Design and Implementation of a Sight-reading Module for Middle School Band

Sight-reading is one way for middle school band students to demonstrate musicianship. If the students are very good at sight-reading, then the level of musicianship is high. The researcher has created an organized module addressing methods of how to teach middle school band students to sight-read effectively. A working definition of sight-reading is playing a work of music accurately the first time it is seen by a performer. At the middle school level, performers must be able to play a steady beat, play accurate rhythms, demonstrate correct eye movements, and recognize patterns of notes to be an effective sight-reader. The students in this study were exposed to activities and lessons that addressed these four aspects of sight-reading. After the study was concluded, the researcher determined that the sight-reading abilities of the students increased. The students became aware of the skills necessary to be effective sight-readers. The most effective lesson of this study was the rhythm lesson. The least effective lesson was the eye movement lesson. The rhythm lesson allowed the students to become familiar with common rhythms, increasing their abilities to perform those rhythms. The eye movement lesson was difficult for the students to understand and very difficult to measure. The segments on steady beat and melodic intervals presented challenges to the students; however, the students responded well to the lessons developed by the researcher. The students showed significant improvement in their concept of steady beat and understanding of melodic intervals