Sight Singing

So here are the steps to good sight singing:


1. check the key signature and the first note to see if it starts on "do"
2. check to see if the first and last note are the same
3. check the time signature and figure out how many beats per measure
4. say once through, SLOWLY, on a neutral syllable such as "doo" JUST on rhythm
5. look at directionality of the notes (up, down, leaps, repeated notes)
6. say once through, SLOWLY, on a neutral syllable such as "doo" JUST on notes
7. put everything together, SLOWLY and EVENLY


Things to remember with regionals/all state auditions:
-take your time, SLOW and STEADY
-do not pay attention to the judges
-make sure you know whether they are giving you "do" or the starting note
-sometimes, the entire exercise won't fit on one line, so pay attention to double bar lines to figure out when it actually ends
-just get an overall idea of the dynamics, but don't worry so much if you only focus on one or two

Do all the steps I listed with this first, very easy one. It does not have key/time signatures but you can figure it out just by reading through the rhythm quickly.

Next try this one with the same steps: it is a little bit harder.

You may check yourself AFTER you're done with this website:
http://neilhawes.com/sstheory/practic1.htm
 Do NOT pay attention to any text on the site-- he uses a different approach to sight singing which won't be helpful to you. Make sure you use the steps above. The 2 exercises that I put in the blog post are #1 and #2 on the website. AFTER you've gone through all steps with both, check your work by clicking "whole thing" and you'll be able to hear the correct example.

When you're done, check out #3 and #4. These are 2 examples that DO NOT start on "do."
Questions: How do we figure out the starting note if the judges give "do" and the exercise does NOT start on "do"?? How do we figure out "do" if the judges give the starting note?

I want you to do these THIS WEEKEND: POST in the comments section:
1. any questions
2. the answers to the above questions
3. a description of how each example went (#1-4)

Per la gloria d'adorarvi, 2nd stanza translation

You already have a pretty exact translation of the entire song, but knowing each word is important for emphasis and understanding why the composer did certain things...

senza = without
speme = hope
di diletto = of pleasure
vano = futile
affetto = affection
è sospirare = to long for (sigh)
ma = but
i vostri = your
dolci = sweet
rai = looks
chi = who
vagheggiar = yearn for
può = can
mai = never
e non = and not
v'amare = love you
penerò = i will suffer
v'amerò = i will love you
luci = eyes (lights)
care = you dear

So this is what we call a literal/exact translation of the words.

Notice 2 important things:

- to sigh, in the Italian culture/this era of poetry, means to long for 

- luci literally means "lights" in Italian-- a cool poetic way of 

comparing the subjects eyes to lights! Sweet, no? :)

Per la gloria d'adorarvi, 2nd stanza words

Hey Sam!

Here's the pronunciations for the second verse of Per la gloria...

senza speme di diletto = sehntsa spehmeh dee deeleht-toh
vano affetto = vahnoh af-feht-toh
è sospirare = eh sohspeerahreh
ma i vostri dolci rai = mah ee vohstree dohlchee rahy
chi vagheggiar può mai = kee vagayj-jar pwoh mahy
e non, e non v'amare = ey nohn ey nohn vahmahreh
penerò = pehnehroh
v'amerò = vahmehroh
luci care = loocheekahreh

I know these look a little daunting, but the best way to figure them out is to say them 

OUT LOUD. Here are some important things to remember about Italian:

-accents place emphasis

-usually, if there is no accent,  the second to last syllable is stressed

-double consonants have a teeny tiny little stop in between (such as diletto...

so it sounds like dileht-toh)

-r is flipped (remember how we did it? with a quiet d sound?)

Post ANY questions at all in the comments & I'll answer ASAP.