The Development of a String Sight-Reading Pitch Skill Hierarchy

Abstract

This study was designed to determine a pitch skill hierarchy for string sight-reading, to determine the effects of key on string sight-reading achievement, and to determine the validity of a tonal pattern system as a measurement of melodic sight-reading skill for string players. High school string students ( n = 94) obtained a mean score of 27.28 out of 31 on a modified version of the Vocal Sight-Reading Inventory. Success rates ranging from .99 to .72 were established for 31 pitch skills, grouped into eight tonal categories. Significant differences were found between skills appearing in the keys of D and E, with 11 of 31 skills obtaining significantly differing results by key. A .95 correlation between note-by-note and skill-based scoring systems indicates that skill-based scoring is a valid measurement of string players’ sight-reading of tonal pitch skills within a melodic context. Researchers should explore whether these pitch skills hold their relative difficulty level with less accomplished players and between instrument types, establish a hierarchy for rhythm skills, further investigate the effect of key, and identify anxiety levels for sight-reading when the consequences of performance quality vary.

The Development of a Detaché Rhythm Hierarchy for String Sight-Reading

“…All 26 rhythm skills were incorporated into four, similar, eight-measure melodies composed with simple melodic contours, so as not to act as a confounding variable on the embedded rhythmic skills. The scoring system used by Henry (2001Henry ( , 2009 and Alexander and Henry (2012) represented the total number of skills performed correctly and identified the individual skills the participant did or did not perform successfully; thus providing not only a score but a diagnostic tool for establishing which skills need improvement. The scoring system used in these studies was assessed through two different procedures: A .96 correlation in Henry (2001) and a .95 correlation in Alexander and Henry (2012) between noteby-note and skill-based scoring systems, indicating that skill-based scoring is a valid measurement of string players' sight-reading of tonal pitch skills within a melodic context.…”

“…The majority of research on instrumental sight-reading ability among school children has focused on performers of wind and brass instruments (Walker, 1992), with relatively little research involving string players (Alexander & Henry, 2012). Differences in how rhythm is taught and performed by winds versus strings prohibit generalization from studies utilizing wind players to the population of string players.…”

Effects of Pitch and Rhythm Priming Tasks on Accuracy and Fluency During Sight-Reading

“…This is not necessarily the case with instrumentalists. In a similar effort to create pitch sets across different keys for string players, Alexander and Henry (2012) found significant achievement differences based on key signature indicating that context matters in instrumental sight-reading because different physical techniques are often required to produce various combinations of pitches.…”

The role of positional knowledge and tonal approaches in cellists’ sight-reading

“…Previous research on sight-reading has mainly adopted a tonal perspective, where intervals and harmonic functions form basic premises. Alexander and Henry (2012) also observe potential in the use of tonal approaches during sight-reading. Their study constitutes one of the few examples of research in sight-reading that focuses exclusively on string instruments.…”

“…Wind instruments, for example, require skills such as air support and lip tension, while string instruments require skills such as bowing, string crossings and shifting (changing positions) (Wurtz, Mueri, & Wiesendanger, 2009). The performance of these skills in isolation can already be very difficult, and their combined performance requires coordination, which may (initially) lead to wrong notes (Alexander & Henry, 2012), unintended tempo changes and pauses. Zdzinski and Barnes (2002) identify five factors as valid and reliable measures for string instrument performance: interpretation/musical effect, articulation/tone, intonation, rhythm/tempo, and vibrato.…”