Effects of multi-modal guidance for the acquisition of sight reading skills: A case study with simple drum sequences

In this study the effects of skill development on the eye movements of beginning adult sight-readers were examined, focusing on changes in the allocation of visual attention within metrical units as well as in the processing of larger melodic intervals. The participants were future elementary school teachers, taking part in a 9-month-long music training period. During this period, 15 novice sight-readers’ development was observed in three measurements, with 15 amateur musicians functioning as a comparison group. The novices’ allocation of fixation time within metrical units gradually approached a pattern demonstrated by the amateurs in which increased sensitivity to metrical divisions was evinced by larger average fixation times on the latter halves of bars. Concerning larger melodic skips in otherwise stepwise melodic contexts, an analysis of fixation times suggested that the novices’ visual processing of skips did not proceed in terms of note comparison across the skip but rather through a direct identification of the notational symbols involved. Skill development was seen, then, as increasing fluency of this identification process. These and similar findings may lead to a better understanding of the problems encountered by novice sight-readers and thus to advancements in the pedagogy of music reading.

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Bringing a Culturally Sustaining Lens to Reading Intervention

Journal of Literacy Research ◽

10.1177/1086296x211051668 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1086296X2110516

Author(s):

Kelly K. Wissman

Keyword(s):

Reading Intervention ◽

Reading Skills ◽

Student Writing ◽

Cultural Resources ◽

Emergent Bilinguals ◽

Case Study Methodology ◽

Literacy Specialist ◽

Study Methodology ◽

Measurable Growth

This study explores the possibilities and tensions that emerged when a literacy specialist brought a culturally sustaining lens to her work in a reading intervention setting with five emergent bilinguals. Utilizing a case study methodology, the study draws on data from class transcripts, interviews, student writing and artwork, and fieldnotes collected over 2 years. During data analysis, three themes, “get proximate,” “get connected,” and “get moving,” were constructed. Findings illustrate the complex relationship between practices designed to bring students’ linguistic and cultural resources into the classroom (“get proximate” and “get connected”) within a context designed to facilitate measurable growth in students’ reading skills ("get moving"). Findings contain seeds for further exploration related to engaging students’ languages and lived experiences to build foundational skills. The study suggests that more cohesive incorporation of culturally sustaining practices would require a (re)consideration of monolingualism and narrow definitions of literacy within interventions and assessments.

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Evolving Musical Sight Reading Exercises Using Expert Models

Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence ◽

10.3389/frai.2020.497530 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte Pierce ◽

Tim Hendtlass ◽

Anthony Bartel ◽

Clinton J. Woodward

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Algorithm ◽

Reading Skills ◽

Art Music ◽

Resource Constraint ◽

Difficulty Level ◽

Sight Reading ◽

Sheet Music ◽

Traditional Practice ◽

Western Art ◽

Expert Models

Sight reading skills are widely considered to be crucial for all musicians. However, given that sight reading involves playing sheet music without having seen it before, once an exercise has been completed by a student it can no longer be used as a sight reading exercise for them. In this paper we present a novel evolutionary algorithm for generating musical sight reading exercises in the Western art music tradition. Using models based on expert examples, the algorithm generates material suitable for practice which is both technically appropriate and aesthetically pleasing with respect to an instrument and difficulty level. This overcomes the resource constraint in using traditional practice exercises, which are exhausted quickly by students and teachers due to their limited quantity.

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Setting a Strong Foundation for Music Students within Jackson Public Schools.docx

10.31124/advance.7461773.v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ramon Jackson

Keyword(s):

Reading Skills ◽

Music Students ◽

Sight Reading ◽

Breathing Techniques

This specific issue can be addressed by developing a plan to enhance student’s sight-reading skills, prepare them for auditions and improve tonality though optimal and appropriate breathing techniques.

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