First and foremost: THIS IS NOT A METHOD BOOK. It is precisely what it says it is: 300 Progressive Sight Reading Exercises! All of the exercises are eight measures long. If one has done any study of formal analysis, they will find that eight measures is a typical period of music and usually contains two, four-bar phrases (also typical in length). For example, many sonatinas, jazz standards, and pop songs use 32 Bar Form (A A B A), Binary Form (A B), and Ternary Form (A B A), with each section often being eight bars. Thus, eight measures (one period of music) makes the perfect length for sight-reading studies, in my opinion. Various strategies to using this book may be implemented. With my students, I start toward the beginning and zig-zag through the book, skipping the appropriate number of pages to make it into the more challenging sections. The further they are in the book, the more we skip. This approach prevents the student from memorizing the exercises, allowing for them to remain useful. These books differ from conventional methods in that technical and theoretical instructions have been omitted, in the belief that these are more appropriately left for the teacher to explain to the student. Bela Bartok, Mikrokosmos. I whole-heartedly agree with Bartoks sentiment and if music teachers would ask their students what they like least (or hate the most) about typical lessons, it is the method books that win this contest EVERY TIME. I have completely eliminated meth Read more...


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