I know this is an old thread but I haven't quite found an answer yet. Thought I'd try the teachers' bit for some advice instead of the diploma and voice section.

Took my Dip a couple of weeks ago, and despite months of practising sight-reading I failed miserably to do the quick study. I'm afraid my middle-aged brain just doesn't work out intervals quickly enough. My teacher is brilliant at the mechanics and interpretation of singing but I'm not sure that he really understands how difficult sight-reading can be. His own ability allows him to sing at performance standard never having seen the music before.

I hope to have passed the recital and viva elements of the dip but of course will have to take the quick study again.

How do I go about improving my sight-reading in the next few months? There must be someone out there who can help me.

You're going to hate me for giving the "stating the flipping obvious" answer, I'm afraid.

Like all aspects of making music, sight-reading improves with practice. I found my sight-singing improved dramatically when I joined a cathedral voluntary choir and had to cope with a regime of "practice at 5 service at 6" every day for several weeks. If you just plain haven't got time to make mistakes in what you read, you learn to read a darn sight better.

So my suggestion to any singer struggling with reading at speed is to join a good choir. Have a look at British Choirs on the Net for a good one near you.

And best of luck.

Cheers

Katyjay

While I'm not a vocalist, I can offer a few words of wisdom about sight-reading. First of all please don't blame your middle-aged brain. It's very easy to blame age for deficiencies, but there are many mature students out there who have overcome problems which they too could blame on advancing years. Secondly, you will not be alone in your sight-singing (sight-reading) difficulties - there are lots of students, of ALL ages, who struggle with this skill. Thirdly, you probably have strengths elsewhere that others lack - perhaps you are someone who can memorise works very quickly. Equally as many students simply struggle to play or sing from memory, although their sight-reading may be good. It's swings and roundabouts I'm afraid.

You haven't said how you've approached the skills required for sight-singing. Perhaps it would be worth seeking out an additional teacher who could specifically help you develop this skill? Do you belong to any choirs or ensembles? - I've heard this is an excellent way of getting sight-singing skills up to scratch.

I'm sure someone like katyjay from these forums can offer specific vocalist advice, but, remember this, she didn't take up singing seriously until she was 35. Four years later she's got her LTCL, so once again, no excuses about age please.

EDIT. Thanks katyjay, you must have been replying at the same moment as me.

Oh dear

I am a choir member! I sing in two local choirs, have just joined one further afield and another one yet further afield plus got through the audition to join the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. That's what's so frustrating. I KNOW I CAN SING!! I learn quickly, and am always prepared to put in the time to learn to make up for my lack of sight-singing ability, but the Dip doesn't allow for that. Sadly I really, really want to get this dip - I'll stop at the Licentiate and I know I've missed the boat as far as becoming professional but something in me just has to achieve this

Not on account of your sight-singing difficulties, I hope? There are several professional singers who can't read music at all. In fact there's one - a VERY big name who I won't identify - who apparently needs two years' preparation for an opera he/she hasn't performed before.

Do you play any (other) instruments? That's the easiest way to gain experience at sight reading. I LaLaLa everything a once through before playing on the flute/recorder/piano.

If Cyrilla was about at the moment I'm sure she'd talk about Kodaly, which I am sure would be helpful to you. I don't know enough about it to say exactly how, but it's probably worth investigating. He wrote some choral books (I use a pentatonic one with my piano students) which are in solfa and are bound to help you with the intervals.

I also teach at a school and introduced so (5th), mi (3rd) and la (6th) and was really amazed to find that 11 year olds with little good musical training were able to conduct each other in solfa (using the hand signs) and keep track of these three intervals. Kodaly does work!

Which area do you live in?

Same here, my sight-singing improved tremendously when I was singing in choirs. Wouldn't have happened if I just played the piano.

As you already sing in quite a few choirs, perhaps you should concentrate on being more aware and appreciating firstly, the rhythm of the notes (this is something you can work on and sort out relatively easily, if not already) and then, the different intervals between notes and what they sound like which will then help you subsequently pitch the notes. Instead of thinking in pure intervals, perhaps you could think of the notes in the context of the scale, i.e. tonic, dominant, subdominant, and get used to how they sound in relation to one another. A bass would definitely know how to sing the dominant and tonic of a perfect cadence when it appears in the score and a soprano should know how to sing leading note to tonic.

When other sections are singing and you are not, listen to how their parts sound like whilst reading the score. You'll definitely pick up a thing ot two.

Some people find using sol-fa tremendously helpful.

Practice makes perfect!

As you all know I'm one of them...singing in a choir didn't help me much, I'm afraid, because it was all so hit-and-miss still. I needed the structure and certainty of solfa.

Glad you're finding the solfa is working with your pupils, barcarolle!

I have PM'd singing nurse.