Book Review of The Sight-Reading Drill Book

 

 

In The Sight-Reading Drill Book, author Barbara Siemens covers melodic patterns, harmonic intervals, triads, seventh chords, and four note chords in progressively difficult exercises spanning from Prep Level to Level 10. Each page contains a total of 20 drills with no clefs or key signatures. These omissions allow the student to select a particular clef of key signature needed for additional review. Headings at the top of each page indicate the difficulty level and the subject of the exercises, thereby providing an easy reference for meeting specific needs. Aside from a very brief and general introduction, no specific explanations or directions are given on how to use the material for an effective course of study. While the ambiguity and openness of this format may enable a degree of flexibility, the lack of instructions may leave students and teachers confused on how to proceed with the book. Additionally, no theoretical definitions accompany any of the concepts presented so supplementation is necessary. Occasionally, some notation errors appear in the book. For example, in exercise B on page 70, the first chord needs a lower ledger line. This book could use better editing because with sight-reading notation errors greatly confuse the pianist. Despite these shortcomings, the exercises in The Sight-Reading Drill Book develop an aural sense and tactile feel which facilitate better sight reading.