To me, teaching note reading is a huge deal. If students don't learn to read notes in my beginning orchestra class I know they were struggle at the next level and perhaps not be able to continue playing. Some students get very creative in their avoidance of note reading. They guess, watch the teachers fingers, watch their stand partner's fingers, or even get really good at memorizing and playing by ear. To help my students to learn to really read the notes, I tell them the secret to reading notes. It may sound simplistic...but it's a real strategy! 'YOU HAVE TO READ THE NOTES!' That's the secret. You can't try to get around it. You keep your eyes on the notes and play without looking away. There will be a temptation to stop when you make a mistake or look at your fingers. You have to keep looking at the notes, follow along with the tempo, letting your brain tell what fingers should move.
Students need a LOT of note reading practice. There is no way for a method book to provide enough practice excerpts. I decided to create a resource which gradually increases in difficulty with a ton of examples for students to really practice reading notes. There are 15 levels and over 300 slides for students to really practice note reading mastery.
This resource was made in google slides, so the download is EDITABLE! That means there are so many ways to use this with your students. Here are some ideas as listed in the slides:
