I really want to learn to sight-sing...like, you know when people say "Right, sing me an A...." and then the singer sings a perfect A straight away....how is that done??
Does anyone have any tips?
I have singing lessons, but we haven't got as far as sight-singing, and I've heard it's quite hard, and I really just wanted to get a little head start.
I believe what you are describing is known as "perfect pitch". That is where a musician memoerizes the frequencies (hertz) of pitches.For example, in western music A=440 Hz. As as someone else has mentioned, just go to a piano and try to memorize the pitches. If you have any further questions, you can e mail me at adhayes@olemiss.edu.
You're talking about ear training to learn perfect and/or relative pitch. Sight singing is when you sing from a sheet of music that you've never seen before by reading the notes off the page.
A technique that will help is "thinking" the note before singing it.
Here's a decent free online ear training site: www.good-ear.com
Of course there are all kinds of programs you can buy for ear training.
I have been sight-singing for a while now, but I just recently came across what I thought was a very helpful computer program that helps with sight singing and ear training. It is called Auralia (3.0 or 4.0, it doesn't matter) and, although it is a bit pricey, I think it is definitely worth it. Good luck!
Most often, whether singing in groups or singing as a solo artist, you will have some form of starting note/chord to anchor yourself. Once you have that anchor, you can sight sing anything with relative pitch. Perfect pitch is certainly useful, but it's less common and for most people it's harder to develop than relative pitch. So, I'd start with relative pitch and go from there.
Here's an online ear trainer that you can use to learn intervals and chords:
You can also use it to generate random melodies for you to practice your sight singing. Since you're singing, you'll want to set the Play Mode to "Sing: No Play". From there you can generate the intervals and melodies and click directly on the notes to play them.
The ability to sing a perfect pitch is kind of a gift and in my opinion it is very difficult if not impossible to attain if you do not have it.
Having said this, sight singing, as I understand it, is the ability to sing a melody just reading the notes from the score, without having heard it before. It is equivalent to sight playing any instrument.
For voice, it can be learn working hard on intervals and lot with of practising.
It is a matter taught in the school I attend for my singing lessons, but many hours and exercises are required to advance to a level high enough to attack any score and just sing it.
I do not think it is mandatory to know this, unless you are a pro or intend to become one.
sight singing is not being able to sing an A straight off... that is perfect pitch and cannot be taught. some people are just born with it. sight singing is being able to look at a peice of music and being able to sing it straight off when you look at the notes. this can be taught easily and you will get it but dont rush.
singing an A on the spot is not sight singing. that is called perfect pitch. and few people have it.. i go to a university music institution and there are only three people in the whole school who have it.. one two being professors, and one a student. sight-singing is learing solfege pitches and is a huge pain in the ass.. trust me.. you DON'T want to do it.. and if you really for whatever odd reason want to do it.. then i suggest taking actual lessons.
You say that Perfect Pitch is virtually impossible to learn....what about relative pitch? How can I learn that? Or is that not really realistic either?
Relative pitch, well, technically they are called intervals. They are hard to learn and is part of advanced solfege. If you are serious about singing and have the time, the money and patience to pay and attend a lot of classes, you can learn it.
It is normally a requirement to be admitted in professional choruses and it helps a lot for learning.
i don't think thats sight-singing. sight-singing is where you get a starting note, a piece of music, and you can sing the music on the spot.
if you don't have a starting note and can still know the pitch, thats called perfect pitch, and its pretty hard to learn; most people who have perfect pitch are born with it.
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