Sight-reading

Sight-reading is the reading and performing of a piece of music or song in music notation that the performer has not seen before, also called a prima vista. Sight-singing is used to describe a singer who is sight-reading. Both activities require the musician to play or sing the notated rhythms and pitches. While both sight-reading and sight-singing can be significantly challenging, in comparison to the normal way that notated music is learned–practicing the melodies and passages individually–sight-singing is more challenging, because the musician does not have any keys, frets or valves (on keyboard instruments, guitars, and valved brass instruments, respectively) to help them obtain the correct pitches.

Terminology

Sight-reading

People in music literature commonly use the term "sight-reading" generically for "the ability to read and produce both instrumental and vocal music at first sight ... the conversion of musical information from sight to sound" (Udtaisuk 2005). Udtaisuk and some other authors prefer the use of the more specific terms "sight-playing" and "sight-singing" where applicable. This differentiation leaves a third, more restricted use of the term "sight-reading" for the silent reading of music without creating sound by instrument or voice.