Sight-Reading, Transposition, and Improvisation Technique

On this page I'm putting up exercises I made to develop my sight-reading, transposition, and improvisation skills. Please let me know if these help, or if you have any suggestions.

Sight-Reading

In these files it's up to the student to choose a clef and key signature (this is especially useful for learning new clefs). The lines can be read normally, but a great brain-stretching exercise is to go backward from the bottom; or try alternating directions up and down or side-to-side. Try turning the page upside-down for further practice. The next step is to get a score-reading collection, like those by R.O. Morris or Berkowitz.

Sight-Reading 1a (quarter notes)

Transposition

I've found practicing transposition helps with both sight-reading and improvisation.

Improvisation

Just as the sight-reading exercises lead to score-reading texts, these improvisation exercises are a sort of primer for texts like Hancock, Overduin, or Johns. They help teach basic counterpoint and rhythmic fluidity to one's fingers, freeing the mind from micromanagement of note-to-note details!

Improvisation 1a (parallel tenths and sixths)

Improvisation 2a (automatic 2:1 counterpoint and a simple bicinium formula)

Improvisation 3a (automatic figuration patterns in eighths, triplets, and sixteenths)

Improvisation 4a (a Pachelbel organ prelude, with missing notes to be filled in with figuration patterns)

Improvisation 5a (three little tricks for turning any line into a bunch of running quarters, suitable for counterpoint and figuration)

Organ Playing

Organists have to learn music quickly. There are lots of practice techniques everyone knows (such as gradually increasing metronome speed, or consistently altering the rhythm of each beat), but here is a list of some of the things I haven't seen elsewhere that I find make learning a piece easier and less of a grind:

• try to have each finger/foot in the very middle of the key it's playing
• try to have each finger/foot resting on the key before it plays
• see how many notes you are playing in each hand position (by holding them down) before being forced to a new position (you could even think of a score as being sequences of hand positions, with just finger numbers within each section)
• for hymns, alternating every note which hand plays the Alto (then go back and start with the other hand)
• try playing the piece backwards, to really get used to reading the music, and not just letting your fingers do the walking; or maybe have pedals one beat ahead of manuals, etc. This sounds horrible, so wait until there's no one around!
• try to lift all fingers/feet which are not playing, holding them up high (this needs a slow tempo) - the release muscles can get sore very quickly this way
• try playing just the notes sounding on each beat (good for hearing the piece at its ultimate tempo)
• try playing just the implied harmonies, without any figuration
• try playing with hands crossed (this is good especially for contrapuntal music; I found it much easier if I thought in lines rather than chord-shapes)
• try playing with the backs of the fingers (so, palms up); this helps strengthen those release muscles, and general control of the fingers
• improvise, keeping the rhythms of the piece the same, even if it's just on scales

Here is a little paper I wrote listing the teachers of the organ class at the Paris Conservatory, along with whatever information on their teaching methods I could dig up.

Home Page