Many pianists who regularly watch YouTube may have encountered Bach Scholar’s channel. After viewing one of his videos on sight-reading many years ago, this reviewer’s interest in sight-reading became further invigorated. Bach Scholar, whose real name is Dr. Cory Hall, has written a well-known book called Sight-Reading and Harmony to provide a comprehensive method for pianists wishing to improve their sight-reading skills.
Comprised of four major divisions, Sight Reading and Harmony consists of explanatory directions, reference information, technical exercises, and Bach Chorale excerpts. The emphasis in this volume is using four-part Bach Chorales for improving vertical reading at the keyboard.
In the reference section, a table of contents contains detailed indices to the German titles, the BWV catalog numbers, the key signatures, the time signatures, the composer listings, and the cadences of the Bach Chorales. These listings provide a handy guide for locating sight reading material needed in specific situations. The research sources are cited in a bibliography for additional investigation.
Moving onward to the explanatory section, the author presents a system for testing ten different levels of sight-reading mastery. Procedures for conducting examinations and an evaluation chart are included. Practice suggestions for using this book in preparation for these tests are indicated in bold print. An explanation touting the benefits of Bach Chorales for sight-reading purposes is extensive and quite convincing. The development and scope of the levels in the author’s “five tier system of four-part hymns and chorales” is discussed at length. An overview of the remaining sections and definitions of different cadences concludes the explanatory portion of the book.
The technical section consists of major scales and the three forms of the relative minor scales for key signatures up to four sharps and flats. Additionally diatonic chords and inversions for each scale degree correlate to each key signature presented. Perhaps the most valuable part of the book is the section covering finger independence and legato. The fingerings given here provide the digital flexibility needed to play the independent parts of Bach Chorales, hymns, and polyphonic works in general. Such exercises are rarely found in books, except in some organ methods. But for pianists, this instruction is extremely valuable. Cadence patterns modulating through all keys and an extended circle of fifths progression written in both open and closed positions are also included. The pedagogical advantage here is that while the open voicing is more frequently used in hymns and chorales, the closed voicing is found more abundantly in piano music. Inclusion of both positions prepares the student to sight-read a wide variety of literature. The technical section ends with an analysis of common cadences in the Bach Chorales.
For the remainder of the book, four measure excerpts of 150 Bach Chorales are included for sight-reading practice. Each chorale is arranged in five distinct levels: grades 1-2, grades 3-4, grades 5-6, grades 7-8, and grades 9-10. Grades 9-10 present the Bach Chorales in their original form while the other levels are progressive simplifications. The explanatory section provides a thorough description of the varied grades. An advantage of this system is that although many pianists recommend Bach Chorales for sight-reading, some pianists are not advanced enough to sight-read the original scores. Further, the abundance of material and successive levels allows ample opportunity for the student to improve sight-reading ability. Each page contains a chart of chord progressions so that when the pianist is able to play the three-part textures in grades 5-6, harmonic progressions can be integrated into the reading process. Rapid recognition of chordal structures aids fluent sight-reading.
Overall, Dr. Hall’s Sight Reading and Harmony is an important resource for pianists looking to accelerate their sight-reading abilities, especially in hymns, chorales, and Baroque polyphonic music. The only drawback to this approach is that it contains little stylistic variety. To be able to sight-read other types of music fluently, additional supplementation is necessary.
Stay Tuned,
Robert
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