What is sight singing?

Sight singing means singing through a song that you’ve never seen before on solfege syllables.  (Advanced sight-singers sometimes sing words.)  It is tricky, because you have to sing the right pitches and the right rhythms, and eventually you sing the right dynamic level and add articulation as well.  Sight singing can be done as a solo or with a whole choir. 

What do I need to know?

You need to know enough music theory to be able to understand what key a piece of music is in, so you know which note to call “do.”  You also need to be comfortable reading music.  You obviously need to know the solfege syllables for major and sometimes minor scales (see below).  This makes it easier because the pitch distance between the syllables (such as “do” and “mi”) always sounds the same no matter what key you’re singing in! 

Some additional ways to prepare to begin sight singing are:

• Sing through the major and minor scales on solfege and become very familiar with how they sound.  Ask your teacher for help if you don’t understand what that means.  It helps to play along at a piano to make sure you’re singing the right notes! 
• Work hard in your choir or voice lessons now.  Don’t rely on your friends to hear how a song sounds.  Pay attention to the music: are the notes going up or down the page?  Are they moving in skips or steps?  What are the rhythms?  If you work hard on your music reading now, sight singing will be easier. 

Ready to go!  Now what?

Here is the best procedure for sight singing:

• Find an unfamiliar song that looks slightly easier than what you’re used to singing.  Maybe even find something really easy to start!
• Look through the music.  Figure out what key it is in.  Write out the scale for that key.  Label your scale with solfege. 
• Then use your scale to label all the pitches in the song with solfege.  Again, ask your teacher for help to make sure you’re doing it right. 
• Look through the piece for anything tricky.  Look at the time signature and rhythms.  If it’s your first time, try to clap through just the rhythm first.  If you don’t understand any parts of the music, ask your teacher for help. 
• Sing it!  Choose a slow tempo so that you don’t mess up too much.  If and when you do mess up, just keep going!  If you can, play along at a piano to make sure you’re singing the right notes, or ask a parent or friend to play for you. 
• Practice, practice, practice!