Sight-singing means to sing at sight, having never before heard or seen what you are singing. Sight-counting is counting a rhythm you have never before heard or seen.

Always practice sight-singing with the rhythmic and melodic solmization systems your instructor taught you. The more you practice, the easier solmization will be!

Practice sight-singing and sight-counting while conducting when possible. If you're having trouble, practice at a slower tempo.

Dictation involves translating rhythms, melodies, chord progressions, or other aural sounds that you've never before seen, played, or sung into staff notation.

Strategies for rhythmic dictation include dot grids, slash notation, and protonotation. Conducting and/or tapping while taking dictation can also help.

Strategies for melodic dictation include contour lines, writing down solmization syllables, and protonotation. Conducting and/or tapping while taking dictation can also help.

Regardless of whether you are a vocalist or instrumentalist (or both!), you will likely study sight-singing. Sight-singing means to sing at sight, having never before heard or seen what you are singing. A related skill is sight-counting, which is counting a rhythm you have never before heard or seen. There are many strategies that will help you learn how to sight-sing and sight-count.

Strategies for Sight-Singing and Sight-Counting

If you are learning to sight-sing and sight-count in a classroom, then you are likely going to practice these skills sitting down. When you sight-sing or sight-count, it is important to make sure you have good posture. You will want to sit up straight, at the edge of your chair, with your thighs parallel to the ground. Breathe from your diaphragm (not your chest!) and articulate your singing and counting syllables as clearly as possible.

Example 1 demonstrates proper singing posture while sitting down:

https://youtu.be/OIe4tB1vYVs

Example 1. Proper singing posture sitting down.

When sight-counting, it is helpful to use a rhythmic solmization system. Open Music Theory prioritizes American standard counting, but there are many other great counting systems available. Here are some other strategies for sight-counting:

Do not write your counts on your music. This will save you time and will help you to learn to count at sight.

When you first look at a rhythm to sight-count, note the time signature. How many beats are in each measure, and what note value gets the beat?

Conduct while you sight-count. This will help you to keep a steady tempo and to remember which beat you are counting.

If you are not conducting, try tapping a steady beat while sight-counting. This will help you to keep a steady tempo.

If you are still having trouble keeping a steady tempo, practice with a metronome app.

If you're having trouble with a rhythm or with solmization syllables, practice at a slower tempo or break the rhythm down into smaller chunks.

When sight-singing, it is extremely helpful to use a melodic solmization system, such as scale degrees or solfège (see both Major Scales, Scale Degrees, and Key Signatures and Minor Scales, Scale Degrees, and Key Signatures.) Both systems are valid; what is important is that you practice consistently, as solmization will become easier the more you practice it. Here are some other strategies for sight-singing:

Do not write your solfège or scale degrees on your music. This will save you time and will help you to learn to sing at sight.

When you first look at a melody to sight-sing, note the clef, time signature, and key signature. What is the clef? How many beats are in each measure, and what note value gets the beat? What key is the work in?

Notice the contour of the melody you are about to sight-sing. Singing the correct direction (up, down, or the same note) is half the battle!

Conduct while you sight-sing. This will help you to keep a steady tempo and to remember which beat your singing.

If you are not conducting, try tapping a steady beat while sight-singing. This will help you to keep a steady tempo.

If you are having trouble sight-singing with a steady tempo, practice with a metronome app.

If you're having trouble with a melody, practice at a slower tempo or break the melody down into smaller chunks.

If you're having trouble with rhythm, take the pitches out and just practice the rhythm.

If you're having trouble with pitches, take the rhythm out and sing the pitches on a singular rhythm.

Learning to sight-sing and to sight-count is rewarding, but it takes many years to master these skills. This is why many undergraduate music curricula have four full classes dedicated to these skills (often called "Aural Skills"). Remember to be patient with yourself and to meet with your instructor for help early on if you are struggling.

Strategies for Dictation

Dictation is another important topic that musicians study. Your instructor will likely play rhythms, melodies, chord progressions, or other aural sounds that you've never before seen, played, or sung. You will then translate those aural sounds into staff notation. There are many strategies that will help you with dictation.

Rhythmic Dictation

Example 2. A rhythm for dictation.

Listen to Example 2, which is a recording of a rhythm for dictation. One strategy for taking rhythmic dictation is to construct a dot grid. A dot grid is a series of dots that represent beats and measures. Example 3 shows a dot grid for four measures in common time:

Example 3. A dot grid for four measures in common time.

Once a dot grid is constructed, you can place slashes to indicate where you hear articulations, dashes (horizontal lines) to indicate sustained notes, and circles to indicate rests. This is called slash notation. Next, you will want to translate your slash notation to staff notation. Example 4 shows slash notation, followed by staff notation.

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