Read With Your Eyes Closed

That’s how to get good a sight reading. Well, kind of.

My nephew came up to me 20 years ago and said, “Uncle Jed, watch this! I can read this book with my eyes closed!” And then he recited it, word for word, with his eyes closed.

When we’re reading music in choir, my motivation is always to get noses out of scores and focusing on everything beyond the score. But as we’re seeking to develop good literacy skills in singers, it’s important to have them continue to reference the score. Just as my nephew learned to read by memorizing a book, and then reading it while reciting it, so my singing students can become musically literate by accurately singing what they’ve learned while reading it on the page.

Literacy takes time, it takes repetition, and it takes diverse strategies.