the examiner also felt that my doing the tricky bit twice could negate the sightreadingy aspect of it.
The cracker they dealt me? I'd spent some time trying to get triplet rhythms into my head, as my sense of rhythm is pretty apalling - my teacher had been so patient, and still they'd not behave themselves for me. Then the examiner only goes and gives me duplets in a compound time piece (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rofl.gif).